7 Step Hurdling Revolution

Seven step approach just isn’t realistic if you’re of a certain height (leg length) and/or possess the necessary horse power. I have a hurdler that’s 6’4 and get to the hurdle in 7 steps however, he doesn’t have sufficient power to be competitive with that approach.

I agree with you in that it is difficult to transition from a 7 step rhythm to 3 step rhythm.

Why do you see 7 step as being the future? I believe Robles and Oliver are the exception. Kingdom was probably about 6’2 or so (I think) and he took 8 steps and ran 12.87 (albeit wind aided) and 12.92…….

I’ve played around with 7 even at the high school level with the taller kids. Horsepower, accel abilities, and transitioning rhythm are requisites to 7 step better than you can 8, but in previewing and preparing high school kids for the future option of 7, it’s clear to me that it’s a valid option for many more athletes than you’d think.

Development of horsepower, global speed, and doing accel work with either foot forward lets the athlete grow towards the possibility should they be a good fit. Occasional tastes of 7 and opposite foot starting I only see as a plus in a very thorough program; both to provide challenges to the athlete and encourage better general development and possibilities for the future.

I’ve played around with 7 even at the high school level with the taller kids. Horsepower, accel abilities, and transitioning rhythm are requisites to 7 step better than you can 8, but in previewing and preparing high school kids for the future option of 7, it’s clear to me that it’s a valid option for many more athletes than you’d think…

I agree as well. I’ve had girls that simply had much better success with 7 than 8. Particularly while subsequently negotiating H1-H3. I thought 8 could give them something more in attack phase and ended up messing with trail recovery and rhythm.

They were beasts – so I learned fast about what might occur naturally with adaptation in a relatively new event. Though I realize this is not for all.

Are there any professional women hurdlers that use the 7 step approach? With so much chopping of steps with women between hurdles I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some success with the more powerful starters using 7 steps.

what might occur naturally with adaptation in a relatively new event

Questions and more questions…

I think the quote is vital, and personally I tend to forget that with many the rhythm required [via spacing and heights] is not natural at all…good flat sprinters don’t run like “this” [Steve McGill discusses this numerous times and ways on his site]

Are “we” making an assumption that 8 to 3 is easier than 7 to 3? Or is this somewhat a matter of being conditioned to, “…this is how its done…”

Is there the possibility that one could go lower in times by using a more complex rhythm [and related, maybe having to do the same thing 9x is too taxing…?] IF that suited the individual in question…its a timed event, you get no points for looking perfect or seeming to agree with a model [theorizing as there was some talk of Robles being capable at some future point of 2 strides between and my belief that if that did happen it would not happen all at once i.e. all 3, then some 2, then all 2…]

7 steps are pushing while 8 is purposely cutting, similar to shuffling.

Had not thought of that “detail”…would explain some difficulties I have encountered by trying to make just 7-8 a “big” cut stride…

If a premise is that one tries to make 1H as similar as possible to the other 9 flights (in terms of establishing a consistent rhythm let’s say…) for most elite guys does this mean 8 to 1H helps as your description is similar to what describes the running style between the remaining flights?

Further, does that also mean in some ways that 7 is “unreliable” since I am guessing “pushing” must be far more exact (distance remaining to take off) in terms of each contact…

Just to throw an alternative thought out there….

I switched Eric (from the forum) from a 7 step approach to an 8 step approach and it paid huge dividends. Off the top of my head his hurdle PR dropped from 15.0x pre-switch to 14.51 in one year. I’d attribute the majority of the improvement to his improvement over the first 3 hurdles.

I think it’s more realistic that coaches of good athletes who are competent at hurdling should now be considering BOTH the 7 step and the 8 step as viable options as opposed to thinking that most top athletes will be better at just the 8 (or 7).

Just to throw an alternative thought out there….

I switched Eric (from the forum) from a 7 step approach to an 8 step approach and it paid huge dividends. Off the top of my head his hurdle PR dropped from 15.0x pre-switch to 14.51 in one year. I’d attribute the majority of the improvement to his improvement over the first 3 hurdles.

I think it’s more realistic that coaches of good athletes who are competent at hurdling should now be considering BOTH the 7 step and the 8 step as viable options as opposed to thinking that most top athletes will be better at just the 8 (or 7).

So you’re basically saying that you’re to go with whatever comes naturally for the athlete, whether it is 7, 8, or even 9 steps. Never try to force a square peg into a round hole. Correct?

That’s kind of what I’m saying. I think the more practical way to put it is what makes the person faster over the course of the race (looking at it from both a short and long term perspective). Eric is / was strong and fast enough to be able to do 7 steps fairly well but 8 allowed for a more seamless transition to hurdle running for him.

I’m not sure if 9 is ever going to be a best fit unless that person is 4 stepping and that’s another problem altogether.

That’s kind of what I’m saying. I think the more practical way to put it is what makes the person faster over the course of the race (looking at it from both a short and long term perspective). Eric is / was strong and fast enough to be able to do 7 steps fairly well but 8 allowed for a more seamless transition to hurdle running for him.

I’m not sure if 9 is ever going to be a best fit unless that person is 4 stepping and that’s another problem altogether.

So how are you able to determine what stepping works best for the athlete? What are some tell signs that you look for?

I personally default to 8 steps as I need to insure the penultimate step and subsequent take-off step are of a minimum quality. What I tend to see in individuals who push for 7 steps low hips into hurdle, not enough vertical impulse on take off and inadequate velocity into hurdle 1. For me it’s not enough to just get to the first hurdle. Dayron and Oliver aren’t speed demons, one seems to be extremely elastic (Robles) and the other extremely powerful (Oliver).

