Swervy
International Captain
well it doesnt take that long for the body to adjust to altitude..so after a period of adapting to the conditions, there shouldnt be any real effect on the body performing at higher altitudes (most sport isnt played on top of Mt Everest..so lets ignore extreme altitude)....C_C said:balances out really...
people harp that at altitude there is less air therefore ball travels faster..... but that is negated by the fact that there is also LESS OXYGEN at altitude so you are getting less energy for your efforts.....
If it didnt balance out, you'd see all sorts of olympic records being broken at high altitude venues.... and if air resistance was the only thing, people would've been throwing stuff a whole yard further on the peak of mt. everest....whereinfact the other factors so severely outbalance the 'density of air' factor that people arnt half as efficient on mt. everest as they aer on sea-level.
However so many record performances have occured at altitude, you cannot ignore the effect of the lessening of friction due to less density...one example is Bob Beamon in the long jump in Mexico City...another that springs to mind is in American Football,where the Denver Broncos play (ie high in the Rockies),a players ability to kick a ball is increased by probably around 10%,all down to the rarified atmosphere....of course over a long period the effect is noticable...middle and long distance runners will struggle at high altitude..but in events involving short, violent spurts of energy (100m sprint, bowling a cricket ball,long jump, kicking a football), the effect of the less oxygen would be minimal
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