Starts and the 1st hurdle: How to fix problems The most common issue regarding perfecting the first hurdle is a lack of implementing sprint technique and the rules that govern the start. Saying this, many hurdlers has run into problems such as running up to the first hurdle only find themselves too far away and or on the wrong lead-leg. Other problems exist that the athlete takes flight too vertically or in some cases to flat and does not clear the first barrier. In all, these and several more issue are a coach’s and athlete’s nightmare but there is hope and most problems can easily be fixed. In the sprint hurdles (100m & 110m) the typical number of strides to the first hurdle is eight steps. The count begins on the first step out of the blocks, lead-leg and concludes with the takeoff leg or what is to become the trail-leg once in flight. However, there are anomalies to this rule. At the male elite levels, there has been a resurgence of seven-steppers to the first hurdle. That is to say, these rare individuals have eliminated a whole step and exit the starting blocks with their take-off/trail-leg first. While it seems that this is obviously more superior to the eight step pattern, the jury is still out for most. Many an athlete has attempted to eliminate the eighth step only to find that the margin of error is extremely small and the proper placement distance of the first step from the starting blocks is crucial. In many cases the margin of error is a mere fraction of inches in any direction for success or failure. With others, seven steps are actually slower and earn no advantage in the race. Therefore, we have seen many switch back from seven to the more traditional eight step approach. On the other end of the spectrum, some novice runners may take nine and in rare cases need to take ten steps to reach the first hurdle. While taking more steps logically sounds like an inherent disadvantage for the athlete, in the end, it’s all about the velocity at the first hurdle and the momentum that athlete can take into the next barrier. In the intermediate hurdles, it’s a much simpler task. The distance to the first hurdle is far enough, 45m from the start and ample distance to go through a complete sprint drive-phase without need for any adjustment for the barriers. However that is to say the athlete is stringent about imploring the exact stride length/pattern learned and rehearsed in order to arrive at the first barrier with the planned intended lead-leg. Trouble-shooting hurdling problems Q. Do you use a different starting leg in the blocks for hurdles than sprints? A. Many an athlete’s dominant leg tends to not be his lead-leg of choice. These athletes are termed “goofy footers”. There is nothing wrong it’s just a window into their minds and that they tend to be wired differently than most. The truth is many a great athlete will implore a different start technique or push-off leg for their sprint start versus their hurdle start. Many times this is due to the distance they have determined their first foot must be beyond the starting line in order for them to fit their seven or eight steps in. Many hurdlers look “cramped” to the laymen’s eye. However it may simply be a carefully calculated technique used to assist in reaching the first hurdle. Q. How do I fix my athlete reaching for the first barrier? A. Reaching often times is a symptom of not pushing out of the blocks or having a “short-step” as one of their strides approaching the first barrier. Other times, it’s an alignment issue with one or more steps going to the side which eliminates distance and bleeds energy in their drivephase. Another reason can be the athlete is coming out of his drive-phase too early and not maximizing his opportunity to reach full velocity. Finally, it can be an old-fashion case of “fear” of the barrier and the athlete taking a short step as needed to prepare for the barrier. Often times, what seems as fear going to the first hurdle is simply a case of the athlete wanting to “look” at the first barrier and there is a momentary pause to focus, then commit to the first barrier but this pause bleeds a large amount of momentum. Q. How do I fix my athlete floating over the hurdles? A. A very common problem at all levels. Often it’s a case of the athlete “exhaling” and relieved that they made it over the first barrier and the mind going blank for a moment forgetting what they should be doing. Other times, it’s a matter of timing and not knowing what to do once in flight. In other examples, the athlete has issues with their “spatial awareness” and believes themselves to be skimming the hurdles but is in actuality sailing several inches over barrier or believes they are still in danger of landing on the barrier when they have cleared the barrier a moment ago. The fix is to teach the athlete the correct timing over the top of the barriers and to video them as proof to their clearance levels to give them the satisfaction they desire. Q. How do I fix my athlete “vaulting” the first hurdle? A. Vaulting is caused by the rapid breaking and jumping to achieve vertical height over the hurdle. First you must diagnosis if the athlete is afraid of the hurdle height or is it simply a spatial awareness issue that they believe themselves to be lower over the barriers than they actually are. Other causes can be the start and the number of steps they are staying down for or not staying down for. Additionally, look at their first step out and measure the distance and alignment. Finding an inch or two will make a huge difference in regards to the take off distance and the need to vault for the first obstacle. Q. How do I fix my athlete stuttering at the first barrier? A. Stuttering in the sprint hurdles is purely an error of stride patterns to the first hurdle. Whether we are referring to making a miss-step which throws the whole rhythm off or an athlete attempting to go fewer steps than they are capable of, it all comes down to an error of alignment, short steps and occasionally an over-stride in their path to the first hurdle. In regards to the intermediate hurdles, stuttering is usually a result of an error of stride length or frequency, alignment, miss-steps, over-striding or a perception that they are not going to make it on the correct leg then a wave of adjustments (postural) that only grants the athlete their self fulfilled prophecy. Often times and athlete appears to run identically to the last successful rep, however they come up on the wrong leg and both coach and athlete are perplexed. What they don’t realize that often long hurdlers can in fact mirror their strides with relative ease but their position in the lane itself is the culprit. Just moving two to three inches from the chosen lane path will reflect in how that athlete arrives at the first hurdle. The fix is to eliminate all the variables and make sure the athlete understands where their path should be in the lane, the strides lengths and body’s angle of attack. All these tiny things go a long way at helping a long hurdle be consistent at the first hurdle. Q. What should my athlete’s arms be doing out the