What if you took 1000 random men 5'9 and another 1000 who are 6'5" and clocked their 100. Wanna guess which group would be faster on average? We all know the answer to this one.
What if you took 1000 random men 5'9 and another 1000 who are 6'5" and clocked their 100. Wanna guess which group would be faster on average? We all know the answer to this one.
Rae got it goin' on pal wrote:
don knots wrote:Shaq reportedly ran 9.90s with ease in practice with no specific sprint training. Surely he could break the WR if he trained for it, but basketball pays more than track. Presumably there is an undiscovered man on this planet (probably in africa) who is 8 feet tall and could break the 9 second barrier.
I would have said that this was BS, but I read on another thread that Kenenisa Bekele did a 360 tomahawk dunk from the free-throw line. In light of that, this seems credible.
Exceptionally well played.
Don't worry geezer.
Bolt will never test positive, but the Jamaican house of cards will crumble around or shortly after Bolt's retirement.
10 years from now he'll be taken as seriously as Wang Junxia.
I am 6'9" and in high school I ran 100 meters in 14.0 seconds (with a tail wind).
Why can't I run 9.3 seconds since I'm so tall?!?!?
Oh, and the key here is 99% of the population is under 6'5". Therefore, if everything was equal, you would expect 99% of sprinters under 9.90 or 10.00 or 10.50 or anything to be under 6'5". So I see no evidence that it's a disadvantage.
That is spot on. Ive said many times Bolt was a 10.3/19.8/20.0 guy. Those were the fastest clean times I saw him run. His training partners and I actually laughed when he ran 10.3 in practice this was around 2006. The only thing I do not know is what he is taking and how they have done it with undetectable designers or what. I know guys in the Houston camps take a drug that makes your muscles fire faster it could be a combination of those and other steroids I am not sure. But he sucked in the 100 meters back then. What they have done to him is amazing to me almost unbelievable because Bolt peaked in his teens then hit a wall. To get him from that horrible slow start to a Ben Johnson type start is unreal the amount of Power he is generating.
This was when he was human lol
If super fast-twitch muscle fiber composition is a very rare but extremely important determinant of 100 m times, then it's not terribly surprising that 100 m times and height are not strongly correlated. However, if there is a slight positive correlation between 100 m times and height, then it's conceivable that crossing a very rare trait/strongly beneficial(super fast twitch muscle composition) with a rare trait/slightly beneficial (tallness) would result in someone who is that little bit faster than everyone else. Having said this, I still think Bolt's on the juice.
This guy is either obsessed with Bolt or just very very bored.
wrote:
This guy is either obsessed with Bolt or just very very bored.
It took over 10 years for Armstrong. Not sure SG can sustain his momentum for that period of time.
[quote]don knots wrote:
Shaq reportedly ran 9.90s with ease in practice with no specific sprint training.'
and no specic timing
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2009/08/analysis-of-bolts-958-wr.htmlthe clarifier wrote:
[quote]
Bolt exhibits no trade-off, and that is the giveaway. He is the best, not only at 100m, but at every single major segment of the 100m: 0-30m, 30-70m, 70-100m.
Did you write that or were you quoting?
If so, please explain (succinctly) how he is best from 0-30.
Thank you.
One more time...
Here is 6'5" Francis Obikwelu running 9.86 in Athens--silver, behind Gatlin and ahead of Greene. This is a must-see video just for the look on Gatlin's face peering over at Obikwelu. And that "little" Jamaican guy next to Francis is Asafa Powell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XNzW2bycLM
Here's 6'4"/195 Tommie Smith winning the 200 in Mexico City. And take a look at the running style in the second half of the clip. Does that not look like someone you've seen recently?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVFWEhqUAPw
Tommie was the first person under 20.0, but since he's tall, why didn't he go 19.19? Why did Obikwelu "only" go 9.86? These guys didn't accel nearly as fast as Bolt. Why not, they're 6'4" and 6'5"? I thought you just had to be tall to be as fast as Bolt.
The difference is the leg power in the early accel that comes from the drugs.
Look at Obikwelu standing and then running next to the other sprinters. He is 6,5 but he is a hunched over 6, 5 sprinter who also has considerable less stride length than the other sprinters. I don't think anyone here has ever said Bolt's success was all about height so I'm really even sure what you or the OP are trying to say. It is height + incredible stride length + turnover that made Bolt standout as a junior and now as an elite sprinter.
marijuologist wrote:
Sprintgeezer, your argument in severely flawed.
Nobody claims that being 6'5 is what makes Bolt fast.
"Why isn't the WR holder 6'10?" Nobody would argue that height alone makes you fast. The length of one's levers is ONE FACTOR out of probably dozens that, IN COMBINATION, determine how fast you run.
