Good start.
Hard to give some specific tips without knowing techs and gear but here's a couple.
If you have a histogram, check it. It's a tool that will help you determine a few things, not the least of which is your exposure. Theres no rule (correct) shape to aim for, but it will help you at a glance determine if your under/over exposing. These are under and could do with a little more light hitting the sensor.
If your struggling to get you SS high enough to avoid motion blur, back off a wee bit and don't go for the frame filling close up. Just as when we are travelling in a car and looking out the window. The closer something is the more its blurred/moving to our eyes. In short, the "closer" your subject is, the higher your SS needs to be in order to freeze it relative to the speed its moving at.