Craig Pickering

[albinosprint]

rest and he needs to just run the race and not worry about making the team. I believe its the pressure that gets him. he needs to just go out and do it like the time he ran against Bolt. He can do it! no pressure!

 

[white lightning]

Isn't this the same weekend as the Italian National Championships as well? Maybe they already had theres but I don't recall reading about it.

As for Craig, sometimes I wonder if the anger hurts his starts. He gets so angry before a race as he just paces back and forth. It's very intimidating similar to how Mo used to wag his tongue. I know he does this to get pumped up along with listening to rock music but maybe he is too pumped. That may sound stupid but he has a serious problem reacting to the gun. Maybe if he was a little more relaxed, his reaction time would be better.

I'm not a coach but I'm just puzzled as to why he is not progressing like he should be. The most obvious downfall is his form. He needs to fix his arm swing. There is no way to even attempt to address this issue until the off season. Just hope for the best on Friday. If he can ever get a reaction time close to .100 ,then I think his speed will take him to a new p.b. Craig runs so much more relaxed when he is out in front. He doesn't press or tie up. He also runs through the line more efficiently.

Anyways, here is to a new p.b. by Craig. You can do it Craig!

 

[Maple Leaf]

Isn't this the same weekend as the Italian National Championships as well? Maybe they already had theres but I don't recall reading about it.

As for Craig, sometimes I wonder if the anger hurts his starts. He gets so angry before a race as he just paces back and forth. It's very intimidating similar to how Mo used to wag his tongue. I know he does this to get pumped up along with listening to rock music but maybe he is too pumped. That may sound stupid but he has a serious problem reacting to the gun. Maybe if he was a little more relaxed, his reaction time would be better.

I'm not a coach but I'm just puzzled as to why he is not progressing like he should be. The most obvious downfall is his form. He needs to fix his arm swing. There is no way to even attempt to address this issue until the off season. Just hope for the best on Friday. If he can ever get a reaction time close to .100 ,then I think his speed will take him to a new p.b. Craig runs so much more relaxed when he is out in front. He doesn't press or tie up. He also runs through the line more efficiently.

Anyways, here is to a new p.b. by Craig. You can do it Craig!

Sure he needs to work on his form. His form from 40-100 especially needs to be cleaned up. Time lost there.

He needs another meter to a meter and a half of distance before he hits the 10. I don't know if he is able to add a centimeter to his stride but if he did and maintained the frequency he'd have it. Or, he needs to add another stride before he hits the 10. That means he has to increase his frequency.

If all he trained on was frequency and maintained everything else he'd go sub 10. He has to find a way or find a coach that knows a way to get it done.

 

[StarWars]

Craig needs this race. He better be racing Bolt.

 

[white lightning]

Great Post Maple Leaf. I want him to increase his stride. I don't think he will listen to me but you never know. Just a little bit. Open it up. If you look at Simeon Williamson, he has a huge stride. Craig isn't built right to have that large of a stride but Craig can improve his slightly. Craigs turnover frequency blows away Sim. So if Sim can run consistant times in the 10.05 - 10.15 range, Craig should be able to go beyond that easily. Fix the start, change the arm swing and lengthen the stride just a tad. That should be good for consistant times in the sub 10.10 range and will also give him multiple sub 10's in my opinion. Craig are you listening? I should be saying, is Craigs Coach listening? I still think he may pull a really fast time Friday. If he could replicate in a few meets what he has done in a couple of practices, this discussion might have been over a while ago.

Come on Craig. You can do it. He can still be the first if he shocks the world on Friday in either the heat or in the finals. Sub 10 my friend!

 

[StarWars]

He definitely understands stride rate and frequency. His little pay goes to helping both. It is form I can bet he is being stubborn about. The pacing before racing is something many people do to help with stress and deal with adrenaline. I do that too. Especially when I'm excited. I can't tell if he is racing angry though. Maybe he is too tight. There is a picture of him after he screwed up the relay in Beijing in which his face looks disgusted with himself, and if he had anything to throw I bet he would have. So he does get angry. And he does care about the relay team, so I bet he is somewhat happy to be on that. That is why the selector should pick him to go to Berlin, because he cares so much and is the future. Chambers is not the best British sprinter anyway. He should follow Tim Benjamin's lead and let the younger crowd take the reigns.

Craig's goals were to be a good 60 meter sprinter too, so my idea of him giving up his indoor season to help his 100 may be quixotic. Just a thought. If he cares about it, which I understand because I like the 55 better than the 100 too, then let's hope he does well in that too. Maybe top 3 in the world in the 60 someday if his start is right. His 60 might be his best race actually if he gets his start down again. Maybe sub 6.50.

His form is in my opinion the thing to work on. Next year is meaningless outdoors, so he should work on it then.

I hope he can pull off a miracle this Friday. Out of him, Guliyev, Lemaitre, and Herring, I think a miracle or two will happen.

 

[Maple Leaf]

Thank you W.L.

Wars: regarding Craig getting angry and too intense, I would say that racers that try too hard usually tend to tense up and short stroke their race. He has to explode into form, come to top speed, and maintain a fluid, long stride. It is easy to say but hard to do. But he has to stay in control while exerting himself. He is like 95% there.

The wild arm swing he has shows me he uses it to gain top speed early and helps him increase his frequency by pulling with his arms. Early in the race its not such a problem. Donovan Baily was pretty wild getting up to speed also. But Baily elongated his stride once at top speed and maintained fluidity. Is that what you meant by improving his form?

Increase frequency and let it rip, or stride and form, either way I think Craig has something he can work on and get faster. He could be in a worse position. He could be at a moment where he had already done everything and still running 10.2s.

