Reason why Usain is faster than everyone else? Yes he is taller but that alone means nothing (combined with this "slenderness" rating). Because he is taller he covers more ground with each step he takes. But this doesn't mean anything if he can't move his feet as fast as a shorter athlete.
Longer stride + same footspeed as a shorter athlete = fastest man on earth.
Posts: 162 | Location: Georgia | Registered: December 16, 2005
ZD, Agree, but this makes sense in another way. The biomechanics of taller athletes were probably always advantageous (stride length, ect.); it is just the more focused training (a relatively recent phenomenon) allows that athletes to be able to provide the necessary output (strength, but more accurately "power") to make the biomechanics work. Interesting stuff. OBC
Posts: 134 | Location: Reston | Registered: January 25, 2008
If you look at athletes in basketball, on average who are the quickest and fastest, who are the slowest? There are freaks but generally speaking the shortest athletes are much faster than the tallest.
Posts: 725 | Location: Ohio | Registered: February 04, 2006
Originally posted by Innocent Bystander: If you look at athletes in basketball, on average who are the quickest and fastest, who are the slowest? There are freaks but generally speaking the shortest athletes are much faster than the tallest.
Yes, but generally speaking, consider that shorter athletes pass better. I don't think there is any obvious bio-mechanical linkage between passing ability and height. The explanation for better passing among shorter players is different: there is a much larger number of shorter players from which to choose the best passers.
Is there a linkage between height and speed/quickness? I think there is. If all else were equal, the taller player would be faster, because his legs are longer. But when you consider that there are many more players with shorter legs, and that some of those shorter players have a better ability to stride quickly, the net effect is the best shorter players are faster than the best taller players.
Posts: 1003 | Location: Belmont, CA | Registered: April 01, 2006
Hmm... I come from a large family, the three shortest boys out ran the three tallest. Of the three girls the shortest was the fastest. I have a ton of nieces and nephews, the fastest are short to medium, say 6'1" and below. Darell Green won NFL's fastest man competition any time he felt like it at 5'9". When my son was in high school the fastest kid in the county was 5'8". Must be something crazy in the water in my little world.
Posts: 725 | Location: Ohio | Registered: February 04, 2006
I had been waiting to see when a tall sprinter would come along who could increase his stride frequency. bolt did it. What if Andrew Brackman, who is 6' 10", could move his arm as fast as someone like Billy Wagner?
Posts: 420 | Location: North Carolina | Registered: January 11, 2004
