The pawing skip that snaps your hamstrings into gear.
Paw the foot back down under your body, not out in front, like you're scraping the ground.
B-Skips add the pawback to the skip, the knee drives up, the lower leg extends, then the foot claws back down under your hips, rehearsing the exact action that makes fast runners fast. The calves power every springy contact off the ball of the foot while also snapping the pawing leg into the ground. They earn their place in sprint warm-ups as the drill that teaches your foot to land pulling backwards instead of braking out in front.
The B-skip adds a leg extension and pawback after the knee drive, so instead of the foot simply striking down, it reaches out and scrapes back underneath you. It is the harder drill and usually learned second.
Active foot strike. Pulling the foot down and back before contact means you land under your hips with the leg already moving rearward, which is how sprinters avoid braking on every stride.
The kick-out and pawback interrupt the natural skip rhythm and most people rush it. Slow down, exaggerate each phase, knee up, reach, scrape, and let the timing smooth out over a few sessions before adding speed.
