Dan Peterson

How To See A 130 MPH Tennis Serve

04:42 PM ET 09.17

Views: 800
Comments: 0

For
most of us mere mortals, if an object was coming at us at 120-150 mph,
we would be lucky to just get out of the way. Players in this week's
U.S. Open tennis tournament not only see the ball coming at them with
such speed, but plan where they want to place their return shot and
swing their racquet in time to make contact. At 125 mph from 78 feet
away, that gives them a little less than a half second to accomplish
the task.

How do they do it? Well, they're better than you and I, for one. But science has some more specific answers to offer.

Swiss researchers have concluded that expert…

> Read Entire Post > Comment

Usain Bolt Can Be Even Faster, Researchers Claim

06:51 PM ET 08.08

Views: 623
Comments: 0

Well, maybe Usain Bolt was right after all. As discussed in our Physiology of Speed story, Bolt predicted he could run 100 meters in 9.54 seconds, lowering his own world record of 9.69 seconds.
Now, researchers from Tilburg University in the Netherlands say he could shave another 3/100ths of a second off and hit the tape at 9.51 seconds.
Using the "extreme value theory", Professor of Statistics John Einmahl
and former student Sander Smeets have calculated the fastest possible
times for men and women. Between 1991 and 2008, they chronicled the
best times for 762 male sprinters…

> Read Entire Post > Comment

The Physiology of Speed

06:50 PM ET 08.08

Views: 489
Comments: 0

Usain
Bolt, the triple Olympic gold medal sprinter from Jamaica, predicted
last week that he could break his own world record of 9.69 seconds in
the 100 meter sprint with a time as low as 9.54 seconds. He claimed his
coach told him its possible, so he believes him. His coach, Glen Mills,
may have just finished reading some new research coming out of Duke
University that showed sprinters and swimmers who are taller, heavier
but more slender are the ones breaking world records.
At first glance, it may not make sense that bigger athletes
would be faster. However, Jordan Charles, a recent…

> Read Entire Post > Comment