Field Event Conversions

[Guest]

I'm in the process of buying the Big Green Book from T&F News, but in the meantime I would like to compare distances of some school records for a collegiate team that I will soon be coaching.

Are there any websites that I can punch in say 1.85 meters to see what that height would be for the high jump?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[tafnut]

Re: Field Event Conversions

There's millions of them, like:
http://www.technoserve.co.za/metric.htm

[throwzfan]

Re: Field Event Conversions

multiply the metric distance by 3.28 to get the distance in feet.

[Guest]

Re: Field Event Conversions

Just be aware that what you get out of on-line conversion sites is a direct meters-to-feet calculation, whereas the Greenbook uses a formula to take actual field-event measuring into account. So the two won't always jibe.

That's why the Greenbook will give you things like 5.00metres being equal to 16'4.75" in the high jump, but equal to 16'5" in the long jump. Sounds goofy, but it's correct.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Field Event Conversions

Imperial, you lost me there.... 5.00 m is equal to 16' 4.85 inches, which in both the LJ and PV gets rounded down to the lower 1/4", isn't it ?

Of course for WR's it HAS to be measured in meters but that is a different subject.

So why doesa the Green Book round UP in one and DOWN in the other ? What am I missing here?

[Guest]

Re: Field Event Conversions

Take the metric number for any given event and divide it by .3048 meters/foot in order to give you the decimal equivalent in feet. One foot as been DEFINED by international agreement to equal 30.48 cm.

[tandfman]

Re: Field Event Conversions

>the Greenbook will give you things like
5.00metres being equal to 16'4.75" in the high
jump, but equal to 16'5" in the long jump.
Sounds goofy, but it's correct.<

Ooh! A 5.00 meter high jump! I've always wanted to see one of those.

[tafnut]

Re: Field Event Conversions

>the Greenbook will give you things like
5.00metres being equal to 16'4.75" in the high
jump, but equal to 16'5" in the long jump.
Sounds goofy, but it's correct.<

It has to do with probabilities. I read gh's explanation before and although it does seem goofy, the book reflects the 'probability' of what the jumped (measured metrically but translated imperially) when he went over a bar of a certain metric height, vs. what the jumper 'probably' jumped imperially, measured metrically.

This is one of those 'trust' issues, like 'if a car is travelling the speed of light, at what speed is its front headlights' light travelling?' It hurts me head to think about it.

[ans: the speed of light, so you can't see it, which makes no logical sense]

[Guest]

Re: Field Event Conversions

Oops! I meant pole vault, of course. But just shows to go ya that even most track-nut Americans aren't really particularly conversant in metres, so suggestions that the sport should be reported that way are just silly. But I digress.

Yes, Mr. Francis, a metre is DEFINED as 30.48cm, but as I tried to point out, field-event marks aren't about pure measure, they're about probability. Why?

If--using numbers that relate to previous post--the long jump world record were measured at 5.00m, the tape could actually be reading anything up to 5.009, and in a series of jumps at that length, average would probably be 5.005. The Greenbook takes this into account and thus gives the "most probable conversion" of what that jump was.

In a vertical jump, however, great care is set to put the bar at EXACTLY the height wanted. So a 5.00 world record is unlikely to be anything above that. So no fudge factor is needed (although the introduction to the book says they use 0.002). So, from time to time, the two events don't have similar measure. It's all rather logical.

Put in the simplest form: a conversion found in the Greenbook is not a conversion from a given metric number; it's a conversion from what the most probable actual distance was given by the tape. Clear as mud?

[The Flash]

Re: Field Event Conversions

http://www.trackandfieldutah.com/decathlonscoring.htm

The preceding link is a calculator located on my website...please don't judge my site for what you see--it is far from a finished product.

As there is a disclaimer on the page, it will reflect what everyone here has said. Going from meters to feet will only give an approximation of the distance. The Green Book will be more accurate, as it has to do with Track and Field.

[6 5.5hjsteve]

Re: Field Event Conversions

Imperial, it is clear now, thank you.