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I think I just learned why Herschel was so fast. Only took me 40 years to find out.

JamesTwitJamesTwit Posts: 422 ✭✭✭✭ Senior

UGA S&C coach Scott Sinclair is on Twitter. He just posted a link to a site/company that teaches athletes how to sprint properly. Interesting stuff. This is in the description on the front page of the site describing a picture of a track guy running improperly "..he reaches too far with his front foot and actually hits the ground with his front shin completely vertical. Thus, he creates a braking mechanism for himself ...". Herschel had those short powerful step therefore his shins were always in a better position to make him accelerate. Fascinating. Here's a link to the site. Some interesting reading. https://simplifaster.com/articles/speed-development-for-non-track-athletes/

Comments

  • donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Very common cause of injury in distance runners too - over striding. Ideal stride has foot landing under the center of gravity - not out in front.

  • JKFlyfishJKFlyfish Posts: 558 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    I saw an interview where, when asked about it, Herschel said he used to wait by the the train tracks for the train to come and then sprint along side the train - trying to beat it to certain points on along the track.

  • TeddyTeddy Posts: 7,109 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
  • AndersonDawgAndersonDawg Posts: 2,003 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Now you tell me. No wonder I was so slow.

  • DogsNotDawgsDogsNotDawgs Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    Interesting, I have never done any reading on this but in distance it always helps to relax and 'kick back' is how I think of itin my mind.

  • CatfishCatfish Posts: 1,703 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    How did he learn to fly?

  • NomadDawgNomadDawg Posts: 436 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate
    edited May 2019


    From Douglas Adams, published 1979. One year before Herschel got to campus, clearly Adams' first scholar.

    There is an art, it says, or rather, a knack to flying. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss. Pick a nice day, [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy] suggests, and try it.

    The first part is easy. All it requires is simply the ability to throw yourself forward with all your weight, and the willingness not to mind that it's going to hurt.

    That is, it's going to hurt if you fail to miss the ground. Most people fail to miss the ground, and if they are really trying properly, the likelihood is that they will fail to miss it fairly hard.

    Clearly, it is the second part, the missing, which presents the difficulties.

    One problem is that you have to miss the ground accidentally. It's no good deliberately intending to miss the ground because you won't. You have to have your attention suddenly distracted by something else when you're halfway there, so that you are no longer thinking about falling, or about the ground, or about how much it's going to hurt if you fail to miss it.

    It is notoriously difficult to prize your attention away from these three things during the split second you have at your disposal. Hence most people's failure, and their eventual disillusionment with this exhilarating and spectacular sport.

    If, however, you are lucky enough to have your attention momentarily distracted at the crucial moment by, say, a gorgeous pair of legs (tentacles, pseudopodia, according to phyllum and/or personal inclination) or a bomb going off in your vicinty, or by suddenly spotting an extremely rare species of beetle crawling along a nearby twig, then in your astonishment you will miss the ground completely and remain bobbing just a few inches above it in what might seem to be a slightly foolish manner.

    This is a moment for superb and delicate concentration. Bob and float, float and bob. Ignore all consideration of your own weight simply let yourself waft higher. Do not listen to what anybody says to you at this point because they are unlikely to say anything helpful. They are most likely to say something along the lines of "Good God, you can't possibly be flying!" It is vitally important not to believe them or they will suddenly be right.

    Waft higher and higher. Try a few swoops, gentle ones at first, then drift above the treetops breathing regularly.

    DO NOT WAVE AT ANYBODY.

    When you have done this a few times you will find the moment of distraction rapidly easier and easier to achieve.

    You will then learn all sorts of things about how to control your flight, your speed, your maneuverability, and the trick usually lies in not thinking too hard about whatever you want to do, but just allowing it to happen as if it were going to anyway.

    You will also learn about how to land properly, which is something you will almost certainly screw up, and screw up badly, on your first attempt.

    There are private clubs you can join which help you achieve the all-important moment of distraction. They hire people with surprising bodies or opinions to leap out from behind bushes and exhibit and/or explain them at the critical moments. Few genuine hitchhikers will be able to afford to join these clubs, but some may be able to get temporary employment at them.

  • donmdonm Posts: 10,241 ✭✭✭✭✭ Graduate

    If I’d only known!

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