Whenever I work with runners dealing with injuries, observing their running gait can provide me clues on what to look out for. By analyzing their biomechanics, I can roughly pinpoint the root of the cause, and other potential musculoskeletal issues they may encounter.
Whenever there is a weak link within the kinetic chain, the body tends to compensate to get the job done with the least amount of effort. As a result, we rely on our joints instead of our muscles to run. One of the most common compensation patterns runners tend to have is swaying of their hips from left to right when they run. This dysfunctional movement is known as “hip drop”, and it can happen to newbies and veteran runners.
To know if you have a “hip drop”, ask someone to take a video of you running from behind. If your hips drop to one side like the photo below, you’re probably making that mistake.