I agree with everything you said. Its sad that many people dont even realize how fast ben was for his time. Im sure ben would have put so much pressure on bolt that he would have nutted up. The only person i think would have matched ben’s start would be asafa. But I dont know what asafa would have done with been toward the end of the race.
just look at Soeul 88 and his acceleration at 30 and 60m is crazy. at 80 he had 2+ metres on lewis and then he looks around and shuts off WOW! honestly i think he’d blow bolt off the track even by looking at him. imagine 9.79 in 1988 while easing up! his diadora shoes werent exactly as up to spec as lewis’ shoe in 91 which was incredible by mizuno. mizuno even threaded his laces a certain way to reduce weight, they used colours for a specific reason and they were lite years ahead and still are!
im not a crazy BJ fan but what he and charlie did was incredible…INCREDIBLE! bolt would be a pussycat in the jungle compared to ben being a lion! meet promoters are happy with bolt due to crowds etc etc etc…as a moderator i must zip it sorry guys
Exactly! I’m tired of everybody riding bolts jock and using him as some kind of lab rat to study sprinting. Bolt is only 1 of MANY great sprinters that have walked the earth and it’s a disservice to other great sprinters to say he’s the holy grail just because he’s number 1 AT THE MOMENT.
While I’m at it, I get mad when I watch sprinting on TV because the commentary and focus is always on Bolt! Why?! There are 7 other lanes with people in them for god sake!!!
Rant over.
+1 I agree.
Yea, only sprinters and people who study sprinting really know what the deal is. I got into an argument last with with a dude who tried to discredit Ben and say Carl was the better 100m sprinter.
Coming away from that argument I realize that it’s all about IMAGE and how the media shapes people to think of others. People are so dumb, they never investigate things on their own to see for themselves if something is really true or not.
In regards to track surfaces and “what could have been done on today’s surfaces” let’s not forget about who may have been the fastest sprinter of all time: Bob Hayes
As to the question of sprint mechanics, there’s no question, in my view, that not only must the dynamics be individualized in order to suit each sprinter’s anthropometric proportions; but also their output potential at any given time (which obviously develops up to their peak)
I still think it’s fascinating that Nesta Carter essentially goes into complete knee extension prior to ground contact; hence, obviating “stepping down”. Something that Mo Greene also seemed to do which is really pronounced on the 6.39 in which he jumped but didn’t get called.
Yea the average american hates ben cause he was a cheat. I have made so many sprinters open there minds by making them read speed trap and watching bigger stronger faster.
lets not forget that mo ran it twice!
Very true. I have made friends with a fellow who ran 10.2 and trained with others who were in Charlie’s camp in the early 90’s as well as other high level coaches. He has shared some great stories with me.
In regards to track surfaces, bought the 2002 forum review last week and Charlie said that Ben ran something like 10.01 100m on grass. That said, is it safe to say synthetic tracks allow an elite sprinter to run around .20 faster?
As far as Bob Hayes, I’m afraid I’m not qualified to say much about him because it’s hard to me to compare sprinters when I dont have any splits and I’m not like PJ and others around here that are experts in analyzing flim. Split recordings started around 1988, no?
I don’t recall when FAT splits first became available.
As far as track surfaces go, I wouldn’t be surprised if the difference between two synthetic tracks spanning from the premier tracks of today to 20 years ago is in the 1.0-2.0 range; let alone the difference between today’s premier tracks and what Hayes was running 10.06 on nearly50 years ago
I have made friends with an American/Aussie who ran 10.3 and we had a bit of a private session, he asked if I had trained under Pfaff and he suggested I have taken what he was taught 20 years ago one stage further.
All these so called scientific studies are just a means of getting government funding, horseshit
Hence the beauty of what’s been and is currently investigated by the former and current communist/socialist regimes because, to the contrary, the state supplies so much of the backing in the interest of using athletics as a political weapon.
So the question is: who will be the first capitalist society to employ state sponsored athletics support proportional to the former USSR, GDR, and current China?
Who would you suggest, most of us know of undercover facilities but nothing like the former CB countries had.
What I know for sure is that my own country is likely at the bottom of the list of candidates. Considering our diverse gene pool it’s a travesty.
I don’t think it would go down well if our soon to be carbon tax was used to win a few medals. Maybe if a couple of our aircraft carriers were to park, huuumm!!. Nah me think we will continue to hire old CB coaches or those who have studied it. From what I have seen we should support more of the home grown stuff.
It wasn’t Pfaff it was Tom Tellez.
And the system that is being set up here has school teachers being the coaches, I was told the reasoning behind such a system is so everyone will be taught the same thing.
Sady could you please explain more regarding Tom Tellez? what did he/didnt he do?
I was asked by an ex American athlete if I had studied Tom Tellez. As an athlete this man has run 10.2, he laughs when he says in the US that ain’t good enough to make the final, he regards himself as an average athlete. I never asked but got the impression he trained under Tom when he said a lot of what I do is the same as Tom show him 20 years ago.
