---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 20:04:19 -0700
From: Ed Grant <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Re: t-and-f: Hand timing
>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2001 15:11:03 EDT
>Subject: Hand timing
>To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
> P.N. wrote:
>Trouble is, if you "get it right" then, assuming
>the fully automatic timing is accurate, you have
>likely got it w r o n g .
>
> I usually agree with my friend from New Zealand (who is no horses butt,
>but rather one of the top track historians of all time), but in this case I
>have a comment.
> You aren't wrong when you come close to aurtomatic timing while using a
>stop watch. All it takes is a knowledge of correct procedure and the
>self-discipline to wait until you see the runner reach the finish line
before
>you begin your reaction to stop the watch. Hand times are generally much
>faster than automatic timing because timers anticipate and so begin their
>reaction before the runner hits the tape.
> In my early years as a track fan I always had a stop watch in my hand,
>but I quit when it became impossible for me to time with the officials. I
>was getting times two tenths slower all the time. I remember a
straightaway
>220 race at San Jose when coach bud Winter pressed me into service as a
timer
>at the 200 meter line. As I stood there waiting to see the first runner
>reach the 200 line I heard stop watches clicking at the 220 line.
>
>Cordner Nelson (ex-timer)
>
>Cordner:
That last reminds me of a story my good friend Tommy Mitchell (the
guy who taught Andy Stanfield how to start) once told me.
Tom, one of the greatest track coaches in NJ history, was a longtime
teacher at Lincoln HS in Jersey City. he coaches there twice, from around
1930 to0 1942 and again from around 1955 to 1965. In between, however, he
continued to teach their with Art Wisner (the founder of the Shore AC and
later coach of the Grand Street Boys Olympic Gold MR team), who was also
coach twice, before Tommy and then in that 1943-55 "interlude.
The Lincoln team used to train indoors on a "made-up" track around
the posrts that surrounded their cellar basketball court. One day, Wisner
was putting his boys through their [aces with Mitchell looking on. Tommy
noticed that Art was stopping his watch before runners actually got to the
"finish line." When he asked why, Wisner replied, "Well, they should have
finished by then."
Ed Grant
