September 16, 2019
In the video below, a 400 hurdler I’m working with is learning how to alternate lead legs for the first time in his life. We started off with some easy three-stepping drills, followed by some two-stepping alternating drills, followed by four-stepping alternating drills. By the end of the session, as you’ll see, he was really getting the hang of it. The hurdles were well below race height, but we’ll work our way up to race height gradually.
I feel that the ability to alternate is a very useful tool for the 400 hurdler to have in his or her toolbox. Many hurdlers who learn how to hurdle by running the sprint hurdles (100/110m) don’t develop the ability to alternate lead legs because it isn’t a relevant skill in that event. But for hurdlers who specialize in the long hurdles, or for whom the long hurdles is the better of their two hurdling events, learning how to alternate is worth the time it takes. And if done correctly– taking the necessary steps to gradually build confidence in the weaker lead leg–then it can be learned fairly easily–more easily than you might think. The hard part is getting to a point where you trust the leg when moving at full speed in a race. Ideally, you want to get to a point where the outside observer can’t even tell which leg is your stronger lead leg. Here are the steps I take, drill-wise, to get a hurdler to that point:
- An easy three-step rhythm from a four-step approach to hurdle one, using the weaker lead leg. Hurdles should be two clicks below 400h race height, spaced closely together–somewhere in the range of 12-16 feet apart, depending on the athlete.
- An easy two-step rhythm from a four-step approach to hurdle one, alternating lead legs. Spacing and hurdle heights should be the same as in the previous drill.
- A four-step rhythm from a four-step approach to hurdle one, alternating lead legs, with the hurdles on the women’s 100m hurdle marks for males, a foot or two closer together for females. Height of the hurdles should still be two clicks below 400h race height.
- A faster four-step rhythm from a six-step approach to hurdle one, alternating lead legs, with the hurdles on the men’s 110m hurdle marks for males, a foot or two closer together for females. Height of the hurdles remains two clicks below 400h race height.
- Same as above, but with the hurdles raised to only one click lower than 400h race height.
- Eight-step rhythm from a six-step approach to hurdle one, with hurdles on every other girls 100m hurdle mark, one click below race height. Hurdles will be a foot or two closer together for females.
- Eight-step rhythm from an eight-step approach to hurdle one with hurdles on every other boys mark, one click below race height. Hurdles will be a foot or two closer together for females.
- 100h/110h rhythm: eight-step approach from starting line (100 line for females, 110 line for males) to hurdle one, three steps between the rest, from falling or three-point start, with all hurdles after the first hurdle moved in at least one foot, no more than two feet. Hurdles are one click below 400h race height.
- Same as above, with the hurdles at 400h race height.
- Same approach to hurdle one as above, same hurdle height as above, but spread the hurdles out for a five-step rhythm. Experiment with the spacing; should be in the range of 12 yards between hurdles.
- Same as above, spreading out the hurdles for a seven-step rhythm. Experiment with the spacing; should be in the range of 16 yards apart.
- Same as above, spreading out the hurdles for a nine-step rhythm. Experiment with the spacing; should be in the range of 20 yards apart. The wider the spacing, the faster the athlete must run. So closer together is better to start with, then gradually increase the spacing in order to increase the challenge.
At this point, the athlete should have enough trust in the opposite leg to be ready to use it when doing race-modeling workouts with the hurdles at race spacing. Now, assuming the athlete is in good overall running condition, taking an even number of strides between hurdles at some point during a race can be considered a viable option.
As for the amount of hurdles used in the drills above, everything should be done over four hurdles when alternating. You always want to have an even number of hurdles when alternating, so that both legs get the same amount of work.The three-step, five-step, seven-step, and nine-step drills can be done over an odd number of hurdles, like three or five.
