Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

It’s been a while since I’ve been on this site, and then the other day it just kind of came to me out of the blue and I remembered it.

With that being said, I saw the great input cockysprinter got on his hurdling clip, so I figured I might as well throw up some of my stuff to see if anyone can help me pinpoint what I’m doing wrong (trust me, there’s a lot).

I have my own opinions about what I need to fix, but I want to hear what you guys have to say and see if that matches with what I’m thinking.

These three are videos of me in practice…

http://photos.wakeboarder.com/showphoto.php?photo=9116&cat=500&ppuser=600
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/showphoto.php?photo=9115&cat=500&ppuser=600
http://photos.wakeboarder.com/showphoto.php?photo=8821&cat=500&ppuser=600

This one shows the first three hurdles in a race, I’m wearing the white singlet in lane 2 (this was a horrible race...)

http://photos.wakeboarder.com/showphoto.php?photo=9183&cat=500&ppuser=600

All advice is appreciated, and don’t be afraid to speak your mind. I know some of it is ugly:)

your upper torso seems to gop through a lot of torquing that is unecessary

your quite good out of the blocks as u were one of the first to the first hurdle

u need to work on the stride efficiency and frequency between the hurdles

You have many of the same errors as Cockysprinter.  I would focus on addressing a few basic things. 

First, knee drive into the hurdle.  Your lead leg should not cast open as quickly as yours does when leading into the hurdle.  The basic cue here is to lead with the knee, not the foot.  Be more aggressive in driving your knee up into the hurdle.

Second, attempt to keep your trail arm (left arm) in tighter to your body.  It flails out to the left then swings wildly forward, causing the twisting torso that flight05 mentioned.  The trail arm should be much more controlled.

Third, your lead hand should cut *below* the knee of your trail leg as the trail leg comes through and the lead hand drives downward.  This is a major thing.  This will require keeping your torso forward as you come off of the hurdle, which is a good thing.  Currently, your lead arm swings back very wide, with an “elbow high” action.  Think down, not out.

If you’ve got any film of them, watch Liu Xiang or Allen Johnson.  If you’re looking for the above 3 things, they’ll make much more sense.

Thanks for the responses:D

flight05, you were dead on the money. I definitely have a lot of body twisting going over the hurdles, and I think working on some of the stuff duck mentioned will correct this. I’ve had a problem with the 3 step pattern between hurdles ever since I started doing them. Do you have any suggestions on how I could work on that? (and thanks for the compliment on my block start, at least that’s some consolation for me:grin: )

duck, I was thinking a lot of the same things that you were saying. And as a matter of fact, I taped the race at the Reebok meet the other day (I also have the olympic gold medal race), and I can see a lot of what you mentioned in Liu Xiang’s form (it also helps that he leads with his left leg, just like I do). Thanks for the remarks.

I do have one question in regards to the lead leg over the hurdle. I’ve heard some say that your lead leg should never lock over the hurdle, but in some videos it looks like a lot of the hurdlers have their legs completely staightened out. In the videos, you can see for the most part there is a lot of bend in the knee on my lead leg because I was told not to lock it. Is this proper form, or should it straighten out over the top of the hurdle?

your leg should straighten naturally.  if it doesnt extend all the way its perfectly fine.

Don’t worry about whether or not the lead leg locks.  Just lead with the knee, get it down quickly, and let it take care of itself.

As for the three step issue:  Move the hurdles lower and closer together in practice to improve your rhythm.  Don’t worry about the hurdles not being at regulation height/distance.  You’ll be fine in competition.  I’d start at 36” and hurdle distances shorted by 2 to 3 feet.

Focus on one thing every run.  I’d recommend three runs focusing on your lead leg, 3 focusing on your trail arm, etc.  Don’t try to do too many things at once.

In that race clip,
Watch the black guy in the lead...WOW
He's really smooth. I really like his take-off.

Its probably already beenmetnioned several times but you seem to be twisting your body too much to the right. Its almost as if you are running sideways.

I think many of your over the hurdle problems could be addressed by fixing some running and hurdle-approach mechanics. You run very squatty and tend to over push in the rear. Also your running posture is terrible. Try to run tall and feel your steps pushing up. If you can't do this with normal hurdle spacing (or maybe even if you can) it would be best to space the hurdles closer than usual. 

mike, thanks for that. Now that I look back I can see that my running in general doesnt carry that power you need to attack through the hurdles. Also, in that clip I am definitely overstrding to get the three steps in and you can tell cuz my hips are low and I dont really transfer a lot of force in the run. This year, I'm focusing on building that power and flexibility first, and then I'll address my approach and form problems. 

To correct your step in between, try to do some speed workouts, keeping in mind stride legnth. try to extend your stride without losing speed. Also, as many have said, upper body rotation is never going to help you go over. try staying "tucked" going over for a slightly longer time, to keep your body straight.