March 18, 2021

What: Zoom Call with hurdling legend Renaldo Nehemiah
When: Sunday April 11^th from 3 pm – 4:30 pm.
Cost: $15
To Register: Click here to pay with debit/credit via PayPal, or you can send payment directly or via Cash App to $StevenMcGill. Upon receipt of payment, I will send the Zoom call link to the email address you used to pay. (If I don’t send it until later in the day, that’s because I’m probably teaching or coaching. If you don’t receive the link within 24 hours of payment, then email me at smcgill@hurdlesfirst.com).

Who is Renaldo Nehemiah?
Renaldo “Skeets” Nehemiah, arguably the greatest high hurdler in history, broke the world record twice in 1979 as a sophomore at the University of Maryland, running 13.16 and then 13.00. Two years later, in 1981, he became the first hurdler to break the 13.00 barrier with a 12.93 in Zurich, Switzerland. After not being able to compete in the 1980 Olympic Games due to the American boycott, Nehemiah turned to professional football, where he played four years with the San Francisco 49ers, and was on their 1984 Super Bowl team. He returned to track in 1986 and remained one of the best hurdlers in the world, although injuries sustained during his football career prevented him from returning to his previous level of dominance. In his post-athletic career, Nehemiah has gone on to have an equally impressive career as an athlete agent who has represented some of track and field’s greatest performers, including hurdlers Allen Johnson, Mark Crear, Perdita Felicien, and sprinter Justin Gatlin. read more

March 16, 2021

From 1978-1982, Renaldo “Skeets” Nehemiah single-handedly pushed the 110m high hurdles into a new era, setting new standards that are still difficult for even the world’s best hurdlers to achieve. When Nehemiah entered the University of Maryland at the age of 18, the world record in the 110’s was 13.21, set by Alejandro Casanas of Cuba in 1977. By the time Nehemiah left track and field to play professional football in 1982, he had broken the world record three times, bringing it all the way down under the magical 13.00 mark, to 12.93 in August of 1981, at the Weltklasse meet in Zurich, Switzerland.

I began working on a biography of Nehemiah in 2019, and am about two-thirds of the way through the first draft. In gathering research for the book, I was able to reconnect with a track fanatic who lives in England, named George Matthews, who helped me before, when I was writing a biography on 1972 Olympic champion Rodney Milburn. So I reached out to George again, and he was able to put together a collage of Nehemiah’s races that he had recorded that spanned Nehemiah’s glory years of 1978-82. Besides the outdoor world records, Nehemiah also broke indoor records of multiple distances (55 yards, 60 yards, 50 yards, 55 meters) multiple times. In his battles with rival Greg Foster of UCLA, Nehemiah brought an electricity and excitement to the event that it has not seen since. With those two going at it, the 110 hurdles were the marquee event in track and field for four years. Unfortunately, however, due to the 1980 Olympic Boycott led by US President Jimmy Carter, Nehemiah never had the opportunity to show his skills on the world’s biggest stage. read more

March 6, 2021

Below are the topics I will cover in tomorrow’s Zoom clinic for hurdle coaches. This is my first time doing one of these, so if we don’t get to everything, I can always do another one. Most time will be dedicated to explaining (and demonstrating via videos) hurdling mechanics and how to properly do the drills that teach efficient mechanics. There’s still time to sign up if you want to join the call. Check my post from last month for registration info.

–Principles of Downhill Hurdling
–Hurdling Mechanics
–Hurdle Drills
–Preparing to Race
–Bread & Butter 400H Workouts
–Alternating drills for 400H
–Rhythm Development for 400H
–Conducting a Hurdle Practice Session
–Bread & Butter 100/110H Workouts
–Coach’s Role on Race Day
–Frequently Asked Questions

