Things You'll Need:
- Baton
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Step 1
Work on your sprinting form. Stand with your head and body directly above your hips, with your arms hanging loosely at your side. When you run, lean forward and push outward with your legs, landing on the balls of your feet. Keep your knees high so that your thighs are parallel to the track when you run and make sure you lean forward from your ankles, not your waist.
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Step 2
Lean inward towards the center of the track when you round the curve. Keep your feet pointed in the same direction as the lines while your body leans. This cuts wind resistance and allows you to power into the straightaway.
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Step 3
Stand in a row with your other three relay members. Put the anchor in front, followed by the third, second and starting runner in descending order. You should be two arm's lengths apart, or close enough for one runner to reach out and hand the baton to the man reaching back in front of him. Pass the baton up the line, from the starting runner to the anchor. Repeat the process and develop a rhythm. As you train, work the drill when walking, then jogging and then running.
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Step 4
Practice handing off within the exchange zone (the length of track in which you have to hand the baton to the next man in the relay). Repeat the process of handing off the baton, starting off with a walk, then a jog and, finally, a run. Make sure you can do it within the legal space allotted, stressing the rhythm and timing between each runner.
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Step 5
Work on timing acceleration with your teammates so that each can efficiently reach parallel speeds with the runner behind. When handing off the baton in a four-man relay, you want to lose as little speed as possible in the transfer. Familiarity with each other's running speed and the time and distance it takes to reach it will help ensure that.