blocks and before the first hurdle? A. The athlete should approach the start of the hurdle race just as one would do for the sprints. Using the blocking technique and low-heal recovery are paramount to success. However, just like an airplane that is about to take flight whose wheels fold up, so to must a hurdler’s arms. The shoulders should be held higher and the arms must be held in the 90 degree position or less in order not to hit the barrier with their hands in mid flight. Typically, the hurdler’s arms are more forward than the sprinter and an exaggerated front-side mechanics is used. Additionally, it is a good idea to have your athlete buy into the “phone booth” analogy, keep your arms close to your body as if inside a phone booth to avoid being hit or grabbed or do the grabbing of other athletes. Q. My athlete can take the hurdle with either leg, how do I fix this? A. The ability to take the hurdle with either leg is not a bad thing. Especially in the long hurdles having the comfort to take the hurdle at speed with either leg is a great weapon to have and it shouldn’t be discouraged. However, have a back-up plan if the wrong leg makes its appearance in the long hurdles. For example, do you stay on that leg for the entire race plan or do you make a quick adjustment (lose a stride) to put you back onto the correct leg and resume the race plan. In the sprint hurdles, the only acceptable need for this is if your athlete is using a four-step approach over the hurdles which will require them to go over hurdles with both legs anyway. However, you still should have a race plan and go into the race knowing which leg and how many steps they should be taking to the first hurdle. If this is the problem, again, refer to looking at the stride pattern and the alignment. Try using tape to where the athlete should be stepping and were they actually are. In seeing where the short, miss-aligned step is, it then becomes an easy fix. Q. My athlete is inconsistent at the first 400m intermediate hurdle. How can I fix this? A. Inconsistency is common in the both the longer hurdle race and sprint hurdle race to the first hurdle. However due to the longer distance to the first hurdle, the error is magnified easier. Check alignment from successful run to next run. Time the athlete to the first hurdle. Usually coaches start on first step to lead-leg touch-down. If there are great swings in time, you will usually see great variations of position and which lead-legs come up on the first hurdle which is also apparent in the number of steps to the first hurdle. Using at stop watch to check consistency also gives you indications to the athlete’s fatigue levels for the day and general fitness levels. Q. Should my athlete do something different into a headwind or dirt track? A. Absolutely! Not taking into account environmental elements, personal fitness, and track types and conditions all effect the overall race and generally begin at the blocks to the first hurdle. A headwind, dirt or wet track requires an athlete to place a premium on staying down once out of the blocks. In regards to the wind, the athlete will need to bore into the wind to reach the first hurdle. Same applies with dirt tracks or wet slippery tracks. In regards to a strong tailwind, the athlete needs to be aware of how they may be pushed into the first barrier and being “crowded”. The effect of crowding tends to make athletes crash into hurdles or put the brakes on and vault. The fix to this is teaching the athlete how to start with and against the wind. Additionally, at the advance levels, the hurdler can use different techniques to negotiate the barriers such as “hooking” the hurdles or “serpentine” to bleed energy between the barriers. Q. How many steps should my athlete take to the first hurdle? A. In the short hurdles the general rule is eight. However shorter novices may take more and tall advance level athletes may take the elite number of seven. In the long hurdles there is not tried and true amount at any level of the event. The range is a blistering 19 (world record holder Kevin Young) to some athletes needing close to 30 steps to reach the first hurdle. However, there is a direct correlation between the number of steps taken to the momentum gained and the number of strides between the next barriers. The few steps to the first hurdle (ability for longer strides) the more likely that athlete will be able to take a fewer number of strides between the hurdles. Q. Should we always practice block starts when doing hurdle training? A. No. You want the athlete to learn to vary their pace, tempo and stride length coming into the hurdles. Often times you may want to do “flying” runs into the hurdles to achieve higher speed which will force the athlete’s rhythm between the barriers to advance. Other times you may wish to take the focus off the start and concentrate on purely hurdle barrier technique. The goal is to through the hurdles at the athlete in all different ways so they are able to navigate the race no matter what the conditions or situation. Q. Should we always keep the first hurdle the correct distance in training? A. Yes. Having a consistent starting point is important in locking the stride pattern in for the hurdler. However, after the first hurdle, all bets are off. Moving hurdles in or adding multiple hurdles are all tactics of training. There have even been athletes that have trained with hurdle distances longer than normal to train aggression at later stages of a race. Q. Should we always keep the first hurdle at the correct height in training? A. No. There is no rule as to at what height of hurdle your athlete needs to train. Often time, coaches lower the hurdles to emphasis the sprinting component of the race. By doing this, the athlete can concentrate on sprinting between the hurdles and placing little regard on navigating the height of the barrier. Other times, hurdles can be raise to teach the athlete additional strength and flexibility needed for the barriers. Buyer beware, it is not however recommended that the athlete always train at non-regulated heights. At some point the athlete needs to train at their normal event heights to allow them to adjust their spatial awareness for the barriers. Q. What’s the most important thing to coach after getting over the first hurdles? A. The most over-looked components of hurdling is the position of the athlete in respect to their angle of attack and where each leg is on the backside of the hurdle. In the sprint hurdles, the trail-leg must have completed its orbit as the lead-leg touches down. Additionally, the chest, trail-leg and center of gravity must all be forward of where the toe touches. Teaching this highly critical component is paramount in the high hurdles. Everything else is secondary… In the long hurdles, teaching the athlete to be patient and stay “long” over the hurdles is key. The athlete must not rush to the ground. They must allow themselves to stay open and smooth over the hurdles and beyond. Staying relaxed and efficient without wasting time is the key balancing act that every long hurdler must master.