aw basics

How to clear HURDLES

WILF PAISH takes a different approach to the teaching of this popular event

I HAVE just completed a series of sessions with teachers and coaches in one of the more remote areas of our country. While one of the main points of discussion, away from the technical work, was the proposals for the reorganisation of our competitive structure as recommended by Jack Buckner, my main aim with the group was to teach the students innovative ways to introduce and coach our sport.

At the end of a session, directed exclusively to all aspects of hurdling, an experienced teacher and coach said: “Why haven’t we all been taught to approach hurdling like this –it was great fun?”

I did not have an answer to this question, since all that I had done with the group was to give them the benefit of my experience as an enthusiastic coach – one who had learned his trade by working and experimenting with hundreds of young athletes to establish a system that works.

But it then set my mind thinking that perhaps it is not our competitive structure that needs modernising, but rather our approach to skill introduction that needs improving.

Why hadn’t these enthusiasts been introduced to hurdling as a complete speed skill, which is what it is? Instead, they had been taught a whole series of drills, many in slow motion, and few of them directly over the centre of the hurdle.

They understood it as a “tick-box” approach to skill learning, all too familiar with the “power point” approach to coach education. But they were never placed in a situation where they could question the relevance of the drills.

The drill enthusiast might conjecture whether they should be done as part of a skill-learning process, or to develop endurance, flexibility, or some other intangible quality.

► Teaching hurdling to young people

1. The teacher/coach needs to construct a hurdles teaching grid. This consists of five lanes of three hurdles. (These can be canes held by pupils, or hurdles made from three canes, and two spring-clip clothes pegs. Two canes placed in plastic bottles filled with sand to form the verticals, with the clothes pegs clipped to offer a platform for the horizontal cane.) Conventional hurdles are unsuitable for the true learner. A bruised knee, or ankle is not a helpful learning experience!

2. The first lane of hurdles is one where the approach is about 12 metres, and the interval 5m. I never use a measure, just my stride length. The other remaining four lanes differ in that the interval is increased by only about a metre.

3. All lanes are numbered one to five. Pupils are given the challenge to start in lane one, progressing to the next, and subsequent lanes provided they can clear the third hurdle before the whistle is blown after a period of five seconds.

4. Some of the pupils might make lane five, most will make lane four. This will provide a good standard position for learning the remaining skills, all of which are attempts to complete the three hurdles in the time challenge of five seconds.

5. From here on it is an attempt to teach an ‘eight-plus-three’ rhythm. That is, eight strides to the first hurdle, and three strides between each, all to be completed in the five seconds interval.

6. I find that an approach of between 10-12m to hurdle one, and a 6-8m interval suitable for most.

This approach imposes the essential qualities of hurdling – that of a speed rhythm. At a later stage, one can then attempt to teach the action of the trail leg, over the fully improvised, yet safe, barrier. The common, natural selection process can then take place, since all of those, with the capacity to learn these skills, will have identified themselves. Perhaps the remainder could learn to throw, or run an endurance event. Such is the world of the realistic coach/teacher.

► Taking the novice the stages further

a) Introduce all to the five-hurdles touch-down times. This becomes a training session. Using the correct start and an eight-plus-three rhythm, attempt to get a five-hurdles touch-down time of seven seconds. This is a fast time and will inspire all to a better performance. I usually encourage five repetitions, spaced by a four-minute recovery time – which makes a good training session. During any part of the session, one can encourage the athletes to appreciate touch-down times for the first four hurdles. Initially, a 2.5 seconds time to the first and a 1.1 second for the interval is a good challenge. Progress beyond this challenge will produce champions. The times indicated will hold for all levels of hurdling. As one becomes older and better, the distances, spacing, heights etc increase. Thus, skill improves and times become fairly constant.

b) As a further session, one can introduce the hurdler to five-hurdles sprint differentials. Time the hurdler over the five hurdles and almost immediately after time for the same distance without hurdles. The aim for the differential (hurdles time minus flat time) should be about one second. Five pairs of runs, spaced with a four-minute recovery, makes for a good training session. Again this offers a tremendous incentive to improve speed and hurdling skill.

c) Endurance hurdling.
Just doing repetitions of five hurdles does not prepare one for a full flight. Here, I encourage all age groups to do two repetitions of five hurdles, with just a jog back to the start as a rest. Each run is timed with the first time taken away from the second run time. A two-second differential will offer the athlete an incentive for improvement. Five pairs with a five-minute recovery period also represents a very good training session.

Obviously, the times given are approximate, but they offer the coach a good guide. I encourage everyone in my group to record these times in their training diaries, so that subsequent training sessions can offer their own built-in incentives.

Hurdling is not a series of drills. Rather, it is fast sprinting over the full hurdle with the above offering sound advice to its development and a course for future training sessions.

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