Researching Hurdling

This week has been pretty hectic. I've been working on the school musical from 5 to 10 every night, which leaves little to no time to actually work on hurdling, which is pretty disappointing. However, this week I've dedicated time to researching a bit.








I've learned that hurdling is an exciting and challenging event, due to its technical and energy demands. The technical component is much greater than in sprinting. The stride pattern for sprint hurdling is a 7 to 8 strides to the first hurdle, followed by 3 strides between the rest.








In sprint hurdling, the first hurdle is 7 or 8 strides away, and unlike sprinters, hurdlers must begin to straighten out by the third or fourth stride. When using 8 strides to approach the hurdle, you must begin with the foot that you want to jump with. Most people jump off of the same foot as the hand that they write with.


Action of the legs
The leading leg's knee should be picked up fast while the lower part of the leg is left low before extending once the knee reaches the height of the hurdle. The knee should not be pulled across the body and the lower leg should not go out and around the hurdle. As the heel of the lead leg passes over the hurdle it must be pulled down and back to land under the body so that the hurdler may continue running.


Many runners have a tendency to drop the trail leg off to the side after it has crossed the hurdle. This makes the first stride short and pulls the runner off balance. The trail leg must be pulled through high and fast so that the first stride is fast.


Action of the arms
Similar to sprinting, the arms balance the body and prevent the rotations produced by the legs' movements. The arm opposite to the lead leg actually leads the action into the hurdle and pushes forwards as the lead leg rises.


The other arm should be taken back in a normal sprinting action. As the trail leg comes around the leading arm swings back and wide to prevent the rotation caused by the trail leg.


Running between the hurdles
Three strides are used to cover the distance between each hurdle. To be able to achieve this, some runners have to adjust their stride to fit the gap. A shorter stride length is needed. A runner may have to use a lower knee lift than in normal sprinting and focus on leg speed. Training with hurdles that are slightly closer together than normal can help improve the range of movement.


Safety
Hurdling is dangerous on wet grass or any other slippery surface. It is also dangerous to try to jump over a hurdle from the opposite side (with the feet of the hurdle on the far side).


Drills
I've found some drills with the purpose of developing a hurdler's technique. Some may also be included as a warm up.


Stride Pattern
Set up 6-10 cones, so that the runner can take 7-8 strides to the first cone and then three strides between each. Focus on an uninterrupted sprint with 7 strides to the first cone followed by a 3 stride pattern between the cones. Make a note of the distances between the cones for future sessions.


Hurdle Walking
The runner performs the full hurdling skill at a walking pace over six or eight low hurdles set at approx. one meter spacing.

• Stand about a half a meter from the first hurdle
• Pick the lead knee up very high
• Place the lead leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. The lower part of the leg should not reach out in front of the body.
• Bring the knee of the trail leg out to the side to above hip height with the foot cocked to clear the hurdle
• Bring the trail knee across the hurdle
• As the trail knee clears the hurdle bring the knee up and to the front center of the body
• Place the trail leg vertically down on the other side of the hurdle. The lower part of the leg should not reach out in front of the body.
• Repeat the action with the new trail leg
• Keep the hips high throughout the action.
• Good range of arm movement.

Trail Leg Isolation Drill

This particular exercise is designed to work only the trailing leg. Use six to eight hurdles set initially at a lower than normal race height. The drill can be done using three strides or one stride between close spaced hurdles.

The runner first performs the exercise by walking down the side of the flight of hurdles taking only the trailing leg over the hurdle. The lead leg must go past the line of the hurdle before the trail leg is used.

Once the drill has been completed at a walking pace, it can then be conducted at a faster pace.

The hips are kept high throughout and the eyes should look ahead at the next hurdle. There should be a good range of arm movement, with the opposite arm leading the action.

Quality of execution is more important than the speed.

Lead Led Isolation Drill

This exercise is designed to work only the leading leg. Use six to eight hurdles set initially at a lower than normal race height. The drill can be done using three strides between close spaced hurdles. This drill is performed along side the hurdle and should be conducted at a jogging pace.

The athlete attacks the hurdle in the normal way but only takes the lead leg across it. The trailing leg trails alongside the hurdle.

There should be a good range of arm movement, with the opposite arm leading the action. The hips are kept high throughout and the eyes should look ahead at the next hurdle.

Again, the quality of execution is more important than the speed.

With another hectic week ahead of me, I plan on working over the weekend as much as possible. This will hopefully provide time to improve a bit. With the weather gradually warming up, practicing is beginning to sound more appealing.