What is interesting is that Laird has yet to win a title in his best event, the 200m, thanks to Boling indoors and Fahnbulleh outdoors. Sets up some nice dramatic tension for the Trials.
What is interesting is that Laird has yet to win a title in his best event, the 200m, thanks to Boling indoors and Fahnbulleh outdoors. Sets up some nice dramatic tension for the Trials.
It does not matter because through out my responses to you I considered your comment about being the fastest hs kid as over hyping and explained exactly. You responded by giving me as resume as if I responded to you by saying he was over hyped in general. While I might believe that in general, that was not the argument to you. My argument was narrow and very specific so yeah the entire resume was irrelevant to my argument.
Boling already has a new coach and her name is Caryl Smith Gilbert. During her modest stint at USC she developed sprinters TeeTee Terry and Andre DeGrasse.
Jsstthnkn wrote:
It does not matter because through out my responses to you I considered your comment about being the fastest hs kid as over hyping and explained exactly. You responded by giving me as resume as if I responded to you by saying he was over hyped in general. While I might believe that in general, that was not the argument to you. My argument was narrow and very specific so yeah the entire resume was irrelevant to my argument.
He was overhyped in general and my argument was narrow?
Seems contradictory.
Not sure why you feel someone with the following resume coming out of HS does not deserve lots of hype and expectations. You seem to offer no facts for your view although you think you "explained exactly".
Fastest HS 100m run under all conditions.
Fastest HS 100m run in a HS race.
Number 1 in HS in 100m, 200m, and the long jump.
Sub 45 second 4 x 400 anchor leg.
In the relay, his arms were almost going sideways. He needs to transfer to Houston. Carl Lewis will set him straight.
rudedog wrote:
DrGator wrote:
SOMEWHAT LENGTHY POST - but contains stats.
Ok…I am not sure anyone has messed up Boling’s mechanics. His technique has not improved a great deal in terms of arm action and posture, but his drive phase looks better, and he is decelerating less in the final 20m of his race.
Subsequently, his times have improved consistently in the 200m – which is his best track event IMHO. I think the LJ might be his best event overall (26’ 5.75” at SEC Indoors 2021), but that is a discussion for another thread.
Let’s look at the two sprints…in the 100m in HS, he was consistently a 10.2-10.5 sprinter. He peaked at USATF Junior Nationals 2019 and ran a 10.13 windy. But that was the exception. In his first full College outdoor season, he ran 10.21 or faster SIX times…albeit three of those times were wind-aided.
The others were not…
May 15th – 10.21 (SEC)
June 9th – 10.15 (NCAA)
June 11th – 10.19 (NCAA)
In the 200m, the improvement is even more significant. He was a 20.5-21.0 sprinter in High School. Peaking in the 2019 Junior Nationals at 20.36s.
This season, his first Outdoor season after High School, he has run faster than his previous PR FIVE times – just once was it wind-aided.
The other times…
Mar 13 – 20.19 (NCAA Indoor) …I know I might be cheating here, but it’s much more difficult to get a fast 200 time indoor.
May 14th – 20.27 (SEC)
May 15th – 20.06 (SEC)
June 11th – 20.28 (NCAA)
So, Matt Boling has improved. He is a redshirt freshman Outdoors. I did not expect him to blow the doors off everyone, but to be in the conversation at this level and to medal in the NCAA Indoors and the SEC Indoors AND Outdoors…that’s no small feat. I do think the rumors of his demise are grossly premature. As I said in a previous post, let’s see where he is next year…
Good post, doc. I think when he learns to trust his speed and not devolve into his grimacing, trunk twisting, fist clenched when challenged, we will see that he has significant head room. Geez, 10.15 is way faster than Borzov ran at age 20
So true...he has three years of Outdoors left. Let's see where he ends up in terms of times.
Sprintgeezer wrote:
rudedog wrote:
Good post, doc. I think when he learns to trust his speed and not devolve into his grimacing, trunk twisting, fist clenched when challenged, we will see that he has significant head room. Geez, 10.15 is way faster than Borzov ran at age 20
Yeah BUT that is the whole point of coaching. Boling was already a good, fast athlete in HS. An athlete will naturally increase the levelnof their potential as they mature and strengthen, but an advanced coach needs to take that raw ability and remove barriers to achieve that potential. In this, they have failed.
