With the revelations coming out of Germany that some Americans compared Kenny Baillie with Maurice Greene the Ed spotted this article by that well known Watsonian Doug Gillon in to days Herald
The search for sheer speed has long been a holy grail for coaches and athletes alike the very quality that seperates the likes of James Craig,Steve Gordon and Wes Henry from the pack.

As one old athletics coach once said\"if you want to be a good sprinter son choose your parents carefully\"

THE HERALD REPORTS
What makes pace?
DOUG GILLON June 07 2006
The pursuit of speed is sport\'s Holy Grail, but there is no code to unlock the secret. Pedestrians of the 19th century, who ran for far greater financial prizes than the fee which world 100 metres record holder Asafa Powell will collect at Gateshead next Sunday, trained on chicken and stale beer. They would go for walks, and then be warmly swathed and sweated between two feather matresses.
The appliance of more than 100 years of science, nutrition, and physiology has made the world\'s fastest man some 20 metres quicker. The fastest time at the inaugural 1896 Olympics was 11.8 seconds (in the heats, not the final) and Powell and Justin Gatlin now hold the world best jointly, at 9.77.
If there were a simple coaching equation, dozens would break 10 seconds routinely. There are basic, widely-accepted principles, but individuals differ, and fine-tuning means every athlete is an experiment of one. Among more interesting theories is the role of the myelin sheath (whose degradation is responsible for multiple sclerosis).
Dave Lease, former mentor of the GB No.1 Jason Gardener (who has yet to run as fast under his current coach) does not claim to have discovered it, but says he put together some Romanian coaching data and unrelated medical research.
\"They were discussing how nerves grow, and one conclusion was that if the appropriate messages are not sent down neural pathways at the right time, the nerve does not develop properly,\" says Lease, Scotland\'s former national coach.
\"Among the fastest-growing nerves are those involving the eye, following birth. If a baby\'s eyes are covered for the first week or so of life, sight is permanently impaired.\"
He believes this also applies to sprint ability. \"If nerves are not stimulated at the right time, and the right impulses sent down, then sprint potential can\'t be maximised. During two periods in the life of young children, six to seven in girls, and then again from around 10 to 14 (but older for boys, perhaps 13 to 17) the nervous system makes rapid development.
\"Repeated stimulation - and that means short bursts, running flat out often, preferably when well warmed-up, with the muscles already stretched - would be essential preparation for a future sprinter. You can do all the other forms of training later in life, but if the optimum nerve path is not laid down, it\'s a limiting factor.\"
He questions whether kids raised in a cold climate routinely exercise in the warmth required, or with the stretched muscles that such a climate provides.
As children they did not inhabit an environment for the repeated maximal short-burst sprints that occur routinely in Afro-Caribbean childs\' play.
He likens the nerve to an electric cable. \"Repeated bursts of speed, when kids are young, thicken and lengthen the nerve. Subsequently, at the end of puberty, the myelin sheath around the nerve becomes sealed, like the plastic coating on a power cable. After that, the fibres cannot be altered.\"
Those tempted to dismiss the theory should consider this: the 22 fastest 100m runners ever are Afro-Caribbean. Equal 23rd is Patrick Johnson, an Australian Aborigine who might be presumed to have enjoyed a similar environmental background. A total of 52 men have broken 10.00 seconds. All except Johnson are Afro-Carribean. Not one Caucasian.

This article was posted on 7-Jun-2006, 07:02 by Hugh Barrow.