I would say it is “a feel thing” and in competition it may require a degree of faith in yourself because there is an element of “waiting” for the rebound.
Talk to some of the classy movers you meet and raise it with them because they may be able to explain it better.
I would say you cannot push too hard. I remember reading a quote from 1960 Olympic 200 champion Livio Berrutti(?) bagging fellow Italian and 1980 Olympic 200 champ Pietro Mennea “because he ‘works’ the track”.
Mennea had quite a choppy action and I took Berrutti’s words to mean that Mennea tried to over-ride (over-power) the harmonics involved in sprinting.
Having said all that, Mennea was enormously successful and his world record stood up for a very long time. Carl Lewis, an attractive mover who probably understood and utilized harmonics better than most, never managed to wind-legally run faster than Mennea’s 200wr, but then he probably never tried to do so in Mexico City.
i have had this discussion with certain high movers and the trend or feelings tend to be very alike.one athlete told me that he does be on the edge,pushing hard but at the same time keeping everything smooth and relaxed.also the rhythem is very important,from start to finish.if you can establish a rhythem consistantly you will do well,its all a learning process.
I would say the opposite. Struggling to “get there” is how you get into trouble with technique. You must concentrate on execution of correct form where you are at all times and the “getting there” will take care of itself.
Something I have found that works very well for acceleration work…
Let’s say we have point A at 0m and point B at 30m. Our aim is to cover this distance as quickly as possible.
To meet this aim, one thing that we need to realise is that it is nigh on impossible to be at your top speed at 30m. Instead, you should run as though your top speed would be hit at an imaginary point C, which may be say 20m past B.
What this does is stops you from tightening up and muscling the run, instead, the feeling is one of smoothly building up speed, rather than being involved in a mad dash from one point to another.
When KitKat talks about harmonics, it’s an elegant arty (and clever) way of describing how energy is returned to you from the track. How your contacts get progressively quicker as you accelerate. How your lower leg becomes a stiffer spring the faster you get. How the push becomes progressively redundant once momentum builds.
That word build is so important. Everything we are doing once we have moved from a stationery position is geared to building the highest point in our race, maximum velocity. If you only see a low point when you take off, you will never be able to reach the high point.
A very helpful description of the process
in other words accelerate throughout the whole distance.
You’re on a roll Dcw. Must be some good coffee down there.
Thanks everybody.
noone has asked what your core strength is like?!?!?!?
if my late night memory serves me correct, some wise soul on this forum once hollered “if ur core isnt strong enough, u cant get ur hips high enough to get full extension” hence the bent knee on the rear leg and no triple extension.
ok i know thats not literally what anyone said, but the general gist is correct, yes?
so david, hows ur core strength?
I have not done any assessment for my core strength, except to say that I am currently deep squatting 160kg for 6 reps with no equipment at bodyweight of about 84kg. I also started doing some low intensity core work, particularly between reps on my tempo days but I don’t think core endurance would be a problem anyway since I’m talking just short distances anyway (20-40m).
As my good friend always say, “Sprinting is about rhythm and relaxation”. The whole idea is knowing when, what, and how to execute the movement. Sprinting is about ‘feel’. Once the athlete understands what the movement is supposed to feel like, then most of the problems are solved. The key is how to translate the movement into the ‘feel’. This is the art of coaching. True some athletes do it naturally but the ones on the border line have to learn it.