Theo Walcott speed

[SprintFan]

I was just wondering what is your oppinion about one of the fastest football player....He ran 4.72 sec over 40m(an all time Arsenal record beating Henry"s old record of 4.84sec) I dont know the timing method used but I can guess that it was something similar to this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntSoTBU0sU0 so with timing gates but this timing system is approx 0.3 faster than the hand pad device because as you can see in the youtube clip they are like 0.5m behind the gate when they start so they have like a small flying start.....anyway I wanted to ask specialists like you because I am sick and tired reading on forums only stupid things related to sprinting(they really dont know anything about track and field) just an example would be that Cristiano Ronaldo runs 100m in 10.2sec not only him it was rumoured about many other like rommedahl, overmars etc......my questions would be.....So my question would be how fast do you think Walcott is regarding track and field speed and the fastest football players in comparison with sprinters...if they stand a chance over short distances like 50 or under because i read articles in which they claimed that a football player raced a german sprinter i dont remember his name he participated at berlin wc 100m for germany and is very skinny
and the football player beat him over 30m(which I highly doubt it)...what do you think is Walcott"s time over 100m(I am not a Walcott fan but from my own research I begin to believe that he is one of the fastest in the world elite football scene) Walcott said he ran 11.4 sec when he was 14 here are some runs he made http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id9XqBPfJ6w

 

[SprintFan]

Is this subject really so uninteresting for you? I was hoping for some oppinions....

 

[waterbed]

I dont believe that Cristiano Ronaldo etc. run a 10.2 100 meter, then he would with a bit training and technicall improvement burn Usain Bolt.I think the fastest soccer players run around 11 flat or so with some of them could be top sprinter if they trained for it and stop taking such small steps.Most of them do that because with dribbling you have to do that to easily change direction but most do it also without ball.

I think their are soccer players with very good acceleration and 30-40 meter sprints because that is what you need in soccer and soccer involves a lot of short acceleration sprints.I remember Christian Blum did lose from some german soccer players over a spint of 30 or 40 meter or so.

christiano Ronaldo top speed i Belive is 34 km hour while usain bolt is 43.9. 34 km converts to a 12.5 seconds 100 meter or so, but taking in he has relatively good accelraion probably it converts to 12.25 seconds flat which is a bit faster.No i think of it it is maybe a 11.5-11.75 becuase in soccer matches you dont run at 100% and grass is slower then a track.In soccer they only calculate the elite players and their are probably a lot of unknown players that are much faster.I think Elite players are faster then average but there are much more unknown players and the fastest probably is not very elite to because speed give you an advantage but thier are more Qualitys that are important.Like me for example, but i can't run fast anymore, when i was at my best and thought maybe i can go to highest league I got something strange with my legs that are always tired painfull nowadays.My live sucks.

her a sprint between Cristiano Ronaldo against Marc overmars who I consider fast and Cristiano ronaldo but Marc Overmars did lose here already a bit speed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAIKOnVjqGM

 

[SprintFan]

nice post waterbed but do you really think blum lost to that soccer player? I myself played soccer 12 years untill 19 years when my knees got seriosly injured i sytill have problems with them and I remember not knowing almost nothing about track and field but beeing pretty quick for short distances I remember beeing handtimed over 50m with 6.09sec....everybody was impressed with my game speed but it was a false impression because of my very high frequency and short strides(lack of strength, flexibility,running technique) something simillar to Rommedahl running style....anyway Walcott seems to have very good sprinting qualities including stride length which is very small by soccer players as you said because of the game abilities needed.....thanks again for the post

 

[waterbed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lufPzexwTYA

here 6.34 55 meter soccer players, hard to say what they run at 100 meter becuase soccer players decelerate a lot after the top speed( 70 meters), but maybe this players can run 11 flat.

