Enough of Clyde Hart and John Smith! What about Tom Tellez?

Last Updated on April 9, 2013 by Jimson Lee

I’ve been criticized on focusing too much on Clyde Hart and John Smith.

What about Tom Tellez? Coach of Carl Lewis, Michael Marsh, Joe DeLoach, and LeRoy Burrell with the Santa Monica Track Club? Even Jenny Adams up until the end of the 2002 season?

On the Collegiate level, Tellez is currently the head men’s and women’s track and field and cross country coach at the University of Houston, where he has coached since 1976. He was an assistant track coach in field events from 1968 to 1976 at UCLA (*cough* references to John Smith *cough*)

Sprinting: A Biomechanical Approach By Tom Tellez (part 1).
Part 2 will be presented tomorrow.

World class male sprinters stride approximately forty-three times for a 100 meter race. If a mechanical error costs one-one thousandth of a second per stride, the total cost is .043 seconds by the finish. How can one be an efficient sprinter? However daunting the question appears, an answer lies in scientific principles alone. Kinesiology, biomechanics, and the laws of physics govern every sprinter’s technique. Kinesiology, the study of movement, dictates how a sprinter should move. Contributing to the study of movement is the discipline biomechanics, which refers to the engineering of the body and laws of physics governing it. While referencing laws of physics, kinesiology and biomechanics view the body as a unified system of interdependent parts, an approach necessary for proper analysis.

Overview

At the start of a race, the body must begin movement from a rest state. Once moving, the body requires time to build into full speed, or accelerate to full speed. At the beginning of this process, stride length as well as the number of strides per unit of time is small. However, both increase as acceleration increases. While having the ability to accelerate over 100 meters would be ideal, the body is only capable of accelerating for approximately sixty meters. The last forty meters would simply be maintaining technique and speed. Analysis of sprint mechanic s explains the finer nuances of sprint technique, including impulse, stride length, stride frequency, running velocity, arm movement, and leg action.

Impulse

Impulse is not only a term for the foot-ground contact created by each step but also a numeric value defined as force X time. This is the starting point to understanding scientific sprint technique because the impulse is the body’s only interaction with the ground, the one and only interaction, which produces linear movement. Impulse ultimately defines how the body should perform rotary movement (movement of body levers relative to body). Vector calculus defines impulse: each impulse has a direction and magnitude.

Direction is the mixture of horizontal and vertical components, while magnitude is the measure of force. The best sprint technique consists of an ideal ratio between downward push and horizontal push (Fig. 9). This ratio, however, changes throughout the sprint race. Concerning force, of course great force can yield great stride length. However, misapplication of force translates to poor technique and loss of momentum. While the horizontal and vertical components of force within impulse play a role in creating body position, body position is also rotary. The ideal body position is perpendicular to the ground, where neck and head fall naturally in line. Depending on the impulse, the body may lean from the ground, as in the drive phase of sprinting, or remain vertical.

One finer detail of impulse relates to how various athletes contact the ground. 100-200 meter sprinters contact the ground on the ball of the foot (Fig. 1), 400-800 meter runners’ contact in the arch (Fig. 2) and 1500 meter runners and up use almost the entire foot as a contact point (Fig 3).

While producing the numerical value of each step in a print race requires special technologies, coaches can judge the quality of impulse by measuring momentum. For example, when sprinters show a “low and long” look like that of an ice skater, one possible error is too much horizontal force. A dramatic example of too much downward force would be an athlete who simply jogs in place without moving. But what if two athletes within a race produce near-perfect directional ratios, which one wins?

The one applying more force, within the least amount of time wins (Weyand et al.1998). Force applied for long time intervals requires more energy output than force application for shorter time intervals. It is force applied with the proper directional ratio, which increases stride speed and creates longer stride length.

Stride Length

Stride length is the distance the center of gravity travels between each foot contact. Stride length is the resultant of momentum plus net impulse, which is given to the mass. It can be examined as the following: takeoff distance, flight distance, and landing distance (Fig. 4)

Takeoff Distance
Takeoff distance is the distance the center of gravity travels between the landing point and the point where ground contact is broken. The velocity at which the center of gravity is projected forward is also critical to the flight phase of the stride and is determined by the velocity at touch down and the vertical and horizontal impulses. Thus the speed through the takeoff distance along with good body position and angle of projection determines the takeoff velocity. It will therefore be advantageous to have a big takeoff distance coupled with a great amount of angular speed as the time element of impulse diminishes. Here, it should be noted that the negative velocity of the foot sets up the body position for take off but contributes very little to the actual take off which is the result of pushing the ground away from the body (body away from the ground).

