Have really embraced using my Freelap timing system this season, and have been keeping a track of 60m runs (through a relatively straight hallway in my school), specifically 0-30, then 30-40,40-50,50-60 (and the corresponding 30m fly). As the season has progressed the times have dropped on both, but the one notable and possibly concerning point is that the 30 fly times have dropped because my athletes are stabilizing their times, rather than dropping their top 10m fly times (so early on in week 2 a 30m fly might have been 1.14, 1.08, 1.12 and now in week 6 its 1.1, 1.09, 1.1). My take is that I’m seeing them develop better form, but that they appear to need more rest? Or am I missing something?
I guess the basic question is, for speed training should I be concerned with the peak velocity or is the improvement in the average good enough?
To begin, it doesn’t have to be one or the other. That said, in the 100m the peak is the key as the higher the peak, the deeper into the race, the further the reduction of the lactic period (provided the sprinter gets a reasonable start). Bolt is the fastest of all time because no one has hit the same instantaneous max V as deep into the race; the result of which is highest average velocity between most 10m segments.
James, thanks for the response - so to respond then, yes I should be aiming for an improvement in peak velocity (especially given these are moderately experienced high school sprinters) in this kind of time frame (6 weeks) and if I’m not seeing it, it is probably due to either inaccurate training or insufficient recovery (and I realize there’s a pretty large range to screw up in this).
While all elements of race preparation are important throughout a sprinter’s career, remember that the narrative of the career, from beginning to end, will be, in terms of its grander proportion, more weighted in speed endurance earlier then shifting to max V later.
In a sense, long to short over the course of years due to the knowledge Charlie highlighted that includes the fact that the younger sprinter hits a lower max v, a closer distance to the blocks, and therefore is more decidedly benefited by general and speed endurance to sustain whatever max V they do hit through to the finish.
Then, year after year, as overall preparation leads to more max V, farther into the race, it is a further concentration of max V development that will have the biggest impact on race performance.
so be sure to individualize the preparation of your sprinters based upon the magnitude of each of their max V and where they hit it in the race. The closer they hit it to the blocks the more their training should prioritize general and speed endurance and the farther they hit it from the blocks the more their training should prioritize max V. In all cases, however, all components of race preparation must be present.
Just like in vertical integration, its only the volumes that vary.