speed impact of shoes surfaces start method, training: observations & questions
David Virgil Hobbs
OBSERVATIONS AND QUESTIONS
Here are some observations and questions I have regarding how 40 yard
dash times are impacted by running surfaces, shoes, start method, and
training.
RUNNING SURFACES AND TRACK TIMES
Here is an editor's note from the "Pro Football Weekly" Scouting
Report:
"On all positions, 40-yard-dash times are curved to take conditions
into account. For instance, a 4.4 40 on a very fast rubber track would
be recorded as a 4.52, while a 4.6 on slow grass would be logged as a
4.5."
--
http://archive.profootballweekly.com/content/archives/draft_1999/scoutingreports_wr.asp
It can be inferred from the above excerpt from Pro Football Weekly
that the expert there believes that people run the 40 yd dash 2.2
tenths of a second faster on a "fast rubber track" compared to "slow
grass". Though Pro Football Weekly does not state this it can also be
inferred that the midway reference point they use to adjust times to
is speed on the "artificial turf" surface.
When I sent emails to track coaches inquiring on the subject, in the
one response I got the track coach said that a 40 yd dash time would
be 1.0 tenths of a second faster on a fast indoor rubber track as
compared to running on a road-like track outdoors in sneakers.
The Pro Football Weekly adjustment contrasts with what the coach said
in the email. Speed on concrete would be no faster than speed on what
Pro Football Weekly calls "slow grass". The coach said speed would be
1.0 tenths of a second faster on a fast rubber track compared to
outdoors in sneakers, but Pro Football Weekly said speed would be 2.2
tenths of a second faster on a "very fast rubber track" as compared to
"slow grass".
What "Pro Football Weekly" calls "slow grass" is not a poorly mowed
lawn like surface. Even what they call "slow grass" is carefully
prepared for pro caliber athletes. When these pros run on this grass
they use shoes made especially for the purpose. They do not run in
flat soled sneakers on roads because this would be even more different
compared to the usual conditions than their "slow grass" is. Therefore
I assume for now that sneakers on a road are slower than cleats on a
carefully manicured surface by 1.0 tenths of a second.
Since I ran the 40 on a road in sneakers in 5.25 seconds for now I
calculate that on a fast rubber track, using the Pro Football Weekly
formula I would run it in 4.93 tenths of a second.
If I ran a 5.25 40 on a concrete road in sneakers, I would like to
know what my time would be in the following conditions:
1 On grass using specialized cleated shoes made for sports on grass
2 On grass running in indoor/outdoor sneakers with soles that are
basically flat
3 On artificial turf using shoes specialized for artificial turf
4 On artificial turf using sneakers
5 On an average speed rubber track using specialized spiked shoes
6 On an average speed rubber track using sneakers
7 On a fast rubber track using specialized spike shoes
8 On a fast rubber track using sneakers
CROUCH START COMPARED TO STANDING START IMPACT ON SPEED
But that is not the whole story. when I ran the 40 I ran it from a
standing start because I do not have experience in the crouch start,
and I do not have the starting blocks athletes use when they compete
officially in sprints. I would like to know how much faster I would
run the 40 if I competently used a crouch start and starting blocks as
opposed to the standing start I am now using. If the use of the crouch
start and the blocks cut 1.0 tenths of a second off my time I would be
down to a 4.83 in the 40. I know that I would have a tough time
finding the answer to this question searching the web.
IMPACT OF BASIC TRAINING ON SPRINTING SPEED
When I ran the 40 I ran it without the benefit of the usual training
and coaching that players who do sprints get. I had forgotten most of
what little was taught me about running and sprinting and training and
warming up in high school and college. When I ran the 5.25 I did not
knowledgeably stretch my legs or warm up and I had not been training
in track or weights for track. How much impact does the basic kind of
training most college track type athletes get in sprints have on 40
yard dash times? If such basic training improved my speed by 1.0
tenths of a second my time for the 40 would be down to 4.73 seconds.
IMPACT OF ADVANCED TRAINING ON SPRINTING SPEED
When I ran the 40 I ran without any advanced specialized kind of
training of the type that now star running back Priest Holmes got
after college when he cut his 40 yard dash time from 4.6 seconds to
4.4 seconds. If this advanced training could cut my time by just 1.0
tenths of a second my time in the 40 would be down to 4.63 seconds,
which is the speed at which "slow" NFL wide receivers and running
backs run.
IMPACT OF NUTRITIONAL INTAKE ON SPRINTING SPEED
(Facetiously spoken): A healthy dose of steroids of the type some
leading athletes having been getting their hands on couldn't hurt.