 

[jacknyc]

Craig's start is terrible. He is always at the back of the pack at 30 meters. So that puts him in the stressful position of trying to catch-up. He gets tense, his form gets sloppier, and it's another race of 'what ifs'.
We can talk about it all day (and we do), but Craig has a LOT of work to do in the off-season.

 

[StarWars]

If you watch his start in Torino in the 60m finals you see how bad his arm swing hurts him. Look how fast Fabio Cerutti and Dwain Chaimbers get out with near perfect arms. Craig's frequency is the best in the business. At top speed lengthening his stride just a little would help a lot. Maybe some 200's could fix this.

 

[Maple Leaf]

If his start is so bad, why is he such a good 60m man? I like the idea of running 200s. As we all know form rules there.

 

[white lightning]

If my boy makes the individual team to Berlin in the 100 on Friday, me and him might just have to share some of my beer. The flavor of choice for sprinters like Craig, Ramil, Christophe and Fabio! Good to the last drop but have to do some extra plyo's to keep off the beer belly. Hehehe.

http://beerobsessed.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/white-lightning.jpgEdited by: white lightning

 

[white lightning]

Call me crazy but I predict a 10.05 on Friday! He is going to finally put the perfect race together and when he does, remember that I predicted it. I do know that he is pretty fly for a white guy! Let's do this! STATEMENT RACE FOR RESPECT!

 

[albinosprint]

I love wheat beer! that is why I'm going to crack one open right now! Here's to go Craig in hope of a PB!

 

[white is right]

His start is hit and miss. If he gets a good start he can challenge for a medal at the World Indoor Championships. If he gets off to a poor start he would be lucky to final.

 

[StarWars]

Last time Craig ran poorly he bounced back with a 10.08w. Same exact conditions...

 

[white lightning]

I have a bet going. Can't say what it is but I hope it's a motivator on Friday. I feel a huge p.b. It's just a gut feeling. Been wrong a few times but I'm right alot of the time. Let's hope this is another of those times. NO ONE NEEDS A P.B. more the Craig at the moment. At a all time low in his career. We are here for you Craig and we will not stop rooting for you no matter what happens on Friday. At least I know I will never turn my back on a friend. I will root for him until he retires period. He was the only one out there with any glimmer of hope after Shirvo, Macro and Nagel stepped off the scene. He gave us hope and other kids still coming up. For that I thank him.

You can do it Craig. Remember the GBAP days. Come along ways bro!

 

[albinosprint]

I'm with you white lightning. I predict Craig will be the fastest for Great Britain this weekend.

 

[albinosprint]

100 METRES - Men - Heats - Heat 1 START LIST
First 3 of each heat plus the 2 fastest times

Personal Best Season Best
1 Leevan YEARWOOD GBR 10.22 10.26

2 Aaron ARMSTRONG TRI 10.03 10.03

3 Ivory WILLIAMS USA 9.93 9.93

4 Asafa POWELL JAM 9.72 9.98

5 Yohan BLAKE JAM 9.93 9.93

6 Travis PADGETT USA 9.89 10.00

7 James ELLINGTON GBR 10.27 10.27

8 Mark LEWIS-FRANCIS GBR 10.04 10.37



100 METRES - Men - Heats - Heat 2 START LIST
First 3 of each heat plus the 2 fastest times

Personal Best Season Best
1 Harry AIKINES ARYEETEY GBR 10.10 10.15

2 Rae EDWARDS USA 10.02 10.02

3 Daniel BAILEY ANT 9.91 9.91

4 Usain BOLT JAM 9.69 9.79

5 Simeon WILLIAMSON GBR 10.03 10.05

6 Mark JELKS USA 9.99 10.04

7 Tyrone EDGAR GBR 10.06 10.09

8 Craig PICKERING GBR 10.14 10.23

 

[albinosprint]

Craig has a tuff heat. he needs to beat his countrymen and make it to the final for a Big PR run! go Pick! we know you can do it!

 

[Maple Leaf]

Wow, all those sub ten times. Craig got smoked. Came in last. Like I said before, it is time to make some changes because whatever he is doing it is not working.

I remember from experience how hard it is to break a mental barrier. For a long time I could never bench 308lbs without help. Then I stopped benching for two years. When I came back I tried some very different methods and I climbed back up and blew the six pack away (6 x 20kgs) and went to 353 clean, clean, clean.

Craig needs to train differently.

 

[albinosprint]

Maple Leaf,

that's the start list. semi's & final tomorrow.

 

[Maple Leaf]

So they haven't run anything yet? Whew!

 

[white lightning]

Maple Leaf cracks me up. He posts so quickly with out really paying attention. It's ok bro. We love you here. We all do it sometimes.

So ain't no jive but Craigs going to run a 10.05 to keep his World Champs Dream Alive!

You heard it here first. The sad thing is that even if he did, he might finish 3rd of 4th in that heat. Man are both heats loaded with fast guys. It's like the semis or finals almost of the World Champs. Good luck Craig!Edited by: white lightning

 

[white lightning]

For those of you who can't get Universalsports.com where the meet is free both tommorow and Saturday from London. Here is another link you can try for both days. I will keep trying to find one for the Euro Junior Champs.


London GP

Tomorrow

http://j0xip.tk

Saturday
http://cdsfm.tkEdited by: white lightning

 

[Maple Leaf]

Maple Leaf cracks me up. He posts so quickly with out really paying attention. It's ok bro. We love you here. We all do it sometimes.

So ain't no jive but Craigs going to run a 10.05 to keep his World Champs Dream Alive!

You heard it here first. The sad thing is that even if he did, he might finish 3rd of 4th in that heat. Man are both heats loaded with fast guys. It's like the semis or finals almost of the World Champs. Good luck Craig!

I'm actually glad I was wrong!