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: Now that barefoot training or minimalism shoes have become popular with the consumer, some interesting questions arise on how track spikes make a difference in speed, and the truth is still a bit of a mystery. Anatomy of a Track Spike
When we see a pair of spikes we see and feel the obvious. First the actual spikes protruding from the forefoot conjures up a gripping action from the friction one may get when the foot makes contact to the track. Many coaches have wrongly believed that at top speed this gripping action of the spikes was helping athletes with a pawing action, similar to a cat swiping down and back but research and video of top sprinters refuted this idea years ago. Just looking at the track spikes one can feel that the sole is very hard, sometimes made of carbon fiber, a very hard material, and he heel is not cushioned. In fact, the heel of the track spikes is very minimal and the forefoot is angled slightly up in efforts to manipulate the metatarsophalangeal joint of (the front part of the foot) in sprinting [1]. Many believe much of the benefit of spikes are the fact they are very light, but the spikes do seem to be a visible attribute that sets them apart. Besides those main attributes, track spikes are very similar and not much different between brands and models. If one was to strip down the spikes and remove the logos, how much would one notice the difference between Nike Spikes and Puma Spikes? Would Usain Bolt have run faster if he were using a different pair of spikes?