I was watching a few vids and remembered a discussion that was had here a while back. It involved Asafa Powell and the seemingly missing aspect of triple extension he has when at full flight.
The general visual que for triple extension is the classic view of a straight leg extending slightly behind the athlete with the opposite knee being at it’s highest point. Like there jumping up and out.
But with Powell it’s very hard to notice this partly due to the fact that he has such good heal recovery, or the video cameras used aren’t fast enough;)
There was a discussion after his 1st WR in Athens in 2005 that involved his lack of triple extension. Or as I said, what seemed like a lack of. Charlie pointed out, and I cosigned that the vertical forces generated at that speed would cause the hips to be higher causing the triple extension to occur in a more vertical fashion. Making it look like he’s jumping straight up.
I sort of answered my own question then, but i’ll ask again to get some more thoughts. If triple extension is occuring in a more vertical fashion the more force you develop, does the visual evidence of a more BACKSIDE triple extension show evidence of a lack of vertical forces? Or could it be related to another technical issue.
yes i think your pretty much right… heigher hip height requires more power, and the toe off (of triple extension) occurs closer to the bottom dead center of the athlete, and i also think at thi s point of extreme GRF’s ,FULL TRIPLE EXTENSION at all joints is merely an illusion and is just not necessary…
Bobby Kersee is big on full extension–and he’s coached At LEAST 6 championship golds in the 100 and 200. I’ve heard him say that first you get the extension right in acceleration (transition if you’re a drive-phaser), then when you come up and get the body positioning right (Asafa, Justin, Allyson), everything should “click” into place.