Does anyone have any video of their athlete taking 7 steps to hurdle 1?

Thanks 🙂

https://sportyimage.com/HPC-Elite-Competitions/2009-USATF-Indoor-Multi-Champs/9469703_b4aTa#635821007_NQGsk-A-LB

here’s a video of me from 2 yrs ago taking 7 steps to the first hurdle. I am in lane 2. Not the best angle in the world. Randy, you mention about inadequate velocity to first hurdle as being a problem you see with 7 steppers. I actually think it’s quite the opposite. I can get to hurdle 1 faster with 7 than with 8 but it messes with my rhythm and forced me to have to slow down later on. I think part of it was due to the fact that I was unable to run fast and control that speed with a choppy shuffle like robles and anyone else who is successful with it. I think if you have someone not reaching adequate velocities with 7 step then its probably someone who is very reachy and maybe shouldn’t be using a 7 step to begin with? Maybe I am wrong on that though.

I think the more practical way to put it is what makes the person faster over the course of the race (looking at it from both a short and long term perspective). Eric is / was strong and fast enough to be able to do 7 steps fairly well but 8 allowed for a more seamless transition to hurdle running for him.

Well put Mike. This is what I was trying to imply in my previous posts and suspect what others are driving at as well.

I have worked with some beginning/younger learning athletes who with 9 and 4 approach, time wise, are close to some of the even rawer athletes who use 8 and 3…don’t know that, at that age and development, I am overly concerned as to me it really illustrates ability to control/use high rates of turn over (even if not actually going quite as far as they could/should?)

One of the other trouble spots, other than the psych aspect, is that once you start messing with moving from 9 to 8 or 8 to 7 is switching or potentially switching front/rear block positions and this too becomes psych depending on how old the athlete is (or rather how much previous experiences and so habits) and how much time can be sacrificed for that part of “it”…6 months or a year to develop some level of comfort and control at the wrong time can kill enthusiasm.
Another potential issue is the time we spend trying to get really good flat sprint mechanics and then, seemingly to many athletes, undo it moving closer to a shuffle.

Eric:

I actually think it’s quite the opposite. I can get to hurdle 1 faster with 7 than with 8 but it messes with my rhythm and forced me to have to slow down later on.

something I have seen, often with combined events athletes who finally focus time that hurdling demands, is this same idea but with 8 and 3. This past season is a perfect example as slowly but surely an athlete moved the slowing down point from 1H (slowing as she was more or less having that out of control feeling) to about 5H…so not all the way but at least to a point in the number of flights where, worse comes to worse, she can try and “hold on” to what control (or feeling of control) is left and hope to run out of flights before it goes wrong.

As Mike implied, its the whole that matters and while individual units help…if you are a tenth slower to 1H but that keeps you .02 quicker over the remaining…still better.

Yeah I definitely had that sensation of out of feeling out of control. I will also add that I only worked on 7 step hurdling for about 8 or 9 months and my coach at the time had taken another job about 2 hrs away so he was only able to give me feedback through video analysis and wasn’t there every day to help me transition from 8 step to 7 step. I think if the switch is going to be made it needs to be logical (the athlete is fast enough and competent enough in hurdling) and obviously a coach needs to be there for pretty much everything. My fastest time indoors in the hurdles is still with 7 steps to the first hurdle but my best outdoors is with 8 steps. I think if I had run a 60 hurdle race after this past outdoor season with 8 steps it would have been better than my current indoor PR but I will have to wait until this indoor season to prove that. I think I could have been successful with 7 steps or at least would have had a better chance to be successful with 7 steps if I had devoted more time to it and had weekly coaching in that department but on the other side of things 8 steps has worked out well for me and I’ve been able to shave off a lot of time. Of course I am a multi guy so devoting a ton of time to one things doesn’t bode well.

For those of you that chose to use a 7 step approach for your athlete, how have you come to determine that 7 steps is indeed the right way to go?

Thanks

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GET TO THE FIRST HURDLE IN AS FEW STEPS AS POSSIBLE
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Many things are difficult before they are made easy.
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Attacking the first hurdle is about efficiency. The idea is to reach the first hurdle as fast as possible and with as few steps as possible. In doing so, the hurdler has more power over the first and this effort translates into more power running at hurdles 7-10.
. . . . .
Before we determine the number of steps a hurdler can take to the first, we must first determine where the take off point is to the first. Once that point has been established, we go back to the starting line and have the runner stand about a foot back from the starting line and take as few giant strides possible to that take off point. (This is trial and error. We do not allow the hurler to clear the hurdle until we are sure he/she can reach the point with ease and with the correct take off leg in place.) Most runners will be timid in their striding attempts, we must encourage them to take giant steps over their normal stride.
. . . . .
Once the number of strides have been determined, starting blocks are put into place and the process begins again to reach the take off point with the correct leg. This may mean that the blocks may have to be adjusted to positions strange to the runner. Again, we do not allow the hurdler to clear the first hurdle during these attempts. Counting the steps is just a way to determine how many strides will be needed. We should not use a predetermined number for the hurdler to start using because they falsely lock into that number as the right number. We let the hurdler’s strides dictate the number we are looking for. (Keep in mind different people have different strides.)

So If an athlete (could) get there in 6 steps – with “giant strides” – that is what you would suggest??? I would say most reasonably athletic individuals could easily get to a take off point 5′ from hurdle within 6 “giant strides” (Fast and just shy of bounding) but cannot think of an instance where this would be beneficial to the overall stride pattern throughout the race.

Most athletes (particularly faster ones) have to cut strides to hurdles throughout the race, and the 8 step approach better sets up their rhythm from the outset. I think there is merit in 7 steps for some athletes (taller athletes in particular).

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