Title: How much do track spikes improve times in the sprints? - Freelap USA
Headings: How much do track spikes improve times in the sprints?
How much do track spikes improve times in the sprints?
Anatomy of a Track Spike
Measuring Spikes and Sprinting Speed
What Sport Science Discovered with Track Spikes and Speed
The Spike Test Results
How to pick the right pair of spikes
References

Content: Figure 1. Relative improvement of track spike with stiff plate. The main lesson learned is that each athlete is very individual and sport scientists don’t know all there is to designing the perfect spike shoe. With many athletes wondering what the right shape and size of the removable spikes themselves are the right ones, it’s better to focus on how the entire spike works in practice with timing and using different models that are not creating any specific soreness int the foot besides the usual aches of training. It is true that barefoot sprinting is different mechanically than wearing spikes, but one is giving up s statistical significance if one decides to go barefoot or minimalist shoe. Wearing spikes all the time may not be a good idea from a health perspective, but competing and doing fast workouts with them is a compromise that is a must if one wants to be competitive. What we do know is that spikes do change the way the joints of the foot work, but the performance advantages are worth anything that may occur unnaturally [3]. How to pick the right pair of spikes
Each year when the various shoe catalogs come out, athletes rush to see the latest developments in spikes and most of the changes are in fact cosmetic , not functional. When we see the latest spike model, we usually see a new strip of material here, a change in pattern there, but the spike is going to be nearly the same as the previous year when you remove the style components. Most spikes being similar because the variables are limited to weight, hardness, and limited spike distribution, that comfort is important and they should feel good on the body when sprinting.