THE HURDLES - FROM START TO FINISH

By Tom Tellez, Mike Takaha

A hurdle race can be described as a sprint with obstacles. To be most efficient, the vertical deviation of the athlete’s center of gravity should be as little as possible when traveling over the hurdles. In order to accomplish this, the athlete must be in the proper position when he or she leaves the ground to take the hurdle. This paper will discuss the hurdle races from start to finish, describing the proper mechanics to be used to achieve maximum results.

THE START

The Starting Position

Use a sprinter’s crouch start, with a “medium” block spacing. The rear knee should be approximately in line with the toe of the front foot (see Diagram 1). The arms should be perpendicular to the ground, with the elbows locked. The head should be in natural alignment with the shoulders, with the eyes focused straight down. The toes of the front foot should be on the ground so that force may be exerted against the track at the gun.

The Set Position

At the “Set” command, the hips are raised to a position slightly above the shoulders, with the shoulders moving slightly forward, creating an angle in the lead leg of 90° and approximately 130° in the rear knee. The head is kept in natural alignment with the body and the eyes are focused just behind the starting line. Slight pressure is exerted against the rear block (see Diagram 2). The Gun

At the “Gun”, the athlete should think only of extension off of the lead block, with active arm action. The drive should be in an upward and outward direction (45°), with the shoulders rising immediately, so that the body position becomes a straight line from the head through the shoulders, hips, leg and foot (see Diagram 3). Again, the head is held in natural alignment with the shoulders, with the eyes looking at the ground in front of the athlete. The back knee should bend and lead the leg through. This will pick up the back foot. The action of the back leg is very similar to a normal running stride. As a coaching point, you should see a “whip-like” action of the back ankle. This is a stretch reflex that occurs if there is pressure against the back block. The athlete will not feel this — it happens too quickly. If you don’t see this action, one of two things probably is the cause — either there was no pressure against the back block or the athlete pulled the foot off the block, instead of driving off the front block. Be sure that the rear foot is flush against the block. If it is, the athlete probably is trying to step out with the back foot.

After driving off the front block, the athlete should be in the air before the rear foot comes down. The foot should come down under the center of gravity, just as in normal running. The athlete should not try to be quick with the first step or the force off of the blocks will be diminished. On the other hand, the athlete should not try to step out with the rear foot or force will also be lessened. The key to the start is to run powerfully out of the blocks. Short, choppy strides and long, reaching strides are both mechanically inefficient and will hamper maximum performance. The athlete should feel powerful when driving out of the blocks and during the first 4-5 strides.

APPROACH TO THE FIRST HURDLE

Most high hurdlers use eight strides to the first hurdle. In the starting position using the eight stride approach plan, the lead foot over the hurdles is placed on the rear block and the take-off foot in placed on the front block. If a nine stride approach is used, these positions are reversed, with the lead foot on the front block and the take-off foot on the rear block.

Perfecting the approach to the first hurdle is accomplished by trial and error. Adjustments to the approach are made by lengthening or shortening the 4th, 5th and 6th strides from the start. Strides 1, 2, and 3, and strides 7 and 8 should be kept constant. Because the take-off for the first hurdle is less than 13 yards from the start, the hurdler must get into the normal sprinting angle and sprinting stride rhythm sooner than the sprinter. No effort should be made to look at the first hurdle until after the first three or four strides. (The head should remain in natural alignment with the shoulders and will rise with the shoulders.) Thereafter, fix the eyes on the hurdle rail ahead. The arms function as in sprinting except during hurdle clearance.

Slightly shorten the last stride prior to take-off. This rotates the trunk forward so the drive from the take-off foot will project the body with an almost horizontal lean or “body dip” across the hurdle. Body lean must start as you leave the ground, as the flight path of the center of gravity (CG) is predetermined once you are in the air and cannot be altered while airborne. For most hurdlers (using an eight stride approach) this means the eighth stride is shortened before take- off.

Greater approach speed permits a more horizontal take-off thrust, which results in a lower, flatter, faster hurdle clearance. THE TAKE-OFF

The take-off point is 6½ to 7½ feet from the barrier. The distance from the hurdle depends upon the speed of approach, height of the athlete, length of the leading leg and effective speed of lead leg action.

