giving splits

No, it's not a silly rule. It is an IAAF rule.

Okay so if a rule is an IAAF rule then it can't be silly because it's an IAAF rule. Got it -- Thnx Bro!

thanks for posting some good advice - but otherwise, advice to everyone: "don't be a 'little league' parent" - nobody wants to see that. i was top 5 in my state in xc, indoor and outdoor ... my parents never called a split a day in their life, but one of them was always there at every track meet, cross country meet or road race being supportive when i ran well or when i finished DFL - that is what kids need, not sideline coaches.

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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ THIS!

Man, I would have loved to coach you & have that coach/student-athlete/parent relationship! As a coach, I can not even begin to express my frustrations at wacky "little league parents" who attempt to undermine my coaching. Meanwhile, they know nothing about the sport except their kid came out for it. They contradict so much of what I'm trying to do.

I actually had a parent a few years ago yell at his kid to start kicking the last 100 of LAP SEVEN (of the 3200)! And, he did! Boy, that was a sad final lap as the kid was gassed. Sigh.

What state are you from? I'm from NJ and at every meet I'm at officals call out 400 splits and coaches also shout out splits to their own runners. Theres never been any issue of a rule violation. I'm sure parents are in the mix of shouting out splits too but I never realize. Even if there is a clock at the finish line officials call out splits.

As a dad of a Colorado High Schooler, I've been somewhat appalled at the lack of consistency with the reading of splits. At less than half the meets this year has anyone read the 400 splits. My daughter never knows ahead of time if she will get splits or not, so I stand somewhere else and let her know if she's on the pace she wants (3 seconds fast, 1 second slow, etc.). This is 5A as well, and at some huge invitationals. Very inconsistent.

Lemon Drop wrote:

I would NEVER call out splits for my kid during a race. Teenagers need to learn how to pace themselves... in workouts.

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This makes no sense to me at all...kids need to learn how to pace themselves in workouts, so they should have no idea how fast they're going in the race? If the kid has a decent coach, he/she will probably tell them if they're going too fast, too slow, etc. but if the coach is clueless, I don't see the problem with a parent calling out splits, especially in a dual-meet where (typically) no one cares.

Thnx Bro wrote:

Okay so if a rule is an IAAF rule then it can't be silly because it's an IAAF rule. Got it -- Thnx Bro!

No, the fact it is an IAAF is not what makes it not silly. It is the rationale behind the rule that makes it not silly.

The point is a level playing field for all athletes. As several have pointed out, it can be quite useful to know one's elapsed time (or, 'splits' as most people seem to call it).

But it would be unfair to provide that to one but not others. Hence why the rule is that the meet should provide equal information to all athletes. Having a coach/parent/groupie calling out elapsed time (or 'splits') to one athlete is not permitted under the rules.

If the meet doesn't have a finish line clock or a designated official to call out times, then feel free to volunteer yourself for that role.

In a relay there is no efficient way to give each runner splits since two runners can cross the line at the same time and have different splits if they started their legs at different times.

You could have 4-5 coaches yelling 4-5 different splits at the same time. You certainly couldn't have officials doing this.

So to be fair, no one should get splits.

In an open running event, it would be nice if their is an official calling out the running time from the gun.

But this is not always provided. So tough luck in that case.

An individual getting their splits called out is an unfair advantage.

It is a minor rule infraction that some don't care about but could get a DQ.

Oh yeah, having a kid repeatedly blow up meet after because they go through the 400 5 seconds too fast will eventually teach them a hard lesson. On the other hand, someone sitting at the 200 giving them some info so they can align how they feel with the pace they are running can do the same thing without having them blow half the season. Read the freaking splits - it's just information that an athlete can use or not use.

Some 800m runner wrote:

Richard Queer wrote:

Oh yeah, having a kid repeatedly blow up meet after because they go through the 400 5 seconds too fast will eventually teach them a hard lesson.

Why would a kid blow up repeatedly? The coach should know what kind of shape the athlete is in going into the first race, so goals should be reasonable. If the kid gets out too fast and falls apart, readjust and go out at a sensible pace next time.

You've never tried to get 15 year olds to listen or learn from experience, have you? We had a girl who would sprint the first 400 of every xc race, and the coach would talk and talk and talk and make her promise to stay behind the team's top runner. Next race, she's out leading the race again. My point is, many kids need as much help as they can get to learn to race smart.

Lemon Drop wrote:

Racehorse wrote:

I find it odd that they say a parent cannot give splits.

Imagine 20 high school kids in a 2-mile. Now imagine 20 parents (in addition to all the officials, timing equipment, etc.) standing at the finish line calling out splits. Chaos.

I would NEVER call out splits for my kid during a race. Teenagers need to learn how to pace themselves... in workouts.

I record race splits for my daughter on my iPhone so she can review them after the race, because coaches can't always get splits for every kid they have out there, but during the race, I want my kid's head in the race, not listening to mommy or daddy.

Ive been in races like that. Half the coaches shout out "75" the other half shout out the total time liek "3:45." Really its not that bad. You generally stick with the same group of people and can hear their splits and if you ride with them then yours is the same. Plus you can hear your own coach shout it out.

old track dad wrote:

I have a son and daughter who are competitive 3200 runners in high school. They generally have their splits memorized and watch the clock by the start/finish line.

