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Powell’s World 100m Record – 9.77 seconds Gatshead : June 11th 2006
Frame-by-frame analysis of world 100m record
Words by: Graham Knight
1) The initial impression of Powell is one of total relaxation with his nearest challenger some two metres down. He is able to focus on his own form without the stress of a visual awareness to his right and left.2) In this flight phase, Powell is looking to the end of the straight and he is making sure that there is little tension in his neck and shoulders.3) The arm action in this frame underlines the point that the main functions of the arms are to maintain balance and to provide a slight vertical lift in each stride. The angle of the arms will range from about 55° in front of the body to about 85° in the back of the body during each stride. The action is relaxed and the hands are open not clenched.4) In sprints and hurdles it is vital that the athlete keeps his/her hips as high as possible throughout the race and in particular with each impact with the track. Again coaches use different terminology in their attempts to get across the concept of “running tall” but discouraging the tendency to hunch the shoulders in the process.5) From the support base provided by his left foot contact with the track, Powell makes sure that the angle of his right leg in the recovery phase is as small as possible to make the action easier and faster.6) Again from the support base provided by the left leg, which has an angle between 170-175° (rarely a full 180″), Powell aims for speed of his recovery knee by driving the upper leg upwards and forwards while keeping the lower leg angle as minimal as possible.7) In this flight phase it is possible to see the process starting again with the right knee reaching maximum height with the lower leg at an angle of about 90°. It is important not to point the toe down because this reduces efficiency considerably. The left leg is already beginning to look to an optimum recovery position.8) At this stage of the race it is probable that Powell’s stride reaches 2.40m (STRIDE LENGTH) and he strikes the ground about 5 times per second (STRIDE FREQUENCY). Recent research indicates that sprinters achieve better performances by improving their stride frequency without a reduction in their optimum stride length.9) Just before Powell’s right toe strikes the track, it is possible to see the flexion of the left leg in its early recovery phase with a relaxed and relatively low carriage of his arms. Its vital that the sprinter spends as little time on the ground as possible in contact, in addition to sound mechanics, they must have strong hamstring and gluteals to be able to achieve this.10) This excellent side-on shot illustrates the complete body posture of the world record-holder. Head focussed on the finish, upper body slightly in advance of the hips, arms relaxed and synchronised, and the leg movements efficient and powerful.11) This frame encapsulates the technical achievement of Asafa Powell, and from the toe of his left foot, through both legs, high hips, relaxed arms and upper body to the determined position of his head – an excellent illustration for any textbook on sprinting.12) Almost 40m from the finish, there is no decrease in efficiency, and the mechanics of his technique nave been achieved by many hours of fundamentally sound repetitions.
