In June 1929, national sprint champion Frank Wykoff of Southern California declared that "starting blocks are bunk." He apparently preferred holes dug in the ground. Or something older: a standing start.
Nearly 80 years later, thirty-something decathlete Dimitry Yakoushkin of Northern California is wondering if maybe Frank, who died in 1980, was onto something.
On his blog last week, Yakoushkin noted the current supremacy of block starts but wonders: "Was a properly controlled study done to prove they were better than a standing start? ...
With today's all-weather surfaces, are they beneficial? Or have we just been jumping off bridges because everyone else has?"
He notes that a standing athlete can have his center of gravity at the starting line, as opposed to 8 inches (or more) behind the line when using blocks.
"Also, the athlete using blocks has to do more work to bring that center of gravity upwards, to a normal running position. As far as creating more force from using the blocks, has it been proven? And if so, what effect does it have on time, the only thing we care about? It's all theory until someone proves it."
Yakoushkin, you should know, is an engineer whose resume includes work in research and development, so he brings a scientist's eye to the issue.
Masters might pay attention, since so-called "down starts" for older sprinters can be a chore -- or impossible, given the lack of strength for the proper pushoff.
Under World Masters Athletics rules, starting blocks are optional. And many world champions, including Bill Collins in his 50s, have used standing starts to win races of 60, 100 or 200 meters. In Bill's case, he eschewed blocks for a time because of a muscle injury he didn't want to exacerbate.
In 2003, after winning world titles and a national championship, Collins said: "The standing start helps me, because it takes pressure off of my sore hamstring. I've had so many injuries, as long as I can compete well starting like that I'll continue to do it. But athletes are getting better and you need an edge. I do have a good forward lean with my stand up start and that helps me a lot."
At the Penn Relays in April 2006, Collins set an M50 world record of 11.50 seconds in the 100-meter dash. With a standing start.
In the upper age groups, especially the 80s and 90s, most sprinters start standing up.
Track researchers have long considered the relative merits of the three main types of block starts -- the bunch (with feet close together and not far behind the starting line), medium (blocks farther back) and elongated (blocks well apart with rear block well behind the line).
Advocates of all techniques debate which is best, and even a formula was devised:
Impulse = F x t (force x time)
F = ma, where m = mass, and a = average acceleration.
However, a = (vf - vi)/t, where vf = final velocity, and vi = initial velocity
Therefore, F = m(vf - vi)/t
Or, F = (mvf -mvi)/t
Hence, Ft = mvf - mvi
You follow?
In a note alerting me to his questions, Yakoushkin writes: "You know of any studies or research that shows starting blocks are beneficial over a standing start? I can't find any, and I think they might be something grandfathered in with no real good reason other than they 'feel' better."
He urges a serious study pitting bocks vs. no blocks.
But you don't have to wait years for the results. Try a standing start in practice yourself.
No guarantee you'll beat Bill Collins. But it wouldn't hurt.
Tags: Masters Track Starting Blocks