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT
It strikes me as fundamentally lacking in common sense, that there has
been no attempt to tabulate how running surfaces, shoes, crouch
starts, basic training and advanced training impact 40 yard dash
times. The ignorance prevalent regarding such matters results in
persons giving up on sports they could excel in. When athletes know
the significance of the times they run in practice on various surfaces
in various shoes, they are better motivated and have more fun. When
athletes know the significance of times run on various surfaces in
various shoes, they are better able to experiment with various
improvisations in training, psychology, and the actual sprinting
method.
The problem with me was that I never even got timed in the 40 or the
50 yard dash on my college soccer team, and I never got timed in high
school or at least I did and do not remember any of my high school
times. Then when I got heavier and stronger and faster and wiser about
sports strategy after college, I did not know the significance of
being able to run the 40 in 5.25 seconds in sneakers on a road. I
found it impossible to find info on how times change due to shoes and
surfaces without pestering people by email; and when I pestered them
by email the one response I got apparently underestimated such
effects. The 5.25 time did not excite me and I lost interest in track,
even though I realized the 5.25 time meant I could do well against the
competition I would face in local open or college type indoor track
meets. I lost interest in the subject until the NFL Super Bowl and
College Draft re-ignited my interest.
In high school and college I always thought of myself as slow for the
position (soccer left wing) I was playing. When I played soccer in
high school I was slow compared to the other forwards. On the freshman
team at college it was a team from which nobody was cut we were not
timed in the 40 all I remember was that in sprints I ran exactly as
fast as this collegiate freshman who looked exactly like the now
partially paralyzed actor Christopher Reed or Superman of comic books
and movies fame. The idea that I was slow combined in my head with the
idea that sprinting speeds are basically unalterable, combined with
ignorance of how shoes surfaces and training affect sprinting speed to
produce in me apathy regarding sports involving sprinting.
Retrospectively I should have been more aware of how a person's
athletic ability can change as he matures physically after high school
and even after college. The idea in my head was that since I was
relatively slow in track and swimming sprints in high school, I would
be slow forever. The idea in my head was that such things are not
affected much by technique and training. And so, embarrassed by my
alleged lack of speed, I became apathetic about sports involving
speed, even though later on when it was "too late" I figured out how
to play sports well and developed physical abilities.
The fact that in college I could tie the handsome hockey player in a
sprinting race was not enough to shake me out of my apathy. The fact
that during a summer home from college in a touch football game I
scored a touchdown returning a kickoff, by evading a guy who was fast,
faster than me in high school by cutting to my right parallel to the
scrimmage line and then at an almost 90 degree angle cutting up field
outrunning the fast competitive guy the whole time over almost a
hundred yards did not shake me out of my apathy either. I felt that I
was hopelessly embarrassingly slow for serious competitive athletic
purposes. One time I went to the college track after stiffening my
legs up with weightlifting and had someone time me in the 50 yard dash
and the time was unbelievably slow; somehow disasters such as the slow
time after weightlifting stuck in my mind while instances where I
showed speed I did not remember.
Retrospectively the fact that after college the eyes of this coach
watching me when I was sprinting got wide as he watched me sprint, the
way after college a lifeguard's eyes got wide when she watched me
swim-sprint the length of the pool (this after I finally learned
proper swimming technique) should have clued me into something.
Because the coach saw me sprinting from a jogging start, he did not
see a time on a scoreboard. It should have clued me in to the fact
that though I was (and am) impressively fast, I get slow times
partially because I have no experience in the crouch start, have no
training in it, and have never felt comfortable using.
NOTE ON REACTION TIMES AND TIMING YOURSELF WHEN RUNNING SPRINTS
When I timed myself I pressed the button hesitated a moment imitating
the gap between gun and start at track meets, and took off. The times
were always 5.2 or 5.3 seconds. This may not have been the wisest
approach. I remember in grade school we learned about reaction times;
one kid would drop a card with markings on it through another kid's
fingers and the other kid would catch the card--where the card was
caught would determine the reaction time; reaction times were always
between 0.14 seconds and 0.20 seconds as I remember it. So the
smartest approach might be to start at the exact same time the
stopwatch is triggered and then add 0.15 seconds to the time. Does
anyone know what the actual reaction times of sprinters are? I figure
that if anything the way I was timing myself I put too much time in
between the time I started the stopwatch and started running.
@2003 David Virgil Hobbs
http://www.angelfire.com/ma/vincemoon