Coaching High Hurdles

Coaching High Hurdles Mike Young, PhD

Things you must know

Between hurdle sprintingHurdle clearance technique

Other considerations

Approach to first hurdle

HIGH HURDLING IS A MODIFIED SPRINT

EVERY HURDLER IN THE WORLD TAKES 45-46 STEPS

HURDLE DISTANCES DON’T CARE

Hurdle Interval Times for 2009 World Championship Medalists

Approach to Hurdle 1

APPROACH TO HURDLE 1

Men Women

Distance to H1 13.72 m 13 mOptimum TO to H1 2.1 m 1.9 m

Run-In Distance 11.62 m 11.1 m

Ave SL (8 Step) 1.45 m 1.39 m

Ave SL (7 Step) 1.66 m 1.59 m

‣FASTER PROGRESSION OF BODY ANGLES ‣HIGHER STRIDE FREQUENCY ‣RHYTHM: ‣SLOW TO FAST? ‣BIG TO SMALL? ‣“DRIVE PHASE” EXTENDS TO HURDLE 3

Hurdle Acceleration

7 vs 8

8 STEP APPROACH TO HURDLE 1Men Women

Step Length Distance Step Length Distance1 0.65 m 0.65 0.60 m 0.60 m2 1.24 m 1.89 m 1.16 m 1.76 m3 1.35 m 3.25 m 1.33 m 3.09 m4 1.46 m 4.71 m 1.43 m 4.52 m5 1.60 m 6.31 m 1.53 m 6.05 m6 1.70 m 8.05 m 1.63 m 7.68 m7 1.84 m 9.89 m 1.73 m 9.41 m8 1.74 m 11.63 m 1.63 m 11.04 m

7 STEP APPROACH TO HURDLE 1Men Women

Step Length Distance Step Length Distance

1 0.76 m 0.76 m 0.65 m 0.65 m

2 1.42 m 2.18 m 1.40 m 2.05 m

3 1.62 m 3.80 m 1.60 m 3.65 m

4 1.77 m 5.57 m 1.75 m 5.40 m

5 1.93 m 7.50 m 1.85 m 7.25 m

6 2.08 m 9.58 m 1.95 m 9.20 m

7 2.00 m 11.58 m 1.85 m 11.05 m

HURDLE CLEARANCE

HURDLES MUST BE CLEARED WITH MINIMAL EFFECT ON THE HORIZONTAL RUNNING SPEED.

Ward-Smith, 1997

Effective hurdle clearance is like a skipping stone

OPTIMUM TAKEOFF & TOUCHDOWN DISTANCES

Men Women

Takeoff 2.1 - 2.2 m 1.9 - 2.0 m

Touchdown 1.3 - 1.4 m 0.9 - 1.0 m

Step Length 1.94 m 1.83 m

‣HIP HEIGHT ‣PROJECTION ‣LEAVE LEG BEHIND

Takeoff

‣LEAD WITH THE KNEE ‣CHEST OVER THIGH

Lead Leg

‣TIGHT AT CLEARANCE ‣ANKLE FLEXED ‣ROTARY

Trail Leg

‣AS SIMILAR TO SPRINT MECHANICS AS POSSIBLE ‣HAND OF LEAD ARM NEVER PAST MIDLINE ‣HAND OF LEAD ARM NEVER HIGHER THAN ELBOW ‣LEAD ARM BEGINS DOWNWARD ROTATION EARLY ‣TRAIL ARM ELBOW TIGHTLY FLEXED

Arm Action

‣GET DOWN FAST ‣STAY TALL ‣TRAIL LEG AROUND

Touchdown

Between Hurdle Running

THE FASTER & TALLER YOU ARE THE MORE YOU NEED TO SHUFFLE

STEP LENGTHMen Women

Sprinting 2.4 m 2.2 m

Hurdling 1.94 m 1.83 m

Sprint : Hurdle SL 81% 83%

‣DIFFERENT THAN CHOPPING ‣HANDS LOWER ‣ARMS LOWER ‣FEET LOWER ‣KNEES LOWER

Shuffling

‣SHORTER THAN PRECEDING STEP ‣HIPS STAY SQUARE & TALL ‣ IMPLICATIONS FOR 7 STEPPING HURDLE 1

Cut Step

‣HEIGHT ‣SPEED ‣GENDER ‣FLEXIBILITY

Other Considerations

GOAL BASED HURDLE RHYTHMS

Goal Time First Hurdle Between Hurdles

13 2.4 1.0

14 2.5 1.1

15 2.6 1.2

16 2.7 1.3

‣ ‘HURDLING’ WITHOUT SPRINTING IS NOT HURDLING ‣PART WHOLE STRATEGIES

Drills?

‣HURDLE SPACING ‣HURDLE HEIGHT ‣REP DISTANCE ‣REMOVING HURDLES ‣CHANGING STEPS

Session Variables

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THANKS.Mike Young @mikeyoung