Start Positions

After reading the Vittori / Pfaff analysis article on Lewis’ start and accel, I have a few questions.

Vittori mentions that Lewis’ thigh to body angle is a bit larger than most sprinters because of his high level of power. If Lewis also had a high level of max strength, would it have made sense for him to have a smaller thigh to body angle so that he could exert a larger initial force?

I am mostly interested in the implications for court / field athletes, and how the concepts for a sprinter out of the blocks would affect general movement training strategies for athletes of varying strength/power profiles.

Nonetheless, if we can agree that the goal is to maximize the ratio of distance covered:time required to leave the ground (The most bang for the buck so to speak), then it seems like the optimal position/movement strategy will vary depending on which of the following profiles the athlete represents:

[ol]
[li]High levels of strength and power
[/li][li]High levels of strength but not power
[/li][li]High levels of power but not strength
[/li][li]Low levels of strength and power
[/li][/ol]
Is it true that you would utilize a different start position based on the above profiles?

If so, what would the set up look like (particularly thigh to body angle) and why?

Any insight is appreciated.

With lower power, you want a higher center of mass at the start but the main factor, since all top sprinters have great force potential, is the proportions of the body segments.

Do you see this with a lot of sprinters? I’m pretty sure i had got the idea of moving the hands in from something you wrote or said a few years ago.

I often see sprinters take so wide of a hand spacing in their set position that rarely do any of them seem to have good starts-there seems to be a bit of a delay present in their first few steps as well. Even some better sprinters seem to suffer from such a wide hand spacing.

Yup- hands straight down from the shoulders when you want to raise the shoulders and hips higher - blocks closer to the line - to raise the hips and overall C/G

How would you change start/acceleration position in relation to body proportions. I mean how would starting positions differ for a tall long limbed athlete vs a shorter athlete?

charlie would you say that an athlete with good amounts of strength and power would be hindered by using a close to the line with high cog. Also what would you say would be not enough power and strength to use it. I ask cos i have possibly the worst start going. I currently use a bullet start with my front leg knee about an inch from the line when put down. My reaction is fine but first few steps always behind until i can open up. Any help :frowning:

Charlie, what about pre-tension of the legs in the set position, should that also be a focus?

Depends on relativwe body proportions rather than height.

I always believed in some pressure into the blocks, if only to keep the heels pressed back on the pedals to help prevent rocking back at the start. Tension requires that your arms are pretty much perpendicular to the line as a forward lean might cause the block pressure to make you fall out of the set position.