I have never met Tom Tellez or studied what he does, the only overseas coach I have seen is Loren Seagrave and that was in the late 80’s. I do see some of the Australian representative coaches doing drills that I was doing 10 years ago and when I asked one of them about the drills I was told he had just come back from the US where he was studing under Tom Tellez and proceeded to tell me who Tom is. The only coach who has helped me was Mike Hurst and it was possibly 6 years ago and it was through telephone calls, he helped me with programming for a young lady.
I no longer coach or have any intention of doing so, I will help my American friend as he requires and the odd CF member,
john smith coach to bolden,greene etc was an assistant to tellez at UCLA before tom went to houston. seagrave may have wroked under tellez but i aint sure but Pfaff uses alot of toms ideas. as far as drills, they havent changed and why should they? A+B skips etc are there for a reason and in actual fact training hasnt changed alot either…what charlie coached in the late 80s-90s is still used and has been proven and this also applies to TT’s work with his L-S approach. its other factors which have changed
After serving 22 seasons as the head coach at the University of Houston, Tom Tellez serves as a volunteer coach for the UH program. A member of the U.S. Track Coaches Association Hall of Fame, Tellez has produced some of the greatest track and field performers in the history of the sport.
His former Cougars included: four-time NCAA champion and nine-time Olympic Gold Medalist Carl Lewis, former NCAA and Olympic 200-meter Gold Medalist Joe DeLoach, two-time NCAA champion and Olympic Silver medalist Kirk Baptiste and three-time NCAA champion, Olympic Bronze Medalist Frank Rutherford and Olympic Gold Medal winner and three-time NCAA champion and former world 100-meter record holder Leroy Burrell.
He also coached three-time NCAA heptathlon Jolanda Jones, three-time NCAA long jump champion and USA Olympic team member Carol Lewis, USA Olympic sprinter Jackie Washington and NCAA 200-meter champion Michelle Collins.
In addition, he tutored NCAA 100-meter champions Sam Jefferson and Stanley Floyd; NCAA discus champion Rick Meyer, NCAA 60-yard champion Greg Edmonds, NCAA indoor shot put champion Mark Baughman, NCAA 400-yard champion Anthony Ketchum, NCAA high jump champion Brian Stanton, NCAA 55-meter hurdles champion Darius Pemberton and NCAA heptathlon and pentathlon champion Patsy Walker.
Currently, Tellez is coaching one of the USA’s rising stars in two-time NCAA long jump champion Jenny Adams. In addition to his UH proteges, Tellez has tutored Olympic Gold Medal winners Mike Marsh, Michele Finn-Burrell and 2000 Olympic 200-meter sprinter Floyd Heard.
Besides his outstanding athletes, Tellez also had some successful teams at Houston. In 1997 and 1998, he was named the Conference USA men’s indoor and outdoor track Coach-of-the-Year after leading the Cougars to four titles in their first two years in the league. He also was named the 1998 C-USA women’s indoor and outdoor Coach-of-the-Year after leading the Lady Cougars to both titles.
He also led Houston’s men’s team to a fourth-place finish at the 1996 NCAA Indoor Championships and that marked the ninth time that Tellez led the Cougars to a Top 10 showing at the NCAA Indoor meet. In addition, he guided UH to six Top 15 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
He also led the Cougars to the 1977 and 1978 Southwest Conference indoor championships.
In addition to his success as UH’s men’s coach, Tellez also began the Lady Cougar program and led them to three Top 10 finishes at the NCAA Indoor Championships and eight Top 20 finishes at the NCAA Outdoor meet. Houston also won the 1983, 1984 and 1987 SWC indoor titles and the 1984 and 1990 SWC outdoor championships under his direction.
Tellez began Houston’s coaching career as a graduate assistant coach at his alma mater, Whittier College, in California. After a two-year stint in the U.S. Army, he was named the head coach at Buena Park High School in California.
In 1961, he became the head coach at Fullerton Junior College before becoming an assistant coach at UCLA in 1968.
While at UCLA, he coached the likes of Dwight Stones, Mike Tully, Willie Banks and James Butts. In 1976, he was offered the chance to become the strength and conditioning coach for the Dallas Cowboys under Tom Landry. Instead, he opted to come to Houston and replace retiring track coach Johnny Morriss. In addition to his success at Houston, Tellez enjoyed tremendous success on the international circuit as well. Between 1984 and 1996, six of the seven United States sprinters who won Olympic Gold Medals were coached by Tellez and seven of the USA’s overall 13 medals were claimed by his athletes.
He was named the head coach for the 1991 U.S. national team that competed in the World Championships at Tokyo, Japan and was the head coach for the 1987 USA Pan American team.
He also served as an assistant coach for the 1980 and 1984 USA Olympic teams. He coached the throwing events in 1980 and the jumping events in 1984.
A former standout collegiate athlete in his own right, Tellez was a halfback and defensive back at Whittier College. He also was a sprinter for the school’s track and field team while earning a B.S. degree in physical education in 1955. He earned a master’s degree at Chapman College in 1962.
He and his wife, Kay, were married more than forty years before she passed away last fall. He has three children: Kip, Tina and Kyle, a current UH assistant coach.