How do sprinters train to improve reaction times?
How do sprinters train to improve reaction times?
Play Counter Strike: Global Offensive.
When you hear even the faintest sound of a silenced pistol aiming at you from a blind spot, you immediately run away or turn your crosshair towards them and start shooting.
You can't evade shotgun bullets though. That'll get ya dead.
By training the mind in ways that increase attention, making it harder to fall prey to distractions.
One way to increase attention is meditation. There is growing evidence that meditators can be trained to control a variety of reflexive reactions, including the "startle reflex" to loud, unexpected sounds. The explanation seems to be that meditation trains attention, making it harder to be distracted.
It is not clear whether that increase is enough to make up for natural variation in reaction times.
http://scienceblogs.com/developingintelligence/2008/06/30/opening-the-minds-eye-attentio/
Does anyone had actual studies done to show that training can improve reaction time?
Keep in mind that in a lot of sports, it is not reaction time per se but you are picking up cues from your opponent.
luv2run wrote:
Does anyone had actual studies done to show that training can improve reaction time?
Keep in mind that in a lot of sports, it is not reaction time per se but you are picking up cues from your opponent.
Almost all elite sprinters consistently leave the blocks .13 to .16 seconds after the gun.
https://i2.wp.com/www.sportsscientists.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/usain-bolt-100m-wr-biomechanical-analysis.pngThis .03 difference is almost always less than the time that separates first from second, second from third and so on even in the 100m dash. So for sprinters, having a bad reaction time would be lazy but there is no point in practicing the actual reaction more than necessary to be on par.
A bad start is generally due to a stumble or weak push-off rather than slow "reaction" time. Also, sprinters only have one reaction to make to the gun (i.e. go straight forward as fast they can) so its not like playing shortstop in baseball where reflexes and split second body control are an all-important attribute.
off the juice wrote:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4WYlRcuLpR4
Denzel knows.
The gunshot knows no fear.
There is an app (for android, one is Sprint Start Timer). You put your phone on the back of the starting block leaning against the block and the app will give you a On your mark, set, BANG command. The shake when you start measures reaction time.
Not a Sprinter wrote:
Almost all elite sprinters consistently leave the blocks .13 to .16 seconds after the gun.
This .03 difference is almost always less than the time that separates first from second, second from third and so on even in the 100m dash. So for sprinters, having a bad reaction time would be lazy but there is no point in practicing the actual reaction more than necessary to be on par.
None of which proves that good reactions times are the result of training.
IMG Academy does a lot of work in this area, with visual/muscle reaction and the like. I do not coach there so Idk the full scope of their work, but they seem to lead in this.
For my sprinters, I do a lot of ball drills: I coach soccer too so we do a lot with throwing and kicking basketballs and soccer balls back and forth, passing drills in a circle and such where you never know who will get passed to next and the goal is to pass away as soon as you make touch with the ball.
DDR, the dancing video game and things like that can help, also. Anything giving visual or auditory cues where the player has to respond with a physical response like moving, jumping, or passing a ball is helpful. I think general video games also may help some but don't know the research on that really.
Also, I do a ton of training on how to take curves on the track. I try to address every aspect encounter in a race, but yes, getting out of the blocks as fast as you can without any false starts is the big thing here.
Not a Sprinter wrote:
Almost all elite sprinters consistently leave the blocks .13 to .16 seconds after the gun.
...
This .03 difference is almost always less than the time that separates first from second, second from third and so on even in the 100m dash. So for sprinters, having a bad reaction time would be lazy but there is no point in practicing the actual reaction more than necessary to be on par.
You know they got to that 0.13 to 0.16 range through experience, right? A newbie in his first race will be substantially worse and yes, it is improved with experience.
HardLoper wrote:
Not a Sprinter wrote:Almost all elite sprinters consistently leave the blocks .13 to .16 seconds after the gun.
...
This .03 difference is almost always less than the time that separates first from second, second from third and so on even in the 100m dash. So for sprinters, having a bad reaction time would be lazy but there is no point in practicing the actual reaction more than necessary to be on par.
You know they got to that 0.13 to 0.16 range through experience, right? A newbie in his first race will be substantially worse and yes, it is improved with experience.
Why do those 100 year old sprinters not get moving for a couple of seconds then? Don't they have experience?