January 24, 2021

Some good news: I’ll be doing an online coaching clinic on Sunday March 7, 2021, from 1-4 pm, via Zoom. THE 1-4 PM IS EASTERN STANDARD TIME IN THE UNITED STATES, SO THOSE OF YOU FROM OTHER TIME ZONES AND OTHER COUNTRIES, PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY. The event was the brain child of my good friend Dave Shaw, an assistant track coach at Mountain Ridge High School in Frostburg, MD. Half the proceeds will go to Coach Shaw’s charity organization, the David H. Shaw Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund, which he founded in 1999 in honor of his son, who tragically passed away in a car accident. In the clinic, I will be detailing my approach to coaching hurdlers from beginners to elites. I will be discussing and showing video clips of workouts and drills that I use to develop technique and rhythm and speed. It promises to be a very informative session. Here is the essential info about the clinic:

Date: Sunday March 7, 2021
Time: 1-4pm (Eastern Standard Time in the United States)
Format: Zoom (after you register and pay, you will receive the Zoom link)
Cost: $25 per school (All coaches from a single school or club can join at this cost. What a bargain!). (Athletes and parents are encouraged to join as well).
Registration: Clinic Registration Form
Payment Method: payment can be made via check or PayPal. Here is the PayPal link: Payment through PayPal

Below is the email that Coach Shaw is sending out to coaches in the Maryland region where he lives. It includes online registration information as well as details regarding the information above.

***

Hello fellow track coaches,

My name is David Shaw, Assistant Track Coach for both men and women at Mountain Ridge High School in Frostburg, Maryland. Every year since 1999 my family has sponsored two scholarships in honor of our deceased son, David H. Shaw Jr., to two graduating seniors at Mountain Ridge who are outstanding academic students and dedicated athletes. In the past 22 years, our family has donated over $50,000.00 to deserving students to help fund their college costs. We have had various fund raisers over the years to keep this fund active. During this difficult Covid-19 time, The David H. Shaw Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund is pleased to sponsor a virtual clinic for coaches on the art of hurdling. This clinic is for all coaches who want to get a jump start on the upcoming track season for their men and women hurdlers.

Our presenter for this clinic will be the outstanding and renowned hurdle coach, Steve McGill. McGill started his high school coaching career in 1995 at Ravenscroft School in Raleigh, North Carolina. After 19 years in this capacity, he left high school coaching and started coaching privately which he continues to do today. Throughout his coaching career, McGill has coached many state champions and national champions on a youth and high school levels. Many of McGill’s hurdlers have gone on to have major success at the collegiate level and beyond, including the present world record holder in the women’s 100 M Hurdlers(12.20) Kendra Harrison. Coach McGill has written several books on hurdling, with latest being The Art of Hurdling, which can be found on Amazon in paper back or Kindle eBooks. Until the outbreak of Covid-19 last year, McGill had conducted numerous Team Steve Hurdle Camps. These camps brought hurdlers from all over the United States and Canada to JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem North Carolina and Mercersburg Academy Hale Field House in Mercersburg, Pennsylvania to train with McGill. Coach Steve’s passion for hurdling is second to none. His enthusiasm and love for the sport started when he saw the great Renaldo Nehemiah run back in the day.

One of the most outstanding traits of Coach Steve McGill that separates him from other great coaches is that he gets the same amount of satisfaction and gives the same effort getting his 17-second hurdlers to be the best they can be as he does with all his champions and world record holder. He considers hurdling an art form and he is truly a great hurdle specialist on the track with his athletes. I think you will find this clinic informative and something you do not want to miss. Video examples of Coach McGill:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTBtu-FGHK0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rth60O6OIHQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VufwKPjC5Yg

The virtual hurdle clinic for coaches will be held on Sunday, March 7, 2021 from 1pm.-4pm. The cost will be just $25.00 per school. You can reserve your spot by mailing your payment and registration form to:

David Shaw
22718 Horse Rock Rd. Sw.
Westernport, MD   21562

Make checks payable to David H. Shaw Jr. Memorial Scholarship Fund

Or by filling out the registration electronically at: Clinic Registration Form

And payments are also accepted through PayPal: Payment through PayPal

VIRTUAL HURDLING CLINIC FOR COACHES

MARCH 7, 2021

1P.M – 4P.M.