90% of the effective clearance of the hurdle is determined at take-off. Leave the ground with sufficient body-lean to clear the hurdle with a minimum of upward movement. The body-lean makes it possible to raise the seat and lower the trunk, in relation to the center of gravity, as the hurdle is crossed. Leave the ground from the ball of the take-off foot with the toes pointed straight ahead. The CG and body weight are ahead of the foot at take-off (see Diagram 3). Keep the hips and shoulders square to the line of running at all times, including take-off.

At take-off, lift the lead leg directly forward, with the knee well bent, in the line of running, as though executing an exaggerated running stride. Again, the shoulders remain square to the direction of the run (see Diagram 3). At take-off, the lead leg must be lifted quickly. The bent lead knee must be lifted higher than in normal sprinting. A high, fast pick-up of the knee of the lead leg encourages continuation of general sprint action, increases the force of thrust off the ground by the take-off leg in reaction to the increased force resulting from the fast knee lift, leaves behind the take-off leg (trail leg) resulting in a good split position after take-off, increases body-lean, in reaction to the fast knee lift, permits getting closer to the hurdle for the take-off than would be possible with a straight lead leg, and is much faster than a straight lead leg. As the leading leg is lifted quickly for hurdle clearance at take-off, the arm opposite the lead leg is thrust forcefully straight ahead to balance the movement of the lead leg. This brings the body weight forward and down for a thrust across the hurdle. The trunk dips forward at the hips. Think of the shoulders as going forward with the opposite arm action at take-off. A “double-arm” action is not recommended, as it interferes with normal sprinting action (see Diagram 4).

The other arm (on the same side as the lead leg) remains bent at the elbow in a normal sprinting position in readiness to come forward for the first getaway stride after clearance.

The head continues facing forward as in a normal sprinting alignment.

HURDLE CLEARANCE

The action of the lead leg should be so fast that it produces a wide split between the legs after take-off. After leaving the ground, the lead leg will open at the knee, to allow the leg to clear the hurdle. Then, as you cross the hurdle, the trail leg (take-off leg) will come through late but fast (see Diagram 5).

After full extension of the take-off leg, the heel of the take-off foot is brought immediately to the buttock. This will happen automatically, as a reaction to the action off the ground. The toe must turn out immediately as the foot leaves the ground. Thus, the lower leg is folded to the upper leg, permitting the entire trail leg to subsequently clear the hurdle as one unit (see Diagrams 5, 6 and 7). The forward lean which began on the ground at take-off, continues in the air, so as to produce a hurdle clearance as flat as possible. As the body crosses the hurdle, the chin should be over or ahead of the knee of the lead leg (see Diagram 6).

The body’s CG reaches its zenith before the hurdle and the foot of the lead leg reaches its highest point some 6 to 12 inches in front of the hurdle rail. From the high point, the hurdler comes down across the hurdle in his clearance. This will happen automatically if you leave the ground correctly.

When over the hurdle, the body-lean places the chest well forward, over the thigh of the lead leg. The shoulders remain square. The opposite arm remains thrust forward and down. The arm on the same side as the lead leg remains in back in the sprinting position. The body-lean results in the CG being lifted only slightly higher than in normal sprinting. Throughout hurdle clearances in the 110 meter hurdle race, the head remains at approximately the same level (see Diagram 6).

Ideally, the head should face straight forward at all time, although some of the best hurdlers do drop their heads during the layout position over the hurdle. The heel of the lead foot leads as the body drives across the hurdle. The lead leg is aimed at the rail, but is lifted so fast it passes over the bar. It will continue to straighten as it crosses the hurdle, but may never be “straight” during the flight (see Diagrams 6 and 7).

As the take-off foot leaves the ground, its heel rises to the buttock and the knee swings well out to the side and forward to clear the rail. The toe turns out immediately as the foot breaks contact with the ground. When the trail leg crosses the hurdle, it is parallel to the ground (see Diagrams 7 and 10).

As the trail leg crosses the rail, it is lifted up high at the, knee, toward and almost to the chest, so as to insure an optimum getaway stride of about five feet (see Diagram 8).

