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What's your interpretation loss of contact in race walking?
The following are a series of questions that we encountered as we were researching our new forthcoming book, "Looking at the Best, An Evaluation of Elite Race Walking." During our peer review we encountered many different opinions. What are yours?
Please use our interactive surveys below to register your opinion. When you finish, please read the other questions that we answer in our new book below.
#1) Before the 1996 change of the definition of race walking, the definition used to state that a race walker "must maintain unbroken contact with the ground." Do you interpret this rule as any walker who does not have a double support phase (a moment when both feet are simultaneously on the ground) as breaking the definition. i.e. any walker with a loss of contact phase, should be disqualified.
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#2) After 1996 and the change of the definition to the parenthetically (visible to the human eye) clause, do you feel that race walkers are now allowed to be off the ground as long as it is not visible to the human eye? A) Even with the rule change, no loss of contact is permitted.
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#3) What percentage of the upper tier of the best race walkers in the world have a double support phase when race walking at top speeds?
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| #4) If we define step length as the distance from the point of heel contact of the lead leg measured to the point of toe off of the rear leg, what is an acceptable percentage of the step to be traversed with a flight phase?
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Additional Questions
1) What is the average angle that the bottom of the foot makes with the ground at the moment of heel contact of an elite race walker?
2) What is the average ratio between the front and rear of the stride of an elite race walker?
3) What is the average loss of contact in the vertical direction of an elite race walker?
4) What is the average stride length of an elite race walker?
5) What is the average pelvic displacement (hip rotation) of an elite race walker?
6) What is the average maximum height of an elite race walker
as he/she carried his/her swing leg forward?
7) What is the average maximum knee height of an elite race walker as he/she carried his/her swing leg forward?
8) At what point behind the body does an elite
race walker flex their knee?
9) At what point in front of the body does an elite race walker's foot become parallel with the ground?
10) How far in front of the body does an elite race walker swing his/her arm forward?
11) How far behind the body does an elite race walker swing his/her arm backward?
12) What angle between the foot and lower leg does the rear
foot of an elite race walker?
13) How high does the angle of the
rear arm swing back for an elite race walker?
14) What is the angle between the upper and lower arm as the arm of an elite race walker swings backward?
15) How much does an elite race walker lean forward/backward?
16) What is the maximum torso displacement of an elite race walker?
Do you know the answer to these questions? We do and they will soon be in print when "Looking at the Best, A Detailed Analyis of Elite Race Walking Technique" is published by early Decemeber.