 

[waterbed]

yeah Christain Blum lost, I have seen the picture.But it was probably a short sprint.Theo walcott was in statistics even less pseedy then Cristiano Ronaldo but probably the match statistics aren't right.Also sometimes in statistics the fastest players only run 30 km hour but probably they confused average sprint speed with top speed( top speed is the fastest part within a sprint).And yes Theo Walcott really runes like a sprinter and he said in a youtube video that he runned on a track( so it is for real) a 11.5 100 meter at 14.But he was already full grown and most shorth people hit puberty earlier etc.But still it is fast and could be one of the 11 second flat guys.
Believe me with 6.09 sec. 60 meters you are faster then Christiano Ronaldo.Maybe we would run about the same.

Ryan Babel is fast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSdm8Rsl8KI

but the Goalkeeper of Roda jc Tyton of the dutch leaugue club was the fastest in a test.Everyone was talking about the Elites but just the 2nd keeper who is 195 cm is the fastest lol.he is now 1st keeper for the first time.The guy in the video in my earlier post talks about him.

Dennis Rommedahl wasn't even the fastest of the danish squat i have heard.Strikers often look faster then the defenders becuase you have reaction time advantage.Also often the striker already runs when the defender comes from a standing position and from a standing position so you have to accelerate even Usian Bolt would lose often if he was a defender against a striker on top speed.

 

[SprintFan]

my oppinion is that in the first video the 2 soccer players run 50m approx or maybe less because the 1 player takes 11 steps untill the first line of the I dont know the word in english and it is at a distance of 16,5m(I know because I'm a soccer referee) but not all pitches have 100m its between 90-110m the standard soccer pitch but the first line must be at 16,5m from the goal line....so the player takes 11 steps for 16,5m very short stride(it;s normal that the stride is shorter at the drive phase) 1,5m untill 16.5m stride length.....and then he takes 15-16 steps for the remaining 55-16.5m=38,5m/16steps=2,40m stride length which is improbably that from 1,5m stride length untill 16.5m he went to 2,4m from 16,5 to 55m so I think it's more like 45m-50m max I hope it makes sens so they are not that fast

 

[SprintFan]

I am not that fast 6.09sec was hand timed over 50m but almost 4 years ago when still playing soccer but now I have bought sonic timer with hand start pad and laser finish sensor and I ran 6,5sec on 50m that will be equivalent to a 7,8sec 60m with blocks reaction time and all that stuff so not that fast

 

[waterbed]

I think 6.5 50 meters is around 7.5 60 meters, except if your average sprint speed is the same as your top speed which is impossible.
You probably calculated like 6.5/5*6.
Don't worry you are probably faster then some of the soccer players that are claimed 10.2 100 meters like Cristiano Ronaldo.

English isn't my first language too like you can read.And i am a bit lazy with typing, also you have to press hard on my keyboard to see the letters lol.

 

[SprintFan]

no it's correct the way I calculated if I ran 50m 6.5sec FAT without reaction time my 60m in a meeting would be 7.8secbecause you add reaction time 0.15-0.2(i have no idea) and the 10m n 0.1-0.15 we are a little off topic but what do you think of Walcott's 40m sprint record time of 4,72sec this is equivalent to a 5,7-5.8sec 50m but I believe it was a little flying timed and not with a hand pad so it should be 5.0 sec 40m, and 60m around 7.1 and with reaction time around 7.3sec what do you think is it plausible that walcott would run in a 60m meet in a time of 7.30 sec pretty fast my oppinion

 

[freddie]

For what it is worth I would say, based only on my 60m experience and just watching him, that Walcott could run a legitimate 7.00.

 

[SprintFan]

Your oppinion is based on the youtube clips or you watch soccer regularly? thanks for sharing your oppinion with us

 

[freddie]

Experience of being asprint coach in Canada where so much training is done indoors. I could estimate times of runners quite well and my belief was that if you could run 7.00 for the 60 you were a real sprinter. Also ran 7.24 myself at age 44. For Walcott I see him on the TV as we have the Premier League here. Also watched the YouTube.

