Studying the video of DK Metcalf running the 100 meters Sportscam Detective noticed something that could mean DK Metcalf can reduce his times by at least .225 seconds to as much as .45 seconds.
Sportscam Detective noticed during DK Metcalf's 100m Olympic qualifying trial his track shoes were flexing twice as long per step as the other runners on every impact his shoe had with the track surface.
Los Angeles Emmy Winner & Video Forensics Expert Alessandro Machi
explains how DK Metcalf can still run faster than his 10.37 100m time.
Sportscam Detective believes with a custom made track shoe and track cleats that are based on DK Metcalf's height, mass and torque he could reduce the time each foot is on the ground by .005 to .01 seconds.
DK Metcalf took exactly 45 steps during his 100m run. Minus .005 to .01 seconds per step would mean a reduction in time of .225 to .45 seconds.
With the properly designed track shoe DK Metcalf could turn his 10.37 run into a 10.145 on the conservative side all the way down to a 9.92 second run on the optimal side.
July 6, 2021 Update: A discussion about the new breakthrough technology for shoes and spikes...
Does anyone recall what happened to Zion Williamson when his shoe seemed to explode? Zion's mass times his torque and agility basically caused his left shoe to disintegrate.
Who was it who said, "It's gotta be the shoes"?
Sportscam Detective can offer two more pieces of evidence that DK Metcalf was nowhere near his true, "ready to go" potential.
The first piece of evidence was Metcalf had minimal second half acceleration once he was up to speed. In theory, a runner can build upon their initial speed if their mechanics are perfect. DK was ahead of one runner and alongside a couple others over the first 30 to 40 meters of the race, yet they all pulled away from DK over the final 30 meters even though it did not seem as if DK had tired or slowed down. Rather, DK's shoes did not give him the support and boost they could have given him if they had been specifically made for his height, weight and torque.
The second issue to consider are the cleats. DK Metcalf would probably need custom made cleats because his sheer size, weight and torque will give specially designed smaller lighter cleats better traction that a lighter weight runner would find too feeble. Placing the same type of cleats on DK's track shoes that lighter runners use is like placing a microscopic brake on every step DK takes.
In the bizarro world the bigger and stronger the runner, the smaller the cleats need to be since the sheer height, mass and torque of the runner will offset the cleat being smaller and shorter. This is easier said than done. Would the cleats actually be shorter, or would they be thinner in diameter? What combination of cleat size and thickness and how many cleats would DK actually need that would match perfectly for his height, weight and torque?
I would suggest finding three guys who are similar in size and use them as test subject with standard track shoes and then with an improved design. Two of the subjects I would test old design to new design, the third person I would the opposite and tell them the opposite to remove the psychological aspect of thinking the new shoe is better and therefore one actually runs better.
What a great time to experiment. COVID-19 has been around, people have been stuck at home, other than congregating to come up with a vaccine, how about getting experts together to figure out if DK Metcalf has a 9.92 to 10.1425 in him with the proper shoe.
It was frustrating to see Mr. Metcalf in essence using a three speed bicycle while his competitors had perfected their shoe and cleat combinations and running on the equivalent of 10 speed bicycles.
If DK Metcalf had had the perfectly made track shoe and cleat for his 100m run, he might have won the race instead of finishing tied for last.
However, it should also be noted that the level of expertise and kinesiological skill required to create the optimal track shoe and cleat size is of such importance that any mistakes could result in a serious injury for an athlete that is used to running on surfaces that usually have more give to them so that too must be factored in to any endeavor to see if it's "gotta be the shoes". Who said that?
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