Rethinking sprint performance through mechanics, timing and constraints

Sprint acceleration accounts for more than half of 100m sprint race performance.
And yet, in everyday coaching practice, it is still often treated as a preparatory phase — something to “get through” before real sprinting begins.

Strength improves. Gym numbers go up. Exercises look solid.
But when athletes return to the track, the first steps often look frustratingly similar. Acceleration remains slow, ground contact times stay long, and performance stagnates.

This disconnect is not a matter of motivation or effort.
It is a model problem.

Acceleration is not separate from max velocity

A common mistake in sprint training is treating acceleration, maximal velocity and technique as separate qualities. In reality, sprinting is a continuous mechanical process.

Acceleration is simply the first expression of the same system that will later determine upright sprint speed. What happens in the first few steps directly s...