This is Dr. Mike Young's presentation on coaching high hurdles from the Florida Athletic Coaches Association Track & Field Clinic.

1. Coaching High Hurdles
Mike Young, PhD

2. Things you must know
Between hurdle sprinting
Hurdle clearance technique
Other considerations
Approach to first hurdle

4. HIGH HURDLING
IS A MODIFIED
SPRINT

5. EVERY HURDLER IN
THE WORLD TAKES
45-46 STEPS

6. HURDLE
DISTANCES DON’T
CARE

9. Hurdle Interval Times for 2009 World Championship Medalists

10. Approach
to Hurdle 1

11. 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

12. ‣FASTER PROGRESSION OF BODY ANGLES
‣HIGHER STRIDE FREQUENCY
‣RHYTHM:
‣SLOW TO FAST?
‣BIG TO SMALL?
‣“DRIVE PHASE” EXTENDS TO HURDLE 3
Hurdle Acceleration

13. 7 vs 8

14. 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

15. 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

16. HURDLE CLEARANCE

17. HURDLES MUST BE
CLEARED WITH MINIMAL
EFFECT ON THE HORIZONTAL
RUNNING SPEED.
Ward-Smith, 1997

18. Effective hurdle clearance is like a skipping stone

19. 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

20. ‣HIP HEIGHT
‣PROJECTION
‣LEAVE LEG BEHIND
Takeoff

21. ‣LEAD WITH THE KNEE
‣CHEST OVER THIGH
Lead Leg

22. ‣TIGHT AT CLEARANCE
‣ANKLE FLEXED
‣ROTARY
Trail Leg

23. ‣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
Arm Action

24. ‣GET DOWN FAST
‣STAY TALL
‣TRAIL LEG AROUND
Touchdown

26. Between Hurdle Running

27. THE FASTER & TALLER
YOU ARE THE MORE
YOU NEED TO SHUFFLE

28. STEP LENGTH
Men Women
Sprinting 2.4 m 2.2 m
Hurdling 1.94 m 1.83 m
Sprint : Hurdle SL 81% 83%

29. ‣DIFFERENT THAN CHOPPING
‣HANDS LOWER
‣ARMS LOWER
‣FEET LOWER
‣KNEES LOWER
Shuffling

30. ‣SHORTER THAN PRECEDING STEP
‣HIPS STAY SQUARE & TALL
‣IMPLICATIONS FOR 7 STEPPING HURDLE 1
Cut Step

33. ‣HEIGHT
‣SPEED
‣GENDER
‣FLEXIBILITY
Other Considerations

34. 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

35. ‣‘HURDLING’ WITHOUT SPRINTING IS NOT HURDLING
‣PART WHOLE STRATEGIES
Drills?

36. ‣HURDLE SPACING
‣HURDLE HEIGHT
‣REP DISTANCE
‣REMOVING HURDLES
‣CHANGING STEPS
Session Variables

37. ATHLETICLAB.COM
FITFORFUTBOL.COM
ELITETRACK.COM
THANKS.
Mike Young
@mikeyoung