Buzzmaster

  (3:00 PM)

John will be here shortly, everyone!

John Brenkus

  (3:02 PM)

This is my favorite time of the year in sports. Super-psyched for the NFL regular season to wrap up and for the BCS games to get underway, not to mention the NBA starting on Christmas Day. What a present!

Carl (Phoenix)

Seeing the QB glasses at the SS QB combine was great. Is there any other new technology that the SS Lab is working on developing for future episodes?

John Brenkus

  (3:03 PM)

Indeed, but it's classified!

Darrin (Miami)

So, after doing your segment on field goal kickers, were you more or less impressed with kickers as a whole?

John Brenkus

  (3:04 PM)

The mechanics of field goal kicking are fairly straightforward, but the pressure involved is out of control. Just think about it: a guy has to stand on the sidelines the whole game, and he's brought in to do one thing to win the game. It's like walking around a golf tournament and being pulled in from the gallery to hit a clutch putt to win. Those guys have to be mentally rock-solid.

Doug (LA)

Have you ever done a sport science segment that looks into predicting athletic performance? Or are they usually done to tell why something happens in sports?

John Brenkus

  (3:05 PM)

Our NFL combine is largely predictive. We've had tremendous success in analyzing someone's skills and determining whether or not they were ready for the next level. I think it's no coincidence that we chose Christian Ponder and Andy Dalton as two of the best NFL prospects, and they're both thriving in their rookie year.

Derrick (Chicago)

When you're investigating things like Harrison Barnes' fast twitch muscles, do you have experts on staff that can help you research those things or do you have to seek someone out to help you out?

John Brenkus

  (3:05 PM)

Both! Our internal staff knows quite a bit about everything we do, but we also contact outside experts just to shed more light on each topic.

Steve (Boston)

What exactly is speed? 2 guys are roughly the same body proportions, yet 1 is faster. Is the faster of the 2 simply picking up and putting his feet down faster? Is he actually covering more distance per stride? What makes someone fast?

John Brenkus

  (3:07 PM)

Speed is defined as stride length times stride frequency. Obviously there is a mathematical sweet spot for each human, depending on their stride length as to how frequently it can occur. In my book "The Perfection Point", I try to answer the ultimate question: what is the fastest a human being could possibly run? What is the ideal stride length/stride frequency equation?

Kevin (DC)

How are you able to measure body control, like you did for Harrison Barnes? That seems like an interesting concept to test.

John Brenkus

  (3:08 PM)

In the case of Harrison Barnes, we relied on historical data we've gathered.

Bailey (NY)

What's your favorite SPort Science so far?

John Brenkus

  (3:09 PM)

It's not a cop-out answer, but the truth is, they're all my favorite. The best thing about my job is putting together a segment that will make the audience say "wow, I didn't realize that". We try to accomplish that every time, so it's tough to just pick one.

Michelle (VA)

I really enjoyed the Brittney Griner Sport Science. What was the most unusual thing about that episode in your opinion?

John Brenkus

  (3:10 PM)

She is such a dominant force that it truly blew me away. The amount of ground she could cover was shocking.

Jordan (Florida)

Is there a segment that you haven't done yet that you want to?

John Brenkus

  (3:11 PM)

We're always hungry to get as many A-list athletes in the lab as possible, and since there's a new crop coming out every year, it's an endless sea of possibilities.

Jill (MA)

How frightening is it to line up to be hit by guys like Kris Jenkins and Ndamukong Suh?

John Brenkus

  (3:13 PM)

Terrifying!

John Brenkus

  (3:13 PM)

Thanks so much for all your support! Keep on the lookout for more great Sport Science segments coming your way!