Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

If you haven’t seen it, check it out on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkPlF6L8FOE

It is a five part series analyzing Asafa Powell’s stride, start, muscles, training, etc. Don’t get too excited though, only some of it is in English.

There are a couple of issues that I want to address:

1) It seemed to me that Asafa’s sprint form missed some major markers, am I wrong on this? 

2) How close is Tyson Gay to the sprint model? I don’t have an acute eye for this, but he was noticeably better at full stride than Asafa.

3) Is the size of your psoas an indicator of speed?

4) I know in the Barry Ross thread, Mike mentioned that Flo Jo was in Mann’s top five all time for biomechanical efficiency? Who are the others? Carl? 

5) I wish this was in English!!!!

I’d seen that a while back. Pretty cool. Very well produced.

Chad Williams - 20 May 2008 07:09 PM

There are a couple of issues that I want to address:

1)It seemed to me that Asafa’s sprint form missed some major markers, am I wrong on this? 

Which ones would these be? I actually think he looks great.

2) How close is Tyson Gay to the sprint model? I don’t have an acute eye for this, but he was noticeably better at full stride than Asafa.

I’m not sure to be honest. At the time I had that conversation with Ralph, Gay was not at his current level. I also think Gay is quite good but I’m not sure if I think he’s better than Powell.

3) Is the size of your psoas an indicator of speed?

Not sure. I’ve heard this observation several times before. Never seen any research to indicate that it’s the case. It certainly seems to be somewhat more prominent in the best of the best (i.e. Flojo). 

4) I know in the Barry Ross thread, Mike mentioned that Flo Jo was in Mann’s top five all time for biomechanical efficiency? Who are the others? Carl?

Carl was number 1. Michael Johnson was also in the top 5. I can’t remember the other ones. These may seem like divergent techniques but the model is made specific to an individual by taking in to account their specific anthropometry.

asafas head isnt in line with his spine.  they didnt show too much of gay, but he looked a little bit more technically sound.  hes overall more graceful with a higher heel recovery and less knee flexion.  of course, its debatable whether or not asafas style is a technical flaw.

Regarding the head-spine alignment are you talking about during acceleration or at top-end? If the latter, with big posterior pelvic tilt (like Powell, Gatlin, and Dix), there’s always a slight compensation of moderate neck flexion and possibly even slight kyphosis of the thoracic spine.

Most of the data I’ve seen says that the best sprinters have hip extension and this seems to be where Powell really excels. Also, when the guy is ‘on’ he makes 9.7x look SOOO easy.

First thing I noticed about Tyson Gay is that he runs differently. I’m not sure if anyone else can see what I see but I notice a bit more hip rotation than current practice during the mid acceleration phase. Can anyone else see that?

Secondly, the influence of the psoas. Hoshikawa (2006) said that the higher the development of the psoas relative to the quadriceps, rather than size, is a factor in achieving better performance in 100-m race (for junior sprinters). However the relationships between the size of the psoas and 100-m performance is somewhere between 0.216 and 0.323 which suggests that there is hardly any correlation.

Also, Asafa appears to be trying too hard to smash the world record. Given his performances in the heats, if he just finished off the race instead of coasting as in the heats he would have beaten the record anyway. That’s what I reckon. Tell you what I’m looking forward to August.

Sorry I got carried away. I ended up talking about another video of the world championships which Tyson won. Apologies.

Cockysprinter touched on a couple of things I noticed . . . but here goes it. I said major, but I should have said minor.

-Elbow flexion is limited. Very little open and close.

-At mid-stance when the knees are together, low heel recovery and his arms seem to be ahead of his legs.

Although, like Mike said, his hip extension is sick! I love watching his starts.

I think his acceleration mechanics leave a little to be desired but I don’t have much problems with his top-end mechanics.

RE: Top End. I really don’t mind either his arm swing or his head position. I’m a big proponent of posterior pelvic position and as I mentioned I think any slight forward head position he has is a compensatory effect of the position of the pelvis. I don’t like how much Dix or Gatlin had but I don’t see anything that bothers me with that in AP. I think the arm swing is a by product of the tight leg cycle. I’d like to see a little more elbow-trunk separation in front of the body but it’s not a major deal as his posture is very good and this is one of the main thing this effects. As for the arms being ahead of the legs...they always are. Even in the most mechanically inefficient runners, the arms can easily lead the legs. In fact, they have to ‘wait’ at the terminal point of the swing for the legs to catch up.

Mike Young - 21 May 2008 08:34 AM

I think his acceleration mechanics leave a little to be desired but I don’t have much problems with his top-end mechanics.

RE: Top End. I really don’t mind either his arm swing or his head position. I’m a big proponent of posterior pelvic position and as I mentioned I think any slight forward head position he has is a compensatory effect of the position of the pelvis. I don’t like how much Dix or Gatlin had but I don’t see anything that bothers me with that in AP. I think the arm swing is a by product of the tight leg cycle. I’d like to see a little more elbow-trunk separation in front of the body but it’s not a major deal as his posture is very good and this is one of the main thing this effects. As for the arms being ahead of the legs...they always are. Even in the most mechanically inefficient runners, the arms can easily lead the legs. In fact, they have to ‘wait’ at the terminal point of the swing for the legs to catch up.

What are some of the things he can improve on in his starts?

Chad Williams - 21 May 2008 08:42 AM

What are some of the things he can improve on in his starts?

I would like to see a much bigger arm split on the initial steps (this is where arm swing can be most beneficial in my opinion) and I’d bring the head back in to a more neutral position.

Feels kinda weird talking about what a guy who’s run under 9.8 so many times can improve on.

Mike Young - 21 May 2008 01:09 AM

Regarding the head-spine alignment are you talking about during acceleration or at top-end? If the latter, with big posterior pelvic tilt (like Powell, Gatlin, and Dix), there’s always a slight compensation of moderate neck flexion and possibly even slight kyphosis of the thoracic spine.

Most of the data I’ve seen says that the best sprinters have hip extension and this seems to be where Powell really excels. Also, when the guy is ‘on’ he makes 9.7x look SOOO easy.

yeah i meant in acceleration.  i had no real problem with his top end form and i thought his extension out of the blocks was beautiful.

Is it just me ore did the hills he did in the video really stand out?  It seems like he is running up a hill in his starts, from his foot to his forward lean.  To me Asafa had a more efficient start; longer pushes, he keeps his legs beautifully inline.  You can really see how much Gay loses(and many others) on his starts when he pushes side to side (they showed it in slo-mo).