Free Spirit Condors Track Club season debuts this Saturday in Chino
Imani Meet used for two FSC early birds to stretch wings
More than a thousand kids got in some early work this season at Saturday’s Imani All-Comers Meet, held at Dominguez High. With the huge number of athletes to manage, host Imani Speed City Track Club ran a great meet. It was very well-organized, moving efficiently at a brisk pace.
Free Spirit Condors participated in girls’ 1500m and boys’ 100m events. Both did well.
The real fun starts next weekend when Free Spirit Condors will compete the first time this season as a club, rather than a couple of teammates individualy preparing for the season.
Out of the darkness comes bright promise, practice moves to track
Daylight savings time ends this weekend, and it can’t happen soon enough for our young athletes.
The change-over means that the sun still shines at the end of practice and workouts will move from a grass soccer field to a genuine track. The first weeks of practice have always been held on grass as it is more forgiving on the joints and also equalizes some of the advantage more experienced runners have over the younger ones. By now, the knees, ankles and hips of even the youngest runners’ joints have been strengthened.
We have seen pretty dramatic improvement in running mechanics in some kids on grass since practice began. Unfortunately, the speed gain is unmeasured. Using the track will allow coaches to begin quantitatively measuring improvements in speed over time. The artificial surface also provides consistent training conditions.
Parents also look forward to the change. Instead of lugging lawn chairs, they can observe practice from stadium bleachers. Many bring books, e-tablets, and laptops. Some use the opportunity to walk the outside lanes of the track for fitness. Most socialize, discussing their kids, schools, etc.
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Continue ReadingStride length x frequency = speed
Bleeding speed after acceleration
You cannot run if you only let your heels touch the ground. Try it. Think of the heels of your feet as the brakes on your car and the balls of your feet as the gas pedal.
Optimal stride length is the maximum distance the balls of your feet can remain in contact with the track while running. When the stride is further extended, the heel begins to make ground contact, absorbing energy like a brake, and slowing forward momentum. This is called overstriding.
Last weekend, at the Bay Cities All-Comers Meet, one of our young sprinters found himself in second place coming off the turn of his 200m heat. That’s halfway to the finish. At this stage of the race, maintaining top speed is crucial to success. Experts say that at the end of every sprint race, each athlete is traveling slower from when they hit their maximum achieved speed earlier in the race. When you see athletes being overtaken at the end of the race, what you are actualy seeing are runners who are decelerating at different rates. Our young sprinter got to experience this, first-hand.
His inexperience led to overstriding, which bled off speed in two ways. 1) the subtle braking effect descibed earlier, and 2) a slower stride frequency. The longer your foot stays on the ground the slower your speed. That’s simple to understand. If you can complete more strides in a certian amount of time, you have travelled farther. Going farther in the same amount of time means you have moved faster, the definition of speed: stride length times stride frequency.
When all was said and done, our young athlete finished fourth as he was overttaken by two other youngsters in the final meters of the race. We are highly encouraged. As coaches, we learn to adapt to the needs of our students. Refining the speed maintenance phase of this athlete’s sprinting is a coachable issue.
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Wet weather looms before competition
The kids got a good workout last night refining their running techique with drills and running sprint intervals. There were quite a few new faces. Four girls participated in workouts and there were several boys who are making their first practice as their basketball seasons have just ended.
It also looks like we have a great group of parents. One woman joins the kids and runs with them on certain drills. Others yell encouragement and generally socialize during the practice hour.
Consistent rain is expected from Wednesday through Saturday and that will likely cause Thursday’s practice to be cancelled. Saturday’s Bay Cities Unleashed All-Comers Meet (Junipero Serra HS, Gardena), will take place rain or shine. Coach Smotherman does not expect club members to participate, unless they really want to. He will have a tent set up at the meet if you choose to do so.
Continue ReadingLooking for more girls to join the fun
Thursday’s practice included a young girl who had a fabulous first day. We’re hoping more girls will john the team soon.
Track & field is a great sport for girls, and later women as demonstrated by accomplished Americans at the Olympic level. Free Spirit and Condor track clubs have a large alumnus of women who began as children.
The kids are continuing to develop. Most of them seemed to enjoy a relay drill where two teams raced against one another, exchanging batons. Several parents participated assisting the coaching staff with keeping the kids organized and attentive during the workout.
Team administrator Denise Smotherman is working on new designs for uniforms and warmups as competitions begin soon. They look pretty awesome. She may have missed her calling as a fashion designer.
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