Well, we’ve already started with foot size etc. so I thought I would make my first post about leg length.
I would like to hear Charile’s opinion and then anybody else who has an expertise in this field.
Age: 11
Training age: 6th season
H: 162 cm
W: 46kg
Lower leg: 50 cm
Hip to heel: 98 cm
Achilles tendron: 11cm long
Calves H; 18- 19cm
Foot size: 10
30m standing - 4.36sec.
30m blocks- 4.42 sec.
30m flying - 3.82sec.
60m - 7.99 sec.
100m - 13.21 sec.
200m - 27.40 sec.
Considering that, for his age [11], he is a fairly tall boy [C. Lewis type] and has very long [but narrow] feet what is your opinion on the length of his achilles tendron and legs in general [based on the above info]. At this stage he is very fast for his age and I expect him to grow to around 195-198 cm. I just was wondering, because I have seen nothing like this before, if his foot size and extremly long legs would slow him down when he gets to teenage years because of his growth spurt [imbalance] but so far [and eventhough his feet are growing fastest -comparing to other parts of his body] it has not affected his speed whatsoever. It seems that he is even faster??? That really gets me confused! Any comments?
Thank you.
are u trying to predict the kids potential. at this point he hasnt even got half way through puberty. he could stop growing or be 7 foot. measuring his achillles in realtion to his body wont really tell you much about his potential and honestly it kinda disturbs me. if he is improving that is all that matters. conitinue to study the science of sports training so you can train him and stop worrying about the lenght of his achilles are age 11. its a factor you cant control. and is far from being the detreminate of his ability. if i read and understood your question wrong i apologize. but i dont think things like that dont matter especially at his age.
James, I think you got it wrong.
I know the potential of this kid and I know that he is young to talk about anything specific about him or his future. Let’s look at him as person “A”/object of an analysis and compare it with other objects B, C, or D at approx. that age. I think that scientists have been analyzing lots of elite athletes and their performances but I have not read similar and detailed analysis about kids. You will of course agree that kids are the future of athletics and that they have been competing as much as elite athletes if not more! Even here on this forum which I have been closely following since Charlie started it but until now I have been silent on many issues, there is not much of discussions of the young talented kids 10-15 y.o. even though, as I mentioned it, they have been competing on regular basis. They also want to train, learn, improve, get faster so all of the methods that adults use should be discussed, analyzed and applied [where appropriate] and if you measure AT of an adult athlete who happens to be an elite athlete in his “age group” well we can compare AT of a group of 11y.o or 14y.o. kids as well and then make some predictions, conclusions, you name it.
Remember Russians and their selection of young kids!