He has been marginally faster on occasions when it didn’t really matter. Every hack exhibits this same pattern. Well-coached and well-trained athletes, otoh, exhibit precisely the opposite pattern. The list is too long to get into, but even extends to Boling analogs like Lemaitre.
Not only is he not developing a winning championship pattern, it actually appears that he has either stood still while others develop a winning pattern (100), or actually developing a losing pattern (200).This is a disaster. How were his hs champs times vs his other times in the season? How were his final NCAA times relative to his others this season? They are either disastrous like the 200, or only marginal like the 100 (10.21 basic, twice), with the final being no better than the semi.
Some coaches just suck, and are stuck on things like struggling with basic mechanics. Among coaches who are any good, the important thing is to successfully match the coach to the athlete’s needs. Either his coaches just plain suck, or there is a bad mismatch. The only improvement he has shown has been natural improvement from physical maturation—and even at that, they might have actually held him back.
From where I sit, they have done him, at best, no good whatsoever.
Those 2 years are a huge 2 years, he will never get them back. Life’s too short, make the switch now. Find a better match.
WAIT! Two things...his improved performances are only due to maturing? Not true...I could list 10 athletes of the top of my head who were State Champs in High Shcool and have done nothing of note their first two years in College. NOTHING! So maturing is absolutely no guarantee of improvement...much less winning an NCAA title.
You are saying he did nothing of note when it mattered. Winning NCAA Indoors did not matter? He performed exceptionally well then. Additionally, he medalled in the BEST conference in the nation. I am not sure I get your point. He is just not the BEST college athlete at this stage of his career. IO think a lot of folks are premature in their judgments here. He will medal Outdoors next year...might not win if Fahnbulleh learns how to run the first 20m of a race, but many Olympic medalists have not won gold at NCAA's. I am not a huge Matt Boling fan, I think his upside is a bit limited. But give the kid, and his coaches, a break! I think two years of College Outdoor Track might be a better barometer for MB. Get back to me next year.
slowbro wrote:
DrGator wrote:
SOMEWHAT LENGTHY POST - but contains stats.
Let’s look at the two sprints…in the 100m in HS, he was consistently a 10.2-10.5 sprinter. He peaked at USATF Junior Nationals 2019 and ran a 10.13 windy. But that was the exception.
…
In the 200m, the improvement is even more significant. He was a 20.5-21.0 sprinter in High School. Peaking in the 2019 Junior Nationals at 20.36s.
Great post, I just want to correct. Boling’s HS PRs we’re run at Pan-Am Juniors in 2019.
10.11 (0.5)
20.31 (-0.8)
He’s obliterated the 200, but been a far cry from the 100m.
https://panam2019.org/ResultadoNew.aspx?eve=696&pru=1121&ser=2
Good point. However, he graduated HS in May 2019. So I didn't count that as a HS record.
It may not be all Georgia's coaching that changed his form though. His is taller and heavier which could have effected his turnover and he might just be like asafa Powell he runs relaxed until he races opponents as fast as him then he tenses up.Georgia isn't correcting mistakes, but they may not be causing them
FYI - Matt chose UGA, so he could be close to his Twain brother Mike who goes to Georgia Tech and in the NCCA Championship he really looked fatigue in the 200m, let’s see if UGA leans Matt down a few pounds and work on his start and endurance for next season And for transferring, we all have to wait and see
DrGator wrote:
Sprintgeezer wrote:
Yeah BUT that is the whole point of coaching. Boling was already a good, fast athlete in HS. An athlete will naturally increase the levelnof their potential as they mature and strengthen, but an advanced coach needs to take that raw ability and remove barriers to achieve that potential. In this, they have failed.
He has been marginally faster on occasions when it didn’t really matter. Every hack exhibits this same pattern. Well-coached and well-trained athletes, otoh, exhibit precisely the opposite pattern. The list is too long to get into, but even extends to Boling analogs like Lemaitre.
Not only is he not developing a winning championship pattern, it actually appears that he has either stood still while others develop a winning pattern (100), or actually developing a losing pattern (200).This is a disaster. How were his hs champs times vs his other times in the season? How were his final NCAA times relative to his others this season? They are either disastrous like the 200, or only marginal like the 100 (10.21 basic, twice), with the final being no better than the semi.
