About how much faster are relay splits?

TheOctopus911 wrote:

I ran an 11.1 on the open 100.

I ran a 23.8 on the open 200.

I'm running second leg on both those relays two weeks from today. On average what should I expect? What can I do between now & then to get faster?

Splits from relays shorter than 400 are pointless. That said: about 10.3 and 22.9.

How to get faster in two weeks? Practice handoffs and accelerations.

Bump, need to know because they still put me on JV. Really want to move up to varsity, I know I'm faster than most of them

TheOctopus911 wrote:

Bump, need to know because they still put me on JV. Really want to move up to varsity, I know I'm faster than most of them

If you are faster than them why haven't you run faster than them? I don't understand why you have slower times than them if you are faster than them.

I think he's saying the other kids were given relay spots based on relay split times compared to his open time.

Well that would be pretty dumb for the coach to do. Like others said, splits for the short relays don't really matter, just run you best and have clean hand offs.

Cronje wrote:

I think he's saying the other kids were given relay spots based on relay split times compared to his open time.

I honestly don't know their reasoning behind them. I have video of me running 11.1 & know that they did not run that. It could also be because they're seniors & I'm a sophomore in high school. Not sure, but to the point I need to know this. Unless first answer is completely correct. I like hearing different opinions

I do have faster times tho

The one who said relay splits below 400 are pointless was likely a distance runner who doesn't have a clue about running the 4X1 because he's not fast enough. In fact, splits for 4X1 are more carefully kept than 4X4 because the pass is a much bigger part of the total time (and RISK!!!).

Splits for every slot except the first are about 1 second faster than open FAT time. For example, Bolt and Powell have splits in the 8.6-8.8 range.

But to understand that it's not just how fast you are, watch the Poland team on youtube (every year they're very good at baton passes because they don't exactly have Jamaica speed). This is one thing to concentrate on, because you can easily lose more time in the pass than you can gain by concentrating on acceleration.

Understand, though, that a relay team is a TEAM, and team dynamics matter. It's not just how fast YOU are but also how fast you make the guy behind and the guy in front of you, and if a coach has a team he likes and that wins, he doesn't want to break it up, and that can make breaking in in the middle of a season difficult.

Splits for

I said splits for distances less than 400 are pointless because the coach cannot be at ALL of the relay exchange zones when the handoffs occur, and therefore are estimates made from a farther away vantage point that hopefully can clearly see the center of each exchange zone in their lane. On top of that, the 100m runners are obviously moving much faster than the 400m runner, and so it's harder to be right on the money with splits for a 4x100 than 4x400.

Any track coach worth a grain of salt knows that timing is much more accurate when you are at the finish line rather than half the track away and at an angle. The same reason applies to relay splits across the track.

It's not that it doesn't matter how fast a runner runs their leg in a 4x100m, it's that it's extremely difficult to get ACCURATE splits for everyone on the relay, and because of that a split in the 4x100 or 4x200 means less. What matters is how fast a kid can sprint and the other factor that we both mentioned: HANDOFFS. I'll take a kid that runs 11.1 in the open 100m over a kid that runs 11.5 in the open 100m but gets timed at 10.6 on a split any day of the week as long as the handoffs stay smooth and efficient.

I've never before heard any coach seriously say that splits for the 4x100 are better are more accurately kept than splits for the 4x400. I suppose there are others out there who believe that, but I don't see how that's true given the uniformity of 4x400 splits (there only being one exchange zone for the coach to be at or watch).

You need to think out of the box. Accurate splits in the 400m relay can be done with four watches...one at each zone. It's not rocket science.

Octopus, here's an attempt to give you an answer to your real question: Talk to your coach, but make sure you talk to him the right way. So find a good time - not right at the beginning of practice or in the middle of workout; set up a time to meet with him. I think you want to know two things: 1 - What are his expectations for the particular relay leg you're vying for; and 2 - What do you have to do to improve your chances of getting that slot?

There are many considerations for spots: who runs a curve well, who hands off smoothly, relay chemistry, and of course speed. But I've had fast runners I couldn't put on the sprint relay b/c they made exchanges a mess. And, this indoor season in the 4x2, I replaced a leg with someone 1.5 seconds slower, and the team ran 3 seconds faster. Chemistry matters.

So talk to your coach - it will help you become a better runner, and it's the sort of thing one does in the real world to resolve problems. DO NOT ask, why am I not on the relay? You should be asking more about how YOU can get better so you can be in consideration for that relay.