Flight Distance
The flight distance is the distance that the center of gravity travels in the non-support phase of the stride. These factors determine the flight distance: angle of impulse, velocity at takeoff, relative height of center of gravity at takeoff, air resistance, and acceleration due to gravity.

Landing Distance
The landing distance is the distance the center of gravity is away from the landing foot. This distance is relatively short so as to reduce the breaking forces, which decelerate the body. The point of course is to put the food down in a place, which can mechanically develop the most power. The foot lands slightly in front of the center of gravity before moving directly under the center of gravity for push off. If the foot lands behind the center of gravity, stumbling results. Whereas if the foot is too far forward I a reaching step, contact time with the ground will be too long, requiring too much force, resulting in a loss of momentum by the time the body is in a position to push off of the ground effectively.

Stride Frequency

Stride Frequency is the number of strides taken per unit of time. Stride time is easily confused with stride frequency. Stride time is the time it takes to complete one stride (time of support and time of nonsupport). Stride speed and angular velocity through the full range of motion (front and back oscillation) determine stride time. Because stride speed depends on the body state (fitness), it is more of a physiological function (muscle type, muscle flexibility, strength, neuro-muscular coordination, etc.) than biomechanical function. But, the paths the legs take that create speed and mechanical advantage is biomechanical.

Running Velocity

Running velocity is a product of stride length times frequency. Each athlete has a unique combination of the two at different running speeds. Common analysis of stride length and frequency mistakenly show the two inversely related. Stride length frequency are interdependent, where the relationship is based on the amount of resistance that must be overcome. Power (force X velocity) generated by the muscles improves stride length and frequency. The velocity component of power allows more work to be done (stride length) and increases stride speed (stride frequency).

ARMS

Coordinated movement of arms and legs remains the key to efficient sprinting. It is through range and force that the two coordinate. While the movement coordinates, arms lead legs in tempo and range. The following method of movement produces the proper range and force necessitated by the legs.

The hand is positioned approximately shoulder-high, but not exceeding the chin, and slightly in front of the chest (Fig. 8). From this point, the hand initiates the downward stroke by flipping downward while the upper arm rotates backwards from the shoulder, and the elbow joint opens or increases the angle between forearm and upper arm (Fig. 7). After the hand passes by the hip, the elbow joint begins to close again and drives backwards and upwards while the shoulder continues rotating through full range of motion (Fig. 6).

The swing forward requires a reversal of this process, where the elbow opens again while passing by the hip but closes after passing the hip until he hand achieves the approximate-shoulder-high position. Forearms and chest remain as relaxed as possible.

Scientifically speaking, the shoulder is the axis of rotation for the arm, while the elbow acts to shorten the lever when necessary. Closing the angle reduces the moment of arm inertia, increasing angular velocity, in turn creating quicker turnover. Arm movement without utilizing the elbow joint produces a straight-arm, pendular-like swing moving much too slow for leg coordination. Arm swing can allow for greater takeoff distance, enhancing stride length.

Leg Action

Overview
The vertical force comes at take-off when the mass is elevated by pushing downward (pushing off the heel back onto the ball of the foot). The recovery foot steps up and over the drive knee as the foot takes the shortest path to the front of the body as the center of mass rises above the surface (Fig. 7 & 8). The knee then raises and extends as the foot moves forward and the shin becomes plumb (Fig. 7). The thigh drops towards the ground while the knee extends, causing the foot to have a negative velocity at foot placement. As the athlete builds momentum (mass X velocity) the ratio between both forces (vertical and horizontal) increases as the net horizontal force decreases. The stride becomes progressively quicker and longer as stride frequency and length are optimized.

Stretch Reflex
The stretch reflex acts similarly to loading a “Y” sling shot, or forked sling shot. Before shooting the projectile, it remains poised in the stretched elastic, just as the hip flexors remain stretched before the recovery phase. When the sling shot elastic is released, it pops back into original form, sending away the projectile. Novacheck along with Vaughan claim that sprint efficiency is due in part to “the storage and later return of elastic potential energy by the stretch of elastic structures (especially tendons)” (Novacheck 81). Furthermore, stretched tendons efficiently return energy upon recoil (Novacheck 84). The stretch reflex refers mainly to the knee cycling during the recovery phase.

Knee Action
The sling shot release parallels the leg recovery phase: the knee cycles through because the hip flexor pops back into normal position from its stretched position. Therefore, the knee coming through occurs naturally and does not necessitate an athlete’s conscious effort. Furthermore consciously lifting the knee high while sprinting inhibits the legs natural timing during the recovery phase. Consciously creating a high knee lift or normal knee lift is like stretching back a sling shot with projectile and helping push the projectile with the hand while the elastic is releasing. The action would cause a reduction of elastic force, resulting in slower movement with the sling shot as well as with sprinting.

Part 2 will be presented tomorrow.