Letter from the Editor, June 2018

Hello readers, and welcome to the June 2018 edition of The Hurdle Magazine! This month’s issue features four articles from myself, one from freelance writer Melinda Burris Willms, and one from freelance writer Teige West.

In this issue, West delves further into visualization with his article entitled, “Sports Psychology: Visualization for Advanced Performance.” In this article, West discusses various guided imagery practices that can calm the nerves and help lead to success on the track.

Willms’ article, “Focus on Fascia: What the Heck is it and What is its Role in Physiology?” is the first of two parts, the second of which will appear in next month’s issue. Willms discusses the role that fascia plays in performance and overall athletic movements.

The first of the four articles I wrote is entitled “Coaching the Multi Event Athlete in the Hurdles.” Here, I discuss the positives and negatives that come with being a specialty coach for a multi-event athlete who needs hurdle practice but also has several other events to train for. I currently have two athletes I coach privately who are multi-eventers. This article discusses my experiences with those two athletes and what I’ve learned in regards to what battles to fight and what battles to avoid.

In “Learning How to Feel the Event,” I talk about how hurdlers need to develop the ability to trust their instincts when hurdling so that they are not overly dependent on watching film to identify and address their flaws. I argue that the hurdler who can trust his or her body as his or her coach is at an advantage over the more cerebral over-thinkers who don’t know how to listen to their body’s cues.

In “Team Steve III” I discuss the goings-on from Team Steve Speed & Hurdle Camp III that took place last weekend at Woodlawn School in Mooresville, NC. Every camp is an entity unto itself. With this one we had a lot of beginners with little to no hurdling experience, which really brought out the teaching skills in myself and my partner Hector Cotto.

This month’s workout, “Sprinting and Hurdling Workout” is a workout that combines sprinting with hurdling for the sprint hurdler preparing for big meets in the summer time.

Enjoy the articles, good luck to all of you who are competing this summer. As much as you can, stay in the shade!

Steve McGill