It is difficult to say if there has been a concerted effort to change his technique. It may be more the result of general prescriptions that are taking part in training (therapy, recovery, workload, race readiness), as well as his ability to relax and “have fun” as has been alluded to in interviews.
As I learned from Charlie, many technical problems are not a result of a deliberate intent to do something a certain way. It is more the result of tightness and lack of mobility in the musculature and soft-tissues. If these issues are resolved in the preparatory periods, then technical problems will not rear their head in competition. Tightness and soreness is also the result of progressions that are not smooth and gradually introduced, as well as mismanagement of training volumes and recovery periods.
While some may say that Asafa or his coach has changed his technique, others may say that he is simply much better prepared.
As we saw with Ben, increased musculature does not have to be a detriment, particularly if you are well coached and not overloaded with glycolytic work. Additionally, you must have consistent and regular physical therapy and massage to keep the muscles supple.
If the upper body musculature is handled properly, I do believe it can help with power, counter-balancing the force production of the legs. The shoulder-to-hip rotation relationship (as Charlie indicated in one of his key diagrams) confirms that upper body strength and musculature can contribute to sprinting performance. Integrate this with good technique, appropriate sprint volumes and smooth progressions, and I think you will have success.
John Smith’s 100m sprinters also had good musculature and were technically proficient.
In today’s online chat with Asafa Powell, he stated that he has lost 4kg of body weight since last season. The appearance of increased musculature may thus simply be a result of improved leanness.
Good correction on Rieti! It was one line from the Rieti time in IAAF. Interesting about the body weight! His glutes do look larger this year compared to the image a few posts above.
I suggest he has the same mechanics all that changes is the body position from acceleration to maintanence. The intensity (force) of a 100m run cannot be maintained for 300/400m therefore a more relaxed run will look different to the untrained eye (looking at something new).
I don’t ever see the exaggerated front-side mechanics of his 100m in his 300m. There simply isn’t the same level of aggression (either in his drive phase or at his top speed inside of that run) and he stays so smooth far longer than he currently demonstrates in 100m race situations; which goes directly to your comment on pacing for 300/400m racing, or, more directly in this case, to a 300m special endurance test run.
Would you ask your athletes to specifically ignore traditional race pacing strategies for these distances for their special endurance test runs? If the answer is yes (not presuming it is) I would think that would also encourage mechanics that were both as aggressive and dynamic as found in the shorter race being trained for…and just hold on as best they can to finish the run. :eek:
There is not enough energy store to run the 100m full throttle and carry through to the 300m. The technique/mechanics is still the same so less force/throttle is applied.
I probably don’t know the traditional strategies you are referring to. Years ago when I asked a local high performance coach if he would assist me his answer was “”keep doing what you are then send the athletes to me””. Years later I asked several coaches including Peter Lawler, Norm Osborn and Mike Hurst for help and they were great, probably thought I was asking stupid questions they but never made me feel uncomfortable. (You may not know who they are and they probably have no idea I am at CF.com).
Traditional ??? If you are referring to split runs >500m the mechanics are the same, I always use the theory that once control is lost then stop and recover before starting the next rep (count that rep as finished). When using a sled distances are halved 150m = 300m, when the sled cord (3m long) starts to bounce pull out/rep completed.
Sorry for the lack of clarity, and thanks for the feedback. By traditional I was thinking of more evenly paced runs that seem to deliver relatively superior times at longer sprint distances than perhaps negative or positive splitting might. There would certainly be occasion to ask athletes to use any of these depending on the intent of the session, but what I guess I was looking for was whether or not there was a preference in these special endurance test runs of 180m-300m (depending on the level of the athlete) for running the first half of these runs in an aggressive enough manner as to make even splits impossible (which I believe Powell does anyway in the video uploaded).
I actually looked at both of his 9.72sec runs last night and it is very hard to find significant differences between them. He is obviously in great shape and running with tremendous confidence in both. I just remain curious about how he loses smoothness over the final 20m of his race, particularly as this is an area that both Bolt and Gay don’t seem to struggle at all, or show any breakdown in form. It would seem to be an area for focus or inquiry if he is seeing relatively greater sector losses here compared to his rivals (if the data suggest that what I am seeing visually actually has any impact on sector times).
I recognized the coaching references you mentioned as being south of the Equator (confirmed easily by Google). Always nice to have access to good minds when you are learning.
I look more at the mechanics not the programming and I can see nothing wrong with your logic. In the last 20m he gets his body in a deacceleration position, what I see every athlete do after the finish line.
Great minds can make learning easier/enjoyable. I remember saying to Pete that it would take me a lifetime to learn what has taken him a lifetime to learn and that I was going to take a different direction–mechanics. I asked and was told that if at any time I needed asistance all it will take is a call, same from Norm and Mike, I don’t think anything has changed.
This is off track a bit – Spoke to a Rugby union player on the way to work today, he plays grade in the Sydney comp. In his words “from captain of 3rd grade to run on in 1st grade in 12 weeks, thank’s”.
I saw on the news today AP ran 9.82 anyone got a vid.
