Can anyone tell me what is the benefit of practising 3 point starts?
I can see the benefit for gridiron players as it seems to me that apart from needing a crouch start for max accelleration that this kind of start /stance allows the player to keep his head up to view the play and also avoid getting himself cleaned -up.
The reverse is true for a sprinter who would not be looking up in the set position.
Whenever I try 3 point or see other doing it stability is lacking because bodyweight is supported by one arm only and feet, arm, body,spacings,head alignment and overall balance appear compromised.
Finally if their is no real benefit in this start why not just pratice the bread and butter 4 point start.
Most sprinters do not look up in the 3-point position. Some sprinters do look up in the set position from blocks (Jesse Owens, Ben Johnson, etc.).
When not working with blocks, 3-point start is very effective and allows for the proper shin angles during acceleration. Many athletes are not strong enough to effectively use block starts anyway–how is a girl who cannot do a proper bodyweight lunge going to set-up in the blocks effectively and go? You get the idea.
To only look at the set position of a 3-pt start as the basis of it’s usefulness is… incomplete I guess.
A few points you have given some examples of athletes who look up in the set position, but I feel sure that the majority do not.
I was comparing 3 point starts with 4 point without blocks.How does 3 point help with shin angles in this comparison? Is it because using it and weight is on one arm mean that foot spacing , shin angles and hip height are adjusted to compensate for the extra load.
Following on from that does that mean that the girl not being strong enough to start from a 4 point support changes foot spacings etc, and raises her hips higher and centre of gravity significanly so that she is able to support her weight on one hand?
The point is that people do not look up in the 3-pt position in the first place and even if they did–who cares if it is the same as what they do from the blocks? Look at football guys at the combine–they are not looking up.
I was comparing 3 point starts with 4 point without blocks.How does 3 point help with shin angles in this comparison? Is it because using it and weight is on one arm mean that foot spacing , shin angles and hip height are adjusted to compensate for the extra load.
Without being able to press against the blocks, you are probably not going to be able to generate enough power to get into the positions you need from a 4-pt start. Until blocks were required (I believe in 80 or 81), there were still guys effectively starting from a 3pt position, without blocks–not sure of anybody that did 4pt without any sort of blocks or something to push against. Allan Wells is an example of this.
3pt starts allow you to get the correct positions without having to use blocks–good for early in the season, weak athletes, young athletes, and when you want less stress (higher start positions puts less stress at the start, generally, which is also a reason why people use standing starts).
Following on from that does that mean that the girl not being strong enough to start from a 4 point support changes foot spacings etc, and raises her hips higher and centre of gravity significanly so that she is able to support her weight on one hand?
There isn’t much time where she needs to support herself on one hand and that really shouldn’t be the focus. Look at where she is 5m out, 10m out, 15m out from the start and compare the results of a well set-up 3pt start versus 4pt start without blocks.
How do you set up a 3 pt start. I’ve just been gettting into a standing start position, falling onto my left hand as support and pulling the right arm back. Is that correct?
I would not substitute emphasis on 3pt technique for block technique, and as Davan pointed out, experienced athletes use 3pt primarily for less stress some of the time–not as a substitute for correct block techinque all of the time. The version I’ve seen from football speed coaches (note: not sprint coaches) goes like this:
Put your BACK foot horizontally and just touching the line.
Move your FRONT foot so it is under the shoulder and touching the horizontal foot.
Move your back foot so it is under the shoulder and just behind the front foot.
Move your down hand so it is just behind the line.
This gets you much closer to the line than with block starts, as it a bullet start–faster to 30m, slower to 60m as you can’t produce as much force. It is important to remember the difference, and don’t try to start for 60-100m like a football player.
not sure about that but strength is important to use them effectively. In fact, we did Med Ball drills and other accel work before we ever started using blocks (in part out of necessity because we had a large group and no blocks of our own when I started). nonetheless, we had the fastest starters in the country right away.
Check out the GPP download for details and you can see exactly what I’m talking about.
i’ve seen ben a few times at provincial champion meets at york U.
Also I have a question which sort of relates to the blocks thing, at the indoor track I train at in oshawa, spikes arent allowed. So I use the spikes with the spikes off, so just the shoe. This gives me equal top speed as spikes or very similar, however no grip therefore I can easily slip and cant accelerate well with a lot of power. So do you recommend doing acceleration training with flats to allow for a better accel. and more power, then for 40m+ sprints use the spikes?