SOME QUESTIONS AND

ANSWERSONWOMEN’ S
SPRINTING
By A. Levtshenko

Leading U.S.S.R. coach, Levtshenko, answers a series of questions related to

women’ sspr inting,cov er
ingsuc hfac t
or sast hespeeddynami cs,st ri
defrequency,
stride length and the useful indicators for the monitoring of training. The article is a
slightly edited translation from Legkaya Atletika, Moscow, U.S.S.R., No. 6, June
1988. Re-printed with permission from Modern Athlete and Coach.

QUESTION 1

There is sufficient information available on the speed dynamics, stride length and
stride frequency of male sprinters but it appears that the technical literature is
short of similar data a on female sprinters?

In the l00m sprint it is possible to divide the distance into four parts that reflect the
efficiency of the performance of both male and female sprinters. These are the
starting acceleration (0-30m), reaching the maximum speed (30-60m), maintaining
the speed (60-80m), and the finish (80-l00m), each showing its own speed
dynamics, stride length and stride frequency. Based on this information it is
possible to establish a model for women sprinters for the achievement of a
particular performance under 12 seconds (table 1).

Most important are the indicators at 30m, 60m and 80m because they allow to:

 Compare the actual time of each phase with the planned time;

 Discover the strong and weak aspects of a sprinter by comparing the

individual split times with the model for necessary adjustments in training.

For example, shortcomings in the first phase indicate the need to concentrate
more on starting and initial acceleration. Shortcomings in the second phase show
poor maximal speed and in the fourth phase the lack of speed endurance.

The running speed over the total distance and in each phase is decided by the
stride length and stride frequency.

In the starting acceleration phase (0-30m) the leading component, responsible for
an increase in the running speed, is the stride length. The average stride length in
this phase for high level women sprinters is 1.89 relative units (relative to leg
length).
In the maximal speed phase (30-60m) the stride length reached at the 30m mark
is 2.35 relative units and remains virtually unchanged. At the same time, the stride
frequency is the highest and becomes the leading component in the increase of
speed in this phase. The stride frequency improves here 4 to 10% in comparison
to the acceleration phase.

The beginning of fatigue in the maintenance of maximal speed phase (60-80m) is

responsible for compensating changes in stride frequency and stride length. This
is expressed in the lengthening of the support and flight phases, during which the
stride frequency drops on an average by 2 to 5% and the stride length increases
by the same percentage, reaching 2.43 relative units. The running speed is
therefore basically maintained.

The sprinting structure continues to change in the finishing phase (80-100m) as

fatigue increases. Running speed drops by 3 to 4% in comparison to the previous
phase (60-100m), stride length increases by 2 to 6%, reaching 2.46 relative units
and stride frequency drops by 1 to 9%.

QUESTION 2

Sprint coaches have for a long time discussed the best type of women l00m
spr
inter s.Tabatshnik,forexampl e,separ at
est he“ power fulshor tst
ri
di
ng”GDR
spr
inter sfrom t
he“ r
el axedandeasy”r unningtypes,l i
keAshford and Kondratjeva.
What can be said about this?

In my opinion it is possible to divide the women sub-12 second sprinters into

several groups. Each of these groups has a leading performance component,
dependi ngont henat ur alcharac teri
st i
cstocov erthedi st
ancewi th“ shor t”or“l ong”
strides, as well as their approach to training in order to develop their individual
potential. Let me explain how the sprinters belonging to the various groups differ.
The first group is made up from relatively short athletes (160 to 168cm), who
empl oya“ power ful
”acti
onwi thr elativelyshor tst
r idesandahi ghst ri
def requency
.
Their average stride length relative to their height is 1.12 to 1.16. A typical
example of this group is Gohr of the German Democratic Republic.

Taller athletes (170 to 180cm) belong usually to the second group and employ a
diametrically opposite action with long strides and relatively lower stride frequency.
The average stride length relative to their height is over 1.22. A typical example is
Marshall of the United States.

The majority of women sprinters belong to a group in between the first two (80%).
They are from 157 to 180cm tall with a more balanced relationship between stride
length and stride frequency. Their average stride length relative to their height
ranges between 1.16 to 1.22. An example is Ashford of the United States (see
table 2).

None of the groups appears to have an advantage and athletes in all three can
succeed, provided their training is based and orientated towards the development
of theat
hl et
e’snatur al potential.

QUESTION 3

Correct training is responsible for a steady improvement of sprint results. What are
the basic indicators that change and decide the improvement in performances?

The split times improve in all the separate phases of the l00m distance due to an
increase stride frequency. The stride length has less influence and only in the first
two phases.

Mosti mpr ovement sar

eachi
evedbyt
hec
oac
h’sabi
l
ity to exploit theat
hlet
e’s
natural potential:

1. By increasing the stride length and stride frequency.

2. By reducing one component and increasing noticeably the other

component.

Some examples of the changes in competition sprint structure related to improved

performances are shown in table 3. As can be seen an increased stride frequency
helped to improve the time (Zirova), while a drop in stride frequency, due to a
longer stride, can be helpful in other situations (Nunera).

QUESTION 4

How can a coach make use of the presented information?

The reply to this question can be given by a concrete example of how a
competition model is worked out:

 Sprinter M:

o l00m result in 1987— 11.99 sec.

o Plan for 1988 — 11.80 sec.

o Leg length — 0.87m

o Distance from the line to the back block — 0.70m.

We take the model indicators in table 1 for the 30m, 60m and 80m phases that
correspond to the planned time. The average speed in the starting acceleration
phase is:

30m + 0.7m
= 7.49 m/sec.
4.36 –0.26

 30.7m is the distance of this phase from the back block; 4.1 sec. is the
actual time allowing 0.25 to 0.29 sec. for the reaction to the starting gun.

The running speed required for the other phases can be calculated in a similar
manner.

To determine the average stride length for each phase it is necessary to know the
athl ete’
sl egl engt h( measur edstandingf rom thegr oundtothecent r
eoft hehead
of the femur). The leg length is multiplied by a corresponding co-efficient M (stride
module = the relationship between the stride length with the leg length). The co-
efficient for high level performers vary between 1.88 and 1.89 for the first phase,
2.34 and 2.36 for the second phase, 2.43 and 2.46 for the third phase and 2.39
and 2.48 in the fourth phase, depending on their performance standard.

 For our model calculation in the starting phase:

o Average stride length — 0.87m x 1.89 = 1.64m

o Number of strides (30m) — 30.7m = 18.7 strides

1.64

o Average stride frequency (0-30m) — 7.49 m/sec over 1.64m = 4.57

stride/sec.

The stride length and stride frequency for the other phases can be calculated in a
similar manner.
The planned model has to be compared with the sprint structure of the previous
season, taking into consideration the individual ’
sreal i
sti
cpot ent
ialtoi ncrease
stride length, to increase stride frequency, to improve the acceleration from the
start and to improve and maintain speed in the second half of the race. This does
naturally require precise information on the sprint structure in major competitions
by making use of electronic timing and video or film from each of the phases.

Finally, it should be kept in mind that the use of the average indicators in the
establishment of a model for top level athletes is not always effective, because
there are large individual differences at this performance level.