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Track & Field for Football Prospects

Tini not disagreeing with you but with the article. His 40m splits on his 9.58 sec run was 4.64. Even with a different run style( 40m vs 100m) I can't see how he would knock off another almost full second.
He does not run a 4.63 40, that is a fact. That article was just the first one I found.
 
Tini not disagreeing with you but with the article. His 40m splits on his 9.58 sec run was 4.64. Even with a different run style( 40m vs 100m) I can't see how he would knock off another almost full second.

I think the conversion math some try to do takes into account that football 40 times go on first movement so there's nothing lost for reaction time. Wouldn't be a 9/10ths difference, of course, but it makes a difference.

From what I've read, the conventional wisdom is that a lot of football players would be competitive because they train for burst and short area quickness while Olympians train for their distance. Bolt may not run a great pro shuttle time, for example, and many of the fastest football players may have a lead on him for the first third of a 100m before Bolt blew past them.
 
I agree that if he trained for a 40 he would be faster than his 40m split. Also nik I agree that a number of football players are faster in the short shuttle or 40 than Bolt is because just by looking at his splits it looks like he hits top speed from 60m on.
 
Tying this into recruiting, I wonder if there is a real benefit of high school athletes running the 100 in the offseason, where they practice long striding, rather than focusing on being explosive and quick. Obviously there is the benefit of staying in shape and participating in a spring sport but does it help them football wise?
 
Tying this into recruiting, I wonder if there is a real benefit of high school athletes running the 100 in the offseason, where they practice long striding, rather than focusing on being explosive and quick. Obviously there is the benefit of staying in shape and participating in a spring sport but does it help them football wise?

I think it helps increase speed with all the drills and specialized lifting/stretching that HS track athletes do. I really like to see football players have competed in T&F. For linemen, they seem a lot lighter on their feet and more "country strong" if they've been throwers. Speed guys seem to develop a 2nd gear from sprints. And I absolutely love what jumping does for WRs and DBs.
 
I remember LeBron James was a five star recruit not only in basketball but also in football. Could you imagine a 6'8" 250lbs WR with a 4.4 speed and a 44" vertical. You could throw it to him every play.
 
I think the conversion math some try to do takes into account that football 40 times go on first movement so there's nothing lost for reaction time. Wouldn't be a 9/10ths difference, of course, but it makes a difference.

You're correct. The difference between 40 yards & 40 meters adds some, plus the reaction time to the gun adds some as well. The average human reaction time after hearing the gun is .24 seconds, which is why back in the old days before almost all track meets used fully automatic timing, people were told (and some programs did this) to round hand track times up to the nearest tenth of a second, and to add .24 for the conversion to automatic time.
 
I agree that if he trained for a 40 he would be faster than his 40m split. Also nik I agree that a number of football players are faster in the short shuttle or 40 than Bolt is because just by looking at his splits it looks like he hits top speed from 60m on.

You're right. Bolt is the only sprinter I've seen run quite a bit (as a track coach, I've seen quite a few runners) who is able to continue to accelerate past the halfway point of the 100 m. I've seen breakdowns of his runs that shows him getting faster after the halfway point, something I've never heard of/seen until him.

I hope Gay gets healthy and the Bolt/Blake/Gay showdown at the olympics is something special.
 
The other question is could a guy like Bolt maintain his speed making cuts and changing directions. Running on a track is very different than running on a football field. Then there is the questiion of could he catch the ball and would he be willing to after a couple of shots in the ribs by a safety.
 
[video=youtube;Lqanl8hCjNE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqanl8hCjNE[/video]
 
[video=youtube;Lqanl8hCjNE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqanl8hCjNE[/video]

Haha! Good stuff. I think you're probably right that a handful of NFL players might be able to hang with Bolt for the first 30 or so yards before he puts it into high gear. When healthy he's pretty much untouchable in the 100.
 
Usain Bolt is 6'6". Speaking of which, I wonder what his 40 time would be.

Alright; I'm gonna threadjack here.

There are very good scientific reasons why Usain Bolt's height is a hindrance to his sprinting prowess, not an asset. If you want the details, you should read this article:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6760031/is-fastest-human-ever-already-alive

It's a very good read; I don't typically care very much for track and field, but I thought it was engaging.
 
Alright; I'm gonna threadjack here.

There are very good scientific reasons why Usain Bolt's height is a hindrance to his sprinting prowess, not an asset. If you want the details, you should read this article:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6760031/is-fastest-human-ever-already-alive

It's a very good read; I don't typically care very much for track and field, but I thought it was engaging.
Well that's scary ... so if he were not that tall he could be even better :wow:
 
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