REGISTRATION FORM

Cost $25.00 per school

Name of Coaches(es):________________________________________________

School :           _______________________________________________________

School Address: ______________________________________________________

Email address:   ______________________________________________________

Number from School Attending: __________________________________________

Coaches’ Contact Information:___________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________________

Phone:_____________________________________________________________

September 28, 2019

Found another old document in my files, from March 15, 2019:

For hurdlers, falling isn’t a metaphor. It’s a reality that can happen in any race, over any hurdle, even when things are going perfectly well. The first time I fell was over the ninth hurdle in a 110m race my sophomore year of high school – my first year of running hurdles. I wasn’t expected to do much because I was so new to the event and because I hadn’t performed at a high level up to that point in the season. But there I was in the thick of things in a very competitive race that featured two good hurdlers from our rival school. One of them was way ahead of everybody, but, after a slow start, I was gradually catching up to the other one. By hurdle nine I was coming up beside him, about to pass him. But because I was so giddy about the possibility of beating him, I forgot the hurdle was there and I smacked into it with the foot of my lead leg, lost my balance, and tumbled to the ground. I did a stop-drop-and-roll move and got back up and finished the race, but ended up in last place when I could’ve gotten second.

Yes, I should’ve stayed focused on the hurdle in front of me; I shouldn’t have celebrated my success while there was still race left to run. At least I could say I went for it. I always tell my hurdlers, “Never err on the side of caution.” In other words, any mistakes you make should be mistakes of aggression, of being too aggressive. Never make the mistake of holding back, of being cautious. Agression can be managed; it can be tamed so that it is a positive attribute. Fear and caution can only slow you down. In that race my sophomore year of high school, I was young and I was new to the hurdles; I didn’t know yet that the hurdles could jump up and grab me and pull me down. From that race I learned that, yes I must stay aggressive, but I must also stay alert.

September 28, 2020

I wrote the thoughts below back on January 30, 2019. I came upon the document this morning as I was looking for another document in my Microsoft Word files, and felt it would be worth sharing here:

I always tell my hurdlers that a breakthrough will occur, but you can never predict when it will happen; you just have to trust that if you stay diligent, the breakthrough will occur. Training for a race that lasts less than 20 seconds means that 99.9% of your time is spent training while only .1% of your time is spent competing. So of course there’s going to be some anxiety on the day of a race, because of fear of all the training going to waste. In practice my hurdlers do multiple reps of drills, work on the various phases of the race, and do all kinds of workouts and exercises to keep their bodies healthy and ready for competition. So the hope is always that the things we worked on in practice will shine through for us on race day. But the reality is that it takes a high level of calm focus to be able to duplicate in a race what you were able to do in practice. That level of focus is developed through repetition. In a race, you have one chance when the gun goes off to either do it or not, whereas in practice you can keep going back and trying again every time you make a mistake. So it takes many races to get to a point where you can execute the movements you practice while training without the need for the mind to tell the body what to do. In races there is no time for thinking, so the body has to do it on its own. To get to a point where the body is that in tune with what it needs to do doesn’t happen overnight. That’s why when athletes say, in reference to executing certain movements, “I can do it practice, but in meets it just doesn’t work,” I respond by saying, be patient, be persistent. My experience has been that the breakthrough always does come eventually, and when it does, that changes the athlete’s entire outlook on hurdling, and validates all the hard work and frustration.

That’s one of the ways in which hurdling is a metaphor for life. You can’t rush progress, and you can’t skip steps on the way to mastery of a skill, of an art form. Breakthroughs happen to you, when the mind is quiet and the body is prepared; you can’t force them.