But I still often yell splits to them, but not at the finish line. I got to the end of the first curve (at 500) and do it from there. That way it doesn't interfere and no one complains.

As for pacing, believe me they can pace! My daughter is on the verge of breaking 11:00, and the needs to know if she's at 81 or 84. She knows her planned splits, but if she gets a little off, that feedback is good.

I was assuming that there was no clock avaliable for the OP's kid. For us, only half of our dual meets have clocks to see, so without it its just a shot in the dark.

And if you are trying to run a fast time to qualify for a conference meet or something then it is unfair if you can't tell what time youre at, but the teams at the dual meet o nthe other side of town can see their time.

realtime answers wrote:

Athletics fans on an Athletics focused site should speak "track". Asking for split times to be called out for each runner is a different request than asking that elapsed time be announced at intermediate distances.

Um, yeah wrote:

Technically you are correct - it is 'elapsed time' that is called out, not 'splits'.

But many use the term interchangeably.

...and many are wrong.

Well technically split is legal for the time elapsed at a certain point. While lap is the past lap. So I guess its time elapsed if its present tense, but past tense the tiem elapsed at a certain point is the split.

Some 800m runner wrote:

Additionally, I think that kids should be encouraged to get out and compete instead of to treat every race like a time trial. If you compete, the fast times will come. They'll have their entire high school and college careers (if they choose to stay with the sport) to learn perfect pacing and to worry about splits. At 14, just have fun and race. I never would have fallen in love with running if my coaches had taken the approach of asking me to run by the stopwatch. What kid does enjoy that? Kids want to step on the track and try to beat everyone else in the race. Just let them do that.

Fast times wont always come. If youre in shit land and have no competition aside from 1 race at states, then thats no guarantee youll ever run near your best time.

ALso, Im a "kid." I enjoy the stopwatch. You on the other hand were the kid who enjoyed running a 60 the first lap and a 60 the last lap but 6 80s in between. To each his own, but you probably didnt produce as fast times or consistant places as the kids who ran smart.

toro wrote:

In a relay there is no efficient way to give each runner splits since two runners can cross the line at the same time and have different splits if they started their legs at different times.

You could have 4-5 coaches yelling 4-5 different splits at the same time. You certainly couldn't have officials doing this.

So to be fair, no one should get splits.

In an open running event, it would be nice if their is an official calling out the running time from the gun.

But this is not always provided. So tough luck in that case.

An individual getting their splits called out is an unfair advantage.

It is a minor rule infraction that some don't care about but could get a DQ.

In just about all of my college races we had multiple coaches or teammates yelling out splits to runners. It really wasn't chaotic at all. The coaches just spread out in the 50m or so past the start, and the athletes know where to pay attention. In the steeple and up splits are pretty vital, and even in some 1500's it was helpful to know on that last lap that a good kick would produce a PR. While athletes ideally should be able to feel out a pace, if you are in a longer race without a pack it can be easy to relax and fall off pace. For example, being off pace by half a second/lap in the 3200 is a four second difference that could make or break a PR. I'd say most high schoolers can't discern that small of a difference.

How about buying them one of these? Problem solved.

http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/detail.aspx_Q_ID_E_3353_A_CategoryID_E_405

My concern related to these lovingly attentive parents like Flagpole or Track Dad, who are hanging out on the backstretch calling out splits or whispering in code as their offspring fly past (I'm glad we established that splits are not the same as elapsed time, BTW), is what happens when they can't make it to a meet?

Personally, I don't miss watching my kid race unless wild horses are pulling me in the other direction, but it happens. And like another poster noted, in the big meets parents and coaches are not allowed anywhere near the track. Why create a dependence on hearing splits when that service won't be available to your child when the competition gets tougher?

I'll add that I don't remember a coach calling out splits during a race ever in my racing career, high school or college, XC or track, and I ran for good teams. Which brings me back to the impracticality of coaches being expected to call accurate splits for multiple runners in the same race, much less in a relay. Elapsed time, sure, but not splits.

Hard to do at Penn Relays.

But it is done. Some coaches will yell to their athlete.

I remember hearing Gagliano yell splits. His voice is very load and distinctive so it worked for Georgetown.

my coach stands in the outer lanes and gives me splits on the far side. the timers always yell out the time if there isn't a clock. my teamates sometimes yell splits from the infield. i'm not sure where this is an issue. i've never encountered it.

Not really an issue...at least not for me. My daughter to this point (track season ended last week) has just been in middle school and is just getting the idea of pacing down. Like I said in my first post, I likely won't be reading her splits when she's in high school...certainly not at big meets. To this point it has been a help because her coaches don't talk much about strategy or what splits to hit, etc. In her last 800 of the season, she led the whole way and was outkicked at the end by a really stellar 800 meter runner. Her coach said that if he knew that would have happened, he would have told my daughter to hang back behind her and outkick her. Huh? My daughter doesn't have blazing sprinter speed, so she needs to go hard from about 300 meters out. She would never be able to outkick that other girl unless she ran it out of her first.