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Is it a problem if my runner's head tilts to one side?

Sometimes it is nothing, sometimes it is the visible end of an asymmetry that starts somewhere else entirely, and the only way to tell is to look from more than one angle.

Sometimes a head tilt is just a habit with no deeper cause. Sometimes it is the visible end of an asymmetry that actually starts somewhere else, lower down, and the head is simply where it is easiest to spot.

Where it usually comes from

• Tight or uneven tension across one side of the neck and shoulders, pulling the head over.
• A habit of favoring one eye to watch a competitor or the finish line, which drags the head with it.
• Rotation that is actually coming from the hips or the torso and shows up all the way up the chain by the time it reaches the head.
• No deeper cause at all, just how that particular runner has always run.

Why it is still worth a look

A tilted head changes the line of the neck and shoulders, and at speed that can drag one arm slightly across the body. That crossing arm is usually easier to see on film than the tilt that caused it, so the tilt is often the clue rather than the whole problem.

Check more than one angle before deciding

A tilt that is driven by the hips looks different filmed from directly behind than it does filmed from the side. One clip from one angle will not settle which it is.

The Film Room's sprint setting reports trunk lean, elbow angle, overstride, knee fold, ground contact time and top speed. It does not report anything about the head or neck at all. A head tilt has to be judged by eye against the clip, not against a number in the report, and a single 2D camera filmed from one side cannot settle whether the cause is the neck, the shoulders, or the hips underneath it.

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