I have a question for you Charlie. Given that Ben Johnson was as successful as he was with his start, would you encourage a young sprinter(or any sprinter) to try to emulate it. I have always tried to start like Ben, my best time after 1 year of track is a 6.86 55 and a 11.4 100. When I toy with a conventional narrow start it feels more natural. Given 10 beginning sprinters, Ben being one of them, would you try to have them all leap out of the blocks or start more typically?
trying to copy ben johnsons start is ok, if you keep pushing when you make first ground contact. johnson jumps out (which is good) and keeps pushing up the track until he achieves a vertical posture – that takes along time… alot of guys who jump out stop pushing when they hit the ground on stride one.
Ben johnsons angle of departure was a few degrees lower than most conventional starts. he was able to do this because he was amazingly strong in the compound lifts, he has had years of correct coaching, and also a huge factor is his deveoplemt and strength of his erector spinae muscles, he used many training components ems on the back naturally strong back anyway and med ball work it takes ages, and as you say the narrow start feels more natural i suggets you go with that , think of it this way how many world class sprinters have you seen that can reproduce what ben johnson could do??
My lifts are as follows…
CLEAN-275
HANG-295
SQUAT-475(rock bottom)
BENCH-315
DLIFT-560
I think I am very strong for a sprinter. I just wonder if by jumping out of the blocks you lose your advantage by having to work harder to recover on your second step. Kind of like pulling too long in a clean, or holding too long in a vertical jump.
I once asked BJ what he thought his best physical asset was as a sprinter and he replied: “My back.”
Ben started the way he did long before he was as strong as he later became. It was different but I didn’t change it because it was natural for him.
No one else in my group started that way and Desai Williams (6.47 60m in Seoul, Mark McKoy (WR in 50m and 60m Hurdles), and Angella Issajenko (WR in 50m) were also terrific starters.
I would recommend you start they way that is natural for you.
The problem is I read Speedtrap and CFTS before I began track and since day one tried to emulate Ben’s start. I have a meet in couple of weeks, and practice until then. I’ll have to experiment a bit more.
i like your strength numbers but if u r doing the pclean and hclean correctly ur pclean should be higher…
Not always. Many people have a stronger hangclean than powerclean due to the reflex action of the dip-to-pull phase.
and those people who do often use bad tech bc they use the countermovement which is not proper tech…
I actually think it’s a misconception that more velocity can be generated in the hang clean. IF an athlete’s technique is correct they should actually be able to both clean more and move weight faster with a full clean technique. I think the reason most athletes have such a discrepancy between their hang clean numbers and their power clean numbers is because when they do it from the hang they use a countermovement rather than starting from a completely static position. This countermovement produces a stretch reflex which increases force output. In a correctly executed power clean with a double knee bend athlete’s will get the same stretch on the muscles as well as the added benefit of an already moving bar. If one were to do hang cleans from a box (with the bar completely resting on the box in the starting position) and compare it to power cleans from the floor I think one would find that even athletes with imperfect technique would move the bar faster from the floor. Hang cleans are nice but I don’t think this is necessarily a justification for using them…at least not without making the playing fields equal (by taking out or adding countermovements).
The stretch in the powerclean is not the same. It is the body moving down and around the bar-getting back under it. In the hangclean the body is dipping straight down. Both lifts are interchangable as long as when you get to your knees you jump as hard as you can. The difference is marginal.
…And what do you clean? Your profile says your a Olympic Lifter.
lol no im not a weightlighter i play football/track… but i just clean 330 2 weeks ago/squatted 550/front squat 375 couple days ago…
What do you weigh? Good lifts.
Guys not to jack this thread but…
relaxed in the set position or body rigid pretensed?
Im having a hard time with this. I think its havign a large impact on my reaction time and shitty starts.
i try stay relaxed
right now194 5’8
Quickazhell…relax, but except the tension that comes from thinking ablout your first movement out of the blocks.