My daughter ran her first 4x400m relay on Saturday…she is so excited about High School track, as she is in 9th grade now.
I tried to figure out the timing points on the track for each of the four runners on her squad, but I just get confused with the “2 turn” and “3 turn” stagger, exactly where the “800m start line is for the particular lane” etc. This is somewhat confusing to me.
What I “think” I understand, is that:
The 1st runners split starts with the gun, and ends with the exchange to the 2nd runner.
The 2nd runners split starts with the 1st runner crossing the “800m start line for that lane”, (which would be lane 5) ending with the 2nd runners baton crossing finish line.
The 3rd runners split starts with the crossing of the 2nd runners baton across the finsh line and ends with the 3rd runners baton crossing the finish line.
The 4th runners split starts with the 3rd runners baton crossing the finish line and ends when the 4th runner crosses the finish line???
If correct and after watching the relay, it seems to me that the 1st and 4th runners have the advantage of only a single exchange, therefore a faster “split” time, and the 2nd and 3rd runners have 2 exchanges each on their times, which is a disadvantage, as it turns out the 1st and 4th runners had significantly faster split times than the 2nd and 3rd.
I have included a video of her race. Her squad is in lane 5 and she is the second runner.
Those positions are good. We have a track marked for a 3-turn stagger so it’s not a problem for us. However it matches with what we do on other fields.
Though given where your video is setup I would triangulate as much with the body as opposed to the baton. Kinovea (kinovea.org) is free and can be utilized, lining up to the tenth, as close as is possible with 30Hz film.
Again best of fortunes with your daughter this spring. I realize it has been an unforeseen struggle this training year for you and her. Though your direction has seemed quite plausible indeed.
I use a Panasonic TM700 video camera and record using the 1080p60Hz format (AVCHD m2ts files) would this be compatable, since it is a multiple of 30Hz, or would it have to be 30Hz?
Update:
Nevermind, I read the manual. It appears it is only partially compatable with AVCHD, so I will have to record in a slower format.
I will try this, it looks very usable.
When you import the video into Kinovea right click (mouse) on the window and change High-Speed Camera from 30Hz to 60Hz (if it doesn’t do so automatic).
Regarding the fall XC/winter school program that has been so problematic for your daughter. Is it completely mandatory that she attend every day that there is practice?