But...but...but...Bolt is 6'5"!!!

JustSayin wrote:

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!

Are you really that dumb?

stride length * turnover = speed. This is a mathematical identity and says nothing whatsoever about the probability of Bolt (or some 6' 5" guy) becoming a superior sprinter.

Kapish?

The difference between Bolt's 9.58 and Obikwelu's 9.86 is the .25 seconds that Kelli White got from Victor Conte.

No drugs no medals.

Isn't it coincidental that the first white guy to break 10.0 (non wind aided) is 6'3?

Plus, there aren't that many 6'5" (1.96m) guys:

http://sugarandslugs.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/heights1.png?w=480&h=292

, relatively speaking. Plus, those with that kind of speed talent are probably recruited to do something else from a young age.

I've said this before and here it is again.

Watch the video and look at Bolt's relatively slow turnover, compared to Tyson Gay's Sonic the Hedgehog impersonation. Tell me, why did slower turnover win the race?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nbjhpcZ9_g

Geezer, it's not just Bolt's height but that sure factors in nicely. Sorta like basketball. You don't have to be tall to be good, but it sure helps.

Whaaat? wrote:

I've said this before and here it is again.

Watch the video and look at Bolt's relatively slow turnover, compared to Tyson Gay's Sonic the Hedgehog impersonation. Tell me, why did slower turnover win the race?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nbjhpcZ9_g

Geezer, it's not just Bolt's height but that sure factors in nicely. Sorta like basketball. You don't have to be tall to be good, but it sure helps.

Not as much as doping

Sprintgeezer, there is a good reason why the claim that Bolt , at 6'5", has an advantage at being the better sprinter. Keep in mind it is ONLY because of his stride length, not JUST because of his height.

Physics would show that longer legs, ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL (I'm using caps because I can't bold the print) would tend to slow a person down. Or at least give no additional advantage. If you look at a tether ball, as it goes around the pole it tends to speed up as the radius of the arc gets shorter. The simple truth is, longer legs tend to slow speed of turnover and the final result is that inertia begins to work against the taller athlete. The advantage Bolt has is that his turnover is every bit as good as the shorter guys, and full stride dynamics are unusual. And with his longer stride and same basic turnover speed of a shorter 5'9" Athlete, he will cover more ground in the same time as a Tyson Gay or any other doped would.

Bolt is unusual. Period. I also suspect he is doping, but I have no control to fix or change or prove it. Sorry for the disconnected post, I'm at work and a bit distracted as I write this.

Old Runner wrote:

The advantage Bolt has is that his turnover is every bit as good as the shorter guys, and full stride dynamics are unusual.

No, watch the video I posted above. His turnover is much slower than Tyson Gay's but you are right about his stride length.

:)

The 100 m guys can't be too tall, because height impedes acceleration. It's very simple.

The tallest runners are in the 400 m, because this race benefits from anaerobic capacity that increases with physical dimensions.

Longer distances than the 400 m require running economy. That's why runners are again getting smaller.

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.

Height: 2.16 m

Weight: 147 kg

Yes. NBA stars reportedly jump as high as on the Moon.

Wow, didn't realize this thread would get out of the blocks so quickly, it must be because the thread is tall.

No time, will respond to all tomorrow.

Quickly:

Marijuologist = Apologist All things are NOT equal. There is no free lunch.

Also, I will wait it out ten years, or as long as it takes. If I'm alive, I will dance on Bolt's t&f grave.

Finally, Whaaat, I hope that other thread is still up somewhere, I haven't checked. I do enjoy going back-and-forth with you guys, even though you are f-tards. Peace out!

Old Runner wrote:

Physics would show that longer legs, ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL (I'm using caps because I can't bold the print)

I don't see why not.

Hey hey hey wrote:

Old Runner wrote:

Physics would show that longer legs, ALL OTHER THINGS BEING EQUAL (I'm using caps because I can't bold the print)

I don't see why not.

try what is in quotes:

"[" "b" "]" stuff you want bolded "[" "/b" "]"

On a forum thats blatantly distance dominated and clearly anti-sprinting, sprintgeezer is probably the worst thing that could happen to it. In an already divisive environment, instead of teaching or bringing some useful knowledge to the board and elsewhere you flood the little sprint conversations that do go on here with drugs. Its not good enough to simply go around screaming that someone is on drugs when you either cant or arent doing anything about. I know plenty of athlets on drugs in every event in track but I dont get the same chubby from pretending to out them like you do.....