The lead leg grounds 3’9” to 4’6” from the hurdle after clearance. This landing of the lead leg must be beneath and slightly behind the CG to insure an immediate return to sprinting action after hurdle clearance. The extreme body-lean over the hurdle decreases to the body angle of normal sprinting action as the lead leg descends to come off the hurdle sprinting. The lead leg should not be “snapped down”, as this action will cause the upper body to ‘snap up”, leaving the hurdler in a leaning back position coming off the hurdle.

As the body pivots over the hurdle, the change in position of the legs will necessitate a change in the arms. The lead arm will sweep out to the side, with the hand carried low. The arm should be straight. It swings back, outside the knee of the trail leg, which is moving forward. If the hand is carried low, a wild, “swimming” action can be avoided. The lower the trunk position in crossing the hurdle, the less vigorous the action of the lead arm will be. The other arm now swings forward in coordination with the forward movement of the trail leg, on the opposite side (see Diagrams 8, 9 and 10).

In the pivoting action across the hurdle, there must be no “posed” position. The legs must move continuously throughout the hurdle clearance.

BETWEEN HURDLES

Because of the spacing of the hurdles (10 yards or 30 feet for 110mHH for men), a normal sprinting stride must be adjusted to ensure that the hurdler will not be too close to the next hurdle. Since the hurdler will land about 4 feet from the hurdle and must take off about 7 feet from the next one, and the getaway stride will be around 5 feet, that will leave about 13 feet for the other two strides. Since most athletes have normal sprint strides of over 7 feet, the hurdlers must learn to get their feet down more quickly than in normal sprinting.

THE RUN-IN

The run-in is simply a sprint to the finish, after coming off the last hurdle. However, the hurdler must wait until completing the hurdle — if he tries to start sprinting too soon, he will probably throw himself off balance or into a backward leaning position, which will keep him from attaining a good sprinting position.

COACHING POINTS - POINTS OF EMPHASIS

It is sometimes claimed that the lead leg is snapped down as hurdle clearance is made. Actually, the lead leg moves down in reaction to the upward pulling of the trail leg. Attempting to snap the lead leg down will cause the trunk to rise upright. If the lead leg is snapped down and the trunk comes upright, this loss of lean may cause the trail leg to drop, possibly resulting in the foot striking the hurdle, as it is brought through. Instead of attempting to snap the lead leg down, pull the trail leg through and attempt to run away from the hurdle. The faster the trail leg is pulled through, the faster the lead leg will move to the ground. This is not to suggest that the trail leg should be hurried (causing a jump over the hurdle), nor that it should be delayed. A fast moving, bent lead leg at take-off will ensure a proper split between the thighs and the correct position of the trail leg as it is pulled through to assist the grounding of the lead leg.

Hitting the hurdle with the ankle of the trail leg is usually due to an insufficient body-lean over the hurdle.

A short getaway stride is caused by the lack of trail leg lift. The length of the getaway stride is often the key to proper stride length between hurdles. This first stride after clearance must be a hard driving effort of about 5 feet.

In a correct hurdle clearance, the lead foot lands beyond the hurdle almost directly in line with the point of take-off, although the lead leg may cut slightly across the path of the body’s CG. The recovery of the trail leg’s sweeping action across the hurdle may result in the getaway stride being slightly out of alignment with the other strides. If the lead and trail feet land significantly askew from directly in line with the take-off point, this may be remedied in training by sprinting over hurdles placed across a lane line and ensuring that each foot lands on this line a proper distance from the hurdle after clearance. Also, the take-off should not cross over the line.

After a hurdle is cleared, the eyes should focus on the next hurdle, rather than the ground.

The major preoccupation in hurdle training should be with fast hurdling. Too much sprinting by hurdlers may cause the hurdler to change the stride pattern to the first hurdle. Since most races are won between the 7th and 10th barriers, the importance of speed-endurance in hurdling should be obvious. Do not make the mistake of training over only 3 to 5 hurdles! Training should include ample sprinting over 3, 5, 6, 8 and the full 10 hurdles.

World class hurdlers sprint the 110 meters over ten 42-inch barriers in a time which is often less than 2 seconds less than their best effort over 110 meters flat, proof that the truism “HURDLING IS SPRINTING” cannot be denied.

