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Glite Dictionary
to hit one's stride

to hit one's stride

3 6.5
Start performing at your best after some practice
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : encontrar su ritmo
  • Veitch also seems to have hit his stride with the characters in this installment, too.
  • really hit one's stride

Examples

  • He seems to be hitting his stride as November approaches.

    Blog text (6)

  • By the end of the decade, she's really hit her stride, and she is wearing almost all of the eighties trends, and she's playing quite a significant role in setting them, as well.

    Diana: Life in Fashion (2022)

  • "The Short Century" did not really hit its stride in critical and media attention until it opened in New York.

    Academic text (2002)

  • But he really hit his stride with the election of Bill Clinton in 1992.

    Academic text (2011)

  • But even so, it takes an O-line a couple of years to gel as a unit and hit its stride.

    Blog text (26)

  • Things had bottomed out for Bay at the age of 28, right when he was supposed to be hitting his stride.

    Blog text (28)

  • The nation has certainly hit its stride over the past five years in terms of trade with Chile, emerging from the red in 2006 well into the black by 2011.

    Blog text (19)

  • Mathies then hit her stride and had UK up 21-10 with 10 minutes left in the half.

    Blog text (12)

  • This year, there really hasn't been a slump and it seems he is finally starting to hit his stride as a major leaguer.

    Blog text (33)

  • After a few weeks of training, she finally began to hit her stride in the marathon preparation.

Synonyms

to get in the groove
vsto hit one's stride
  • Informal
1 6.3

To work smoothly and easily after a short time

reach top performance rather than only steady rhythmic efficiency
to get into one's stride
vsto hit one's stride
6.3

To become comfortable and confident after a short time and begin working well

reach peak performance level after adjusting

Antonyms

struggle
466 3.2

A hard effort to do or finish something difficult

stumble
3 2.2

A short loss of balance while walking that almost causes a fall

How Effective

to hit one's stride
  • Informal
3 6.5
to get in the groove
  • Informal
1 6.3
to get started
481 1.8

Surface Forms

hit one's stride infinitive
hit one's stride past
hit one's stride past participle
hitting one's stride present participle
hits one's stride third person singular

Morphology

hit + one's + stride

The sense 'to reach one's best pace or performance' can be inferred from 'hit' (to reach/attain) plus 'stride' (a steady pace or progress), so a learner who knows the constituents can often guess the general idea. However, the phrase relies on a metaphorical mapping from physical stepping to performance and may require some abstraction or prior exposure to get the precise nuance, so it is not fully transparent.

Etymology

The idiom hit one's stride comes from running: when a runner hits a steady stride, long confident steps, they fall into a smooth pace and run very well. So the phrase means 'performing at your best' after getting used to something.