Men's 400 meters
WARNING - If you are planning to watch the Olympics tonight and don't want to know the outcome, don't read this link.
"The third American in the final, David Neville, did a head-first dive across the finish line and wound up..."
This is funny for anyone who watched the Royals broadcast last night (or Tuesday) when Ryan and Split had a conversation after Alex dove into first about how you never see track athletes dive accross the finish line.
over 3 years ago
Royal Kingdom
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yeah
It is stupid to dive into first because the base is on the ground, and people often slide as they dive to ensure they stay on the base. Of course, people slide to beat a tag and/or stop their momentum, not to get somewhere faster. It also takes longer to land on first when you dive because your feet are already on or near the ground, and your chest/hands are several feet off the ground.
In track it can make some sense, since the finish line is a vertical plane, and hurling yourself like that could make you go a little faster and lower your time very slightly, though it could easily lead to an injury. You only see the dives in real times of desperation—to make a team, to make a final, or to get the last medal.
As a grammatical aside, it would have been nice to see the AP use the word “dived,” rather than the somewhat awkward and longer “did a … dive.” It seems like the writer knew not to use the improper “dove” as a past tense, but couldn’t quite bring himself to say “dived head-first.”
from a physics standpoint
diving into first base actually is faster as long as its timed properly, but also leads to more injuries. the fact that the base is on the ground is irrelevant because your vertical vector from gravity is independent from your horizontal vector created by extension on the body or running.
I think your physics is off, and people don't dive perfectly horizontally.
When you fire a bullet horizontally, it falls hits to the ground at the same time as when you drop it from the same height. This is true, and it’s the effect that you were trying to convey. However, throwing a bullet to the ground or firing into the ground makes the bullet hit the ground faster. You rely less on the effects of gravity. Running and using the force of your body to put your foot on the base takes less time than relying solely on gravity, which is what diving does, since you’re stuck in the air.
Furthermore, when people dive while at a full run, their bodies tend to make an arc, traveling up and then down, which does take a longer time to hit a target on the ground than simply running at the base and forcibly moving your foot downward. Also, the aim has to be perfect, because usually people end up sliding head-first, which as we’ve already said, slows people down.
I always thought the main advantage to sliding into first
Is that when you run, you sometimes have to shorten your stride to hit the bag, whereas, you avoid that problem by sliding.
I’m not sure that is outweighed by the ground slowing you down or the potential for injury though.
Relive Royals History at royalsretro.blogspot.com
well
lets put the injury question aside cause it is completely separate.
shortening your stride can have some effect, but since your body’s momentum is still headed towards the bag, the speed at which you are traveling changes very little in the last stride.
sliding head first into the bag has the advantage of actually speeding you up towards the base. when u slide head first, you are extending your entire body (mostly with the arms) and the extension can happen much faster than you could otherwise run. the speed you fall to the ground, like i said above, is independent, but has an effect if it is mistimed. to early and you hit the ground and slide in the dirt. the friction from that is extremely inefficient and does slow you down considerably. to late and you essentially dive over the bag removing the gain created by the initial extension of the body.
if you are good at sliding head first, it can be a great tool to use, even if a risky one.
the other advantage and the reason i always used to slide head first when i played competitively…they draw the biggest cheers and the resultant female interest. :)
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