Jon Goodwin’s presentation in Sweden was one of the best presentations on sprinting I have viewed in my lifetime. While I have seen his earlier presentations, this one had some great changes and added verbal conjectures that was both thought provoking and insightful. Horizontal force vs vertical force debates are pointless now as the evidence on force plates is very clear. Some people believe on or the other is more important, I think the infographic shows a clear picture of the problem. You may get faster with more horizontal forces, but adding more strength to a body part is a poor solution to the demands of the obvious. Gravity must be overcome to reduce breaking forces in order to get propulsion. Gravity must be negotiated and it get’s harder and hard to do with less and less time to apply forces. My hope is that over time better methods for stiffness can be developed as well as relaxation rates from the art of coaching can help sprinters get faster.
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