Coaching High Hurdles

Mike Young, PhD

Things you must know
Approach to first hurdle
Hurdle clearance technique
Between hurdle sprinting
Other considerations
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 m
Optimum 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
 Hurdle Acceleration
‣ FASTER PROGRESSION OF BODY ANGLES
‣ HIGHER STRIDE FREQUENCY
‣ RHYTHM:
‣ SLOW TO FAST?
‣ BIG TO SMALL?
‣ “DRIVE PHASE” EXTENDS TO HURDLE 3
7 vs 8
8 STEP APPROACH TO HURDLE 1
Men Women
Step Length Distance Step Length Distance
1 0.65 m 0.65 0.60 m 0.60 m
2 1.24 m 1.89 m 1.16 m 1.76 m
3 1.35 m 3.25 m 1.33 m 3.09 m
4 1.46 m 4.71 m 1.43 m 4.52 m
5 1.60 m 6.31 m 1.53 m 6.05 m
6 1.70 m 8.05 m 1.63 m 7.68 m
7 1.84 m 9.89 m 1.73 m 9.41 m
8 1.74 m 11.63 m 1.63 m 11.04 m
7 STEP APPROACH TO HURDLE 1
Men 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
 Takeoff
‣ HIP HEIGHT
‣ PROJECTION
‣ LEAVE LEG BEHIND
 Lead Leg
‣ LEAD WITH THE KNEE
‣ CHEST OVER THIGH
 Trail Leg
‣ TIGHT AT CLEARANCE
‣ ANKLE FLEXED
‣ ROTARY
 Arm Action
‣ 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
 Touchdown
‣ GET DOWN FAST
‣ STAY TALL
‣ TRAIL LEG AROUND
Between Hurdle Running
THE FASTER & TALLER
YOU ARE THE MORE
YOU NEED TO SHUFFLE
 STEP LENGTH
Men Women

Sprinting 2.4 m 2.2 m

Hurdling 1.94 m 1.83 m

Sprint : Hurdle SL 81% 83%

 Shuffling
‣ DIFFERENT THAN CHOPPING
‣ HANDS LOWER
‣ ARMS LOWER
‣ FEET LOWER
‣ KNEES LOWER
 Cut Step
‣ SHORTER THAN PRECEDING STEP
‣ HIPS STAY SQUARE & TALL
‣ IMPLICATIONS FOR 7 STEPPING HURDLE 1
 Other Considerations
‣ HEIGHT
‣ SPEED
‣ GENDER
‣ FLEXIBILITY
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
 Drills?
‣ ‘HURDLING’ WITHOUT SPRINTING IS NOT HURDLING
‣ PART WHOLE STRATEGIES
 Session Variables
‣ HURDLE SPACING
‣ HURDLE HEIGHT
‣ REP DISTANCE
‣ REMOVING HURDLES
‣ CHANGING STEPS
THANKS.
Mike Young
@mikeyoung
ATHLETICLAB.COM
FITFORFUTBOL.COM
ELITETRACK.COM