Hurdling should be considered a sprint race over obstacles and the action throughout should involve as little interruption as possible from sprinting form. Although, for purposes of description and analysis, it may be convenient to separate hurdle clearance into various phases, it is, in reality, a continuous, coordinated effort, not a series of separate parts. Think of hurdling as making room for the obstacles during the sprint race by changing the position of the limbs in relation to the CG, while raising the CG as little as necessary for clearance. The best hurdle clearance form is one that spends the least time in the air, while maintaining the proper body position.

The technique of high hurdle clearance is applied generally to the lower hurdles, with certain modifications. Because the hurdler’s CG is above the rail of lower hurdles, there is no need for the exaggerated body-lean of the HH in clearing the lower barrier. Extreme body-lean while clearing the LH would require unnecessarily executing the dip, then raising the trunk following the clearance. The forward lean at LH clearance should be merely sufficient to maintain the proper sprinting angle. There is little, if any, rise in head height in LH clearance. It is not necessary to lift the trail knee to hip level in crossing the LH rail, thus the extreme hip flexibility of the HH is not absolutely necessary for this event. In the 400 hurdles, because the horizontal speed is slower than in HH, the stepping action over the hurdles is less violent, with the action over the hurdle “smoother”, having a greater economy of movement.

Sprint Hurdling

After establishing a stride pattern to the first barrier and between hurdles, hurdlers seek to increase speed without altering stride length. An increase in stride length will alter the established stride pattern to and between hurdles and will result in poor take-off, unbalanced landing, hitting hurdles, etc. Measure foot placements to determine correctness of the hurdle stride pattern. Hurdlers who train by sprinting with sprinters usually (and unintentionally) alter their hurdle stride pattern by increasing stride length. Increasing stride length results from a greater forward drive (thrust) from the ground. To decrease stride length or to increase speed while maintaining the same stride length requires a more rapid movement of the arms and legs (faster cadence or turnover). INTERMEDIATE HURDLES

The technique for intermediate hurdles is the same as for the high hurdles except for a less exaggerated trunk lean, a lower flight path, a less vigorous hurdling action and greater freedom in the flight phase (See Diagram 11).

It is better to lead with the left leg because you can run on the inside of the lane for the entire race. This will also allow for better balance on the turns.

Rhythm and stride length are extremely important for this event. The greatest technical problem for the intermediate hurdler, other than actual hurdling action, is the number of strides to take to the first hurdle and between hurdles:

1. The number of strides that should be taken must be reasonably consistent with the length of the normal running strides, as any marked understriding or overstriding will reduce speed.

2. A simple guide to the number of strides between hurdles and stride length:

a. 17 strides — 6’ 1”

b. 16 strides — 6’ 6”

c. 15 strides — 7’ 0”

d. 14 strides — 7’ 7”

e. 13 strides — 8’ 2”

3. Using the above guide, for the athlete to be able to flow economically between hurdles, the natural stride length must exceed the listed distance by several inches.

4. It will be necessary to take an odd number of strides unless the athlete can hurdle reasonably well from either foot. 5. Allowances must be made for the fact that as fatigue sets in, the stride length will decrease.

6. Approach to the first hurdle:

a. Speed to the first hurdle must be slightly less than and more controlled than in a flat 400 or 300.

b. 20 or 21 strides for a 13 stride pattern

c. 22 strides for a 15 stride pattern

d. 22 or 23 strides for a 16 stride pattern

e. 23 or 24 strides for a 17 stride pattern

NOTES

1. Rhythm and depth perception are very important.

2. The hurdler must run at his/her own pace.

3. If you want to shorten the distance between hurdles, run on the inside of the lane. If you want to lengthen the distance between hurdles, run on the outside of the lane. This type of adjustment may be necessary to obtain an efficient stride pattern.

4. Momentum is very important. To keep momentum, it is best to try to make adjustments before coming into the hurdle. Making adjustments in the last 3-4 strides will cause a loss of momentum, as the athlete will either “stutter-step” or reach to take the hurdle.

5. The athlete should be able to alternate lead legs.

6. Interval splits teach momentum. The athletes can see in practice if their momentum is dropping off or if they are not carrying their momentum. This is also a good indicator of when a change in the number of steps should be made.

7. Cumulative splits will tell the athlete the race pace.

8. The number of strides for men and the comparable number for women:

Men Women

13 15 14 16 15 17 16 18 17 19