Some coaches just suck, and are stuck on things like struggling with basic mechanics. Among coaches who are any good, the important thing is to successfully match the coach to the athlete’s needs. Either his coaches just plain suck, or there is a bad mismatch. The only improvement he has shown has been natural improvement from physical maturation—and even at that, they might have actually held him back.
From where I sit, they have done him, at best, no good whatsoever.
Those 2 years are a huge 2 years, he will never get them back. Life’s too short, make the switch now. Find a better match.
WAIT! Two things...his improved performances are only due to maturing? Not true...I could list 10 athletes of the top of my head who were State Champs in High Shcool and have done nothing of note their first two years in College. NOTHING! So maturing is absolutely no guarantee of improvement...much less winning an NCAA title.
You are saying he did nothing of note when it mattered. Winning NCAA Indoors did not matter? He performed exceptionally well then. Additionally, he medalled in the BEST conference in the nation. I am not sure I get your point. He is just not the BEST college athlete at this stage of his career. IO think a lot of folks are premature in their judgments here. He will medal Outdoors next year...might not win if Fahnbulleh learns how to run the first 20m of a race, but many Olympic medalists have not won gold at NCAA's. I am not a huge Matt Boling fan, I think his upside is a bit limited. But give the kid, and his coaches, a break! I think two years of College Outdoor Track might be a better barometer for MB. Get back to me next year.
Two answers!
All guys mature physically between the ages of 19 and 21, in a way that is beneficial for sprinting, as long as they are in training. No, maturation is no guarantee of improvement--it can be interfered with, by either sloth (no training), or training that is just flat-out wrong, all other things being equal. I am of the mind that either his training did him no benefit at all and any improvement we saw came from maturation alone, or that his improvement due to maturation would have been even greater had bad coaching not actively been detrimental to him.
That is why I suggested that he just run free at trials. Who knows, he might be better just forgetting everything UGA and being himself.
Second, no, indoors doesn't matter. It's interesting, a curiosity, an aside--but in the big picture, it doesn't matter. Same with sectionals. They are just stepping-stones, preludes to the real show, which is the NCAA's, open nationals, trials every 4th year, WC's and Olympics--i.e. the top of whatever competitive category he's in. Right now that is NCAA, because he hasn't earned a spot on the national team, WC team, Olympic team, etc. This was his first time competing when it mattered, and it was a failure. Yes he had "respectable" results, but look at how he achieved them, and look at his potential. I agree that he had a great indoor 200m time...but ultimately what did it get him? Nothing. What could it have gotten him? Nothing. It is just an aside, something that doesn't really matter.
And once again, nobody that I have read here is "judging" Boling personally--we (I, at least) am judging the coaching he has received, as judged by how he performed. Yes there could be confounding factors, like injury, illness, etc., but we haven't heard anything about those things. By all accounts he was healthy and ready to go.
And if you will note, I confined my criticism to this meet. I said this meet was a disaster. And it was. The only good thing about it is that it might put some more fire in his belly for trials.
And if he lays down a good 200m time at trials but runs it in a ridiculous and tortured way,, it will be DESPITE the coaching, not because of it.
If otoh he executes a beautiful race to a time that is fast for him or an excellent placement, I will be equivocal about the coaching and consider that they have achieved some redemption, but that NCAA's still sucked and that the overall package was inconsistent.
One thing for sure, trials will be interesting.
FYI - Fahnbulleh didn't compete in the US Olympic Trials because he will be - competing / representing the country of Liberia in 2021 Olympics
Well, Georgia is getting a new coaching regime (and a very good one based on results), so maybe he doesn't need to transfer out (if he ever did).
Why didn't Matt go to USC in the first place if he wanted he wanted to be coached by Caryl and her staff? Who says that he will stay at Georgia because of Caryl?
Matt really does need a new coach, he ran 10.11 & 20.31 at the 2019 Pan American U20 Athletics Championships in San José, Costa Rica as an 18 year old. He ran slower in both events his Freshman year at UGA, but did reduce his 200m time to 20.19 as a Sophmore.
I expected more improvement.
Javman started this thread and posts on another sports forum, yappi, quite often. If he reads this thread I would be curious to hear his opinion of Abby Steiner's form. Many say she could be a lot faster with better form. Asking because I know that you follow her closely. Maybe she needs a different coach?