 

[SprintFan]

wow 7.24 at 44 that's impressive quite incredible...I tought soccer is not that popular in N America and that you dont follow that's why I asked didn't mean to seem suspicious what would Walcott's time be in the 40 yard dash? I would quess somewhere around 4.35-4.40 with the timing used in the NFL...other oppinions?
Edited by: SprintFan

 

[freddie]

Not that fast for Walcott- 4.45 perhaps - more with sprint timing - but who knows with a bit of hill training.
PS: I lived for 28 years in England that's why I watch soccer now. Thanks for the kind comments; the time was an age group record at the time but not many old guys still run - just silly old men trying to recreate the past!! Not that good because I was no faster at18 - didn't train then, just ran.

 

[waterbed]

I think walcott runs anywhere from 6.9 to 7.3 over 60 meters.I have seen a statistic that he was even less fast as cristiano ronaldo and some other Elites, but Now i think of it I think it are bad statistics taked from matches were He probably didn't went all out during the sprint.I think He is faster then 'the 10.2 100 meter soccer players'.
There are much more soccer players then sprinters so probably there are soccer players out there who could run 11 flat or maybe slightly under if you take all pro leagues from england , france etc. together.
the average guy in his twenties runs maybe 14-15 seconds 100 meter and high amatuer league soccer players maybe 13 and pro leagues maybe 12.5 seconds average.maybe 1-5 % is of pro soccer players runs 15 seconds 100 meter but they have to play 1 touch football, and have a very good other Qualitys.Wesley sneijder does not run under 14 seconds i think, rafael van der vaart not too,Klaas jan Huntelaar runs 15 seconds he said and got when he played at Ajax special run training.

 

[waterbed]

the soccer players that run around 11 seconds could be sprinters if they trained from it.It depends a bit if you are a good improver.Armin Hary went from 11.3 hand timed to 9.9 hand timed in a couple of years!

 

[SprintFan]

waterbed are you dutch? what other dutch soccer players do you know with their sprint times? Overmars was one of the fastest...it;s comparable to Walcott but they both played at Arsenal and Walcott is the record holder for the 40m sprint

 

[mastermulti]

"......the 10.2 100 meter soccer players'."

There are no 10.2 soccer players

 

[SprintFan]

So I had 2 oppinions about Walcott's FAT time over 60m 7.00sec and 6.90-7.30sec other oppinions?

 

[Europe]

wow 7.24 at 44 that's impressive quite incredible...I tought soccer is not that popular in N America and that you dont follow that's why I asked didn't mean to seem suspicious  what would Walcott's time be in the 40 yard dash? I would quess somewhere around 4.35-4.40 with the timing used in the NFL...other oppinions?

I think Walcott could run a 4.40.Walcott's father was a sprinter. I would like to see the soccer players timed in a 40 yard dash to compare. Speed is not as important in soccer though. Rooney is fast,but not that fast and he is better than Walcott. The Spanish players aren't super fast,but they are great players. Owen hargreaves is really fast. He was timed as the faster player on Man Untd. Ronoldo didn't participate in the timing, so he may be faster,but not by much.

 

[pizza]

Sprinting is a boring sport. We should never give it as much tv time as we do in the u.s.

soccer players are indeed faster, if they train. no doubt about it.

 

[SprintFan]

Sorry for this post but if you want to see me in action...sadly this is the only recorded sequence with me running because I got a very bad injury at knee(surgery 6 month's out)....skip to 26sec I'm in orange(the striker) this is very bad filmed(my uncle) ,very bad pitch, we had a friendly soccer match between referees from 2 different cities....what do you think about my poor running technique(some tips would be nice)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwAxP6iPG8s

 

[waterbed]

waterbed are you dutch? what other dutch soccer players do you know with their sprint times? Overmars was one of the fastest...it;s comparable to Walcott but they both played at Arsenal and Walcott is the record holder for the 40m sprint

yes. I don't much times but I think the fastest dutch soccer player ever could be Edwin van Ankeren he is now retired.He runned 11.2 when he was 15 yeas old and 2 weeks and did athletics, 4 place all time handtimed C junior.Being it handtimed it was maybe 11.44 he could maybe in his 20's run slighly sub 11 he had great genes and did know how to run . If he had continued Athletics and didn't went soccer player he had a chance of being a sub 10 sprinter.