Bolt's exceptional leg length is ONE OF THE FACTORS that contribute to his superiority. It draws attention because it is obviously visible. We can't see the quality of his motor cortex, his proportion of fast-twitch fibers or the mounting points of his tendons. All we know us that the total sum of his physical attributes, including his leg length, make him the fastest man in the world.
All other things being equal, longer legs are an advantage. The reason the WR holder isn't 6'10 is that it's astronomically unlikely for a man of that height to also inherit all the other traits required to sprint at a world-class level. Being 6'10 is extremely unlikely, having a world class nervous system is extremely unlikely, having long muscle bellies throughout your body is extremely unlikely, having an extremely high percentage of white muscle fibers is extremely unlikely, having high mounting points is extremely unlikely, and having ALL OF THOSE TRAITS AT THE SAME TIME is extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely unlikely, and for such an unlikely individual to be born in a time frame and context that would make it possible for him to discover track and field, train for it and compete in modern organized sport is so mind-bogglingly unlikely that it just hasn't happened yet. That doesn't mean it can't.
.
I think that is a good evaluation of this issue.
Sprintgeezer wrote:
Why isn't every 6'5" person taller than every 5'10" person?
.
Lolwhat
marijuologist wrote:
Sprintgeezer, your argument in severely flawed.
Nobody claims that being 6'5 is what makes Bolt fast.
"Why isn't the WR holder 6'10?" Nobody would argue that height alone makes you fast. The length of one's levers is ONE FACTOR out of probably dozens that, IN COMBINATION, determine how fast you run.
Bolt's exceptional leg length is ONE OF THE FACTORS that contribute to his superiority. It draws attention because it is obviously visible. We can't see the quality of his motor cortex, his proportion of fast-twitch fibers or the mounting points of his tendons. All we know us that the total sum of his physical attributes, including his leg length, make him the fastest man in the world.
All other things being equal, longer legs are an advantage. The reason the WR holder isn't 6'10 is that it's astronomically unlikely for a man of that height to also inherit all the other traits required to sprint at a world-class level. Being 6'10 is extremely unlikely, having a world class nervous system is extremely unlikely, having long muscle bellies throughout your body is extremely unlikely, having an extremely high percentage of white muscle fibers is extremely unlikely, having high mounting points is extremely unlikely, and having ALL OF THOSE TRAITS AT THE SAME TIME is extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely, extremely unlikely, and for such an unlikely individual to be born in a time frame and context that would make it possible for him to discover track and field, train for it and compete in modern organized sport is so mind-bogglingly unlikely that it just hasn't happened yet. That doesn't mean it can't.
Brilliant analysis that will likely fly over the head of the Geezer.
blackcard wrote:
That is spot on. Ive said many times Bolt was a 10.3/19.8/20.0 guy. Those were the fastest clean times I saw him run. His training partners and I actually laughed when he ran 10.3 in practice this was around 2006. The only thing I do not know is what he is taking and how they have done it with undetectable designers or what. I know guys in the Houston camps take a drug that makes your muscles fire faster it could be a combination of those and other steroids I am not sure. But he sucked in the 100 meters back then. What they have done to him is amazing to me almost unbelievable because Bolt peaked in his teens then hit a wall. To get him from that horrible slow start to a Ben Johnson type start is unreal the amount of Power he is generating.
This was when he was human lol
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpPwyYjWr9U
OK let's take this further. This is the 2007 final in Osaka. Notice everybody running by or closing on Bolt at the end just like 2006 Lausanne:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5X0NzVBE8oNow this is Beijing, just one year later. He's a different person:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-a4nWW9aM8Now this is "Reputations: The Ben John Story Part 2." See Ben Johnson before steroids starting at 3:00 into the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwDXU683psUDoes the before and after with Ben not look very much like Bolt in 2007 and 2008?
Bolt is unique in a few ways, obviously his height, now toss in how he came to the 100m. All those years of over distance training can't be ignored. His speed endurance on a whole different level.
Yes his 6-5 stride makes a huge difference in his game. Is he running 9.58 at 5-10, of course not.
JustSayin wrote:
Look at Obikwelu standing and then running next to the other sprinters. He is 6,5 but he is a hunched over 6, 5 sprinter who also has considerable less stride length than the other sprinters. I don't think anyone here has ever said Bolt's success was all about height so I'm really even sure what you or the OP are trying to say. It is height + incredible stride length + turnover that made Bolt standout as a junior and now as an elite sprinter.
How does that make sense?
Speed = stride length * turnover
The guy could be 3' 8" or 9' 10" and if he has the given stride length and turnover then he will run with exactly the same speed.
So you are agreeing with me? Bolt's longer stride length + turnover typically associated with shorter sprinters is what allows him to finish the race in 41 steps when everybody else needs 44 or more. Kapish!