Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2003/08/09

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Subject: [Leica] Pictures and stuff
From: LRZeitlin@aol.com
Date: Sat, 9 Aug 2003 09:01:48 EDT

Ted,

I bought a copy of your Osler book. Fantastic pictures. You are to be 
congratulated for a superb job.

I'm also glad to see that at least someone admits practicing to get sports 
timing right. I have long since retired but years ago I used to take pictures of 
the New York Cosmos soccer games. I readily admit that I wasted yards of film 
shooting practices to get the timing and knowledge of individual player's 
styles to be ready for the Sunday events. It don't come easy.

But I disagree with you on the value of lab tests.

You said:

"Tests in a lab, as far as I'm concerned, are meaningless because the athlete
/ location creates a stimulant atmosphere to stop him dead in his tracks and
no amount of diddling around in some sterile lab is going to produce the
finger twitch re-action time real life does. No matter what their machines
say it is.

I mean if the techie people want to do real stuff research, go to the
Olympics or any international sport event and wire a bunch of the guys, then
make their tests."

The sports medicine and sports psychology books are full of laboratory tests. 
Athletes regularly use the research to improve their performances. If you are 
as old as I am you will remember that in the 50s the running time for the 
mile was over 4 minutes until Roger Bannister, a physician, using the result of 
physiological tests on himself, ran the first sub 4 minute mile. Edwin Moses 
practically lived in the sports labs to perfect his hurdling style. Sports 
drinks, energy conserving shoes, hyped up training schedules all came from lab 
research - not to mention the millions of dollars spent on research for Formula 1 
cars and America's Cup sailboats. The super performances at the Olympics are 
simply the result of years of preparation including sports laboratory research. 
Ask your neighborhood sports physician for confirmation.

Regards,

Larry Z
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Replies: Reply from Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> (Re: [Leica] Pictures and stuff)