Even if Bolt is without a doubt on roids and its proven, this thread and the logic you and some others used in it is moronic and it makes me question how you've been able to get anyone to believe you're the source of any knowledge.

Well said. Geezer is the worst character on the board. The same ole tired rants day in day out. We get it - he thinks any sprinter under 9.8/9.9 is doped to the gills. But Gatlin has been redeemed and his 9.79 in London was clean. And Carmelita is also clean. And Gay was clean til he got busted cuz he never called him out as doped til he got caught. The most illogical character on here trying to pass himself off as knowledgeable.

This is bordering on one of the most ignorant posts ive seen so far. Believe it or not its not the worsr though.

Bolt has run as fast and faster than 10.3 en route when doing 200's. He also ran 10.1x in the 1st 100m in the Osaka 200m final. Running a 10.3 in practice if it actually happened is a lousy example to use to prove your point of him being a 10.3/19.8 guy. Which in itself is idiotic because you wont find more than 1 or 2 guys who've run sub20 who cant break 10.0....

Hes also never had a horribly slow start. Now you're just making things up. He would routinely out accelerate his competitors, only to get caught from behind in most cases. He also didnt peak as a teen. He was injured a few times and once those problems were addressed he began improving again. 2006 being his first injury free year.

And I say none of this to say that Bolt is clean. Its just that you and your buddies would have to find much more rational reasons to accuse him than what you've come up with so far.

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.

This is great.

The tether ball moves faster because it has less ground to cover. If the speed of limbs were the only determining factor of actual running speed than you would have a case. But since you want to actually cover ground, the speed of the limbs (tether ball) doesn't take precedence over the range of the motion. Anyone can move quicker in a shorter range, however that is far from whats desired when you're talking about sprinting.

Theres a reason why sports cars have wheels with such large diameters. A 20" wheel covers more ground in one revolution than a 16" wheel. So it doesnt actually NEED to spin as fast to actually get from point A to point B. But if it can....thats even better.

Technique goes a long way when pondering how an athlete can achieve certain mechanics. Assuming that Bolt being on drugs is the only way he could start the way he does is ignorant as well as fueling old and unnecessary srereotypes. Being tall doesnt mean you HAVE to suck at starting. Never has never will. I had an athlete who was 6'4" who everyone tried to say was a 400 runner, despite his obvious talent in the 100/200. Came to me at 10.9 & 21.7 and a year later was at 10.6 & 20.8 and was out accelerating athletes who were shorter on a regular basis. Went from 46 steps in the 100 to 43. This while still in my eyes, being extremely under developed. Afterall, he was only 18.....

Where are those tall and great 60m sprinters?

Being tall has always been an advantage in sprinting and always will be. The abundance of ignorance is what has allowed the stereotype of taller sprinters being anomalies and its why Bolt seems like such an outlier. Most 6'5" guys around the world arent running track. The ones that are get funneled into events that suit the stereotype by ignorant coaches and fans like you. Doped or not, if it were up to people like you he would be running the 400. Proven by the fact that despite his exploits he's still pushed by most to take up the 400. Truth is, hes extremely athletic and agile and I dont mean "for his height" but period. And he always has been.

Until people stop training tall athletes to NOT be quick and explosive, we'll continue to be dumbfounded by the Bolts and Randy Moss' s of the world. Francis Obikwelu is 6'4" and is every bit as capable of running 9.6-7....but his technique, mechanics and overall running sucks.

Carl Lewis had a slow start because thats what he was taught. At the time no one was attempting on the scale that it is today to maximize the acceleration of the athlete's. And taller athletes at the time were "expected" to be slow at the start. So this idea that there HAS to be a trade-off is false. Mo Greene was solid all the way through....I mean he holds the record for the 60, and i can count on one hand the amount of times hes ever been caught from behind. All of which happened at the end of his career.