=&0=&August 23, 2020

Like many sports fans, I spent ten hours of the early days of quarantine life watching “The Last Dance” documentary on ESPN, which documented the last year of the Chicago Bulls’ championship run, with plenty of backstory regarding the years that led up to it. One of the episodes highlights the 1993-94 season, when the Bulls played their first season without superstar Michael Jordan, who had retired after three straight title runs to play minor league baseball. That season, the Bulls were led by all-star forward Scottie Pippen, who had been the second-best player on the team behind Jordan, but then stepped up to the status of best player while also stepping into the role of undisputed team leader. Experts and fans expected the Bulls to bottom out and become a lottery team without Jordan, but instead they won 55 games—only two less than they had the previous year—and made it to the Eastern Conference finals against the New York Knicks, whom they had beaten in the playoffs on an annual basis during their championship runs in the early part of the decade. 

While there were plenty of reasons why the Bulls were able to thrive without Jordan, arguably the biggest reason was the play and leadership of Pippen. Jordan had been known as a very demanding team captain who relentlessly pushed his teammates and challenged their manhood so they’d be ready for any intimidation tactics other teams threw at them in the playoffs. Pippen, on the other hand, was the type to encourage his teammates and play the role of teacher when they made mistakes, particularly when it came to grasping the intricacies of the Bulls’ triangle offense. Unlike Jordan, who was an unstoppable scorer, Pippen was more of a facilitator who looked to create shots for teammates as much as he looked to create shots for himself. For that reason, the Bulls executed the triangle offense at a level of efficiency never before seen in the Jordan years. On the defensive end of the court, Pippen was a monster. I would argue that there has never been a better wing defender in the history of the NBA. In addition to his immense physical gifts, he was super-intelligent and crafty. He could hide the flaws of teammates, force opponents into mistakes, and even protect the rim when necessary. That ‘93-94 Bulls team was a fun team to watch, because they played as a team and had such a high level of trust in each other. Pippen was the one who set the tone. Though not an alpha dog in the Jordan sense, his leadership style was equally effective, if not more so. 

So the incident the title of this post refers to occurred at the end of game three of the ‘94 Eastern Conference finals against the Knicks. The Bulls were on their home court, down 2-0 in the series, and desperately needed to win this game to retain any legitimate hope of winning the series. With 1.8 seconds left, the score was tied, and the Bulls had the ball for the last shot. Score, and they win; miss, and the game goes to overtime. Bulls coach Phil Jackson designed a play in which Pippen would inbound the ball to Toni Kukoc, a good outside shooter who had hit some big late-game shots throughout the season. Pippen, angry and hurt that he wouldn’t be the one taking the last shot, walked to the end of the bench after the timeout and told Jackson he was not going back onto the court. Jackson, stunned, was at a loss for what to do. He finally had to call another timeout and get another player, reserve Pete Myers, into the game to inbound the ball. While Pippen sat on the bench, Myers lobbed a perfect pass to Kukoc at the top of the circle, and Kukoc drained the game-winner, and the arena erupted into ecstasy. As Jackson walked off the court, he was wearing a scowl as if they had just lost. In post-game interviews, it became clear as to why. Pippen had bailed on the team just when they had needed him most. In his memoir Sacred Hoops, in which he writes in detail about the Bulls of the late 80’s – mid 90’s, Jackson talks about how Bulls veteran center Bill Cartwright was the one who chastised Pippen in the locker room afterwards. Cartwright was so upset that tears were streaming down his cheeks as he spoke to Pippen in front of the team. Pippen, realizing the enormity of his blunder, was contrite, apologized, and the team was able to recover and move on. 

What I find ironic, and maddening, is the fact that Pippen, easily one of the most unselfish players to ever play the game, is known for one of the most selfish acts the game has ever seen. My argument here is that, in this particular situation, he had every right to be selfish. Should he have sat out like he did? No, because by doing so, he was abandoning his teammates when it was Jackson he was angry with. He should’ve just sucked it up and ran the play and then cussed out Jackson after the game. But with that being said, Pippen’s anger and self-righteous indignation were justified. Here’s why:

He was the best player on the team. The best player on the team is supposed to take the last shot. Answer me this: If Jordan were still on the team, would Jackson have told Jordan “We’re gonna go with Toni this time”? If there’s 1.8 seconds left, Jordan is taking the last shot. For the Indiana Pacers, Reggie Miller is taking the last shot. For the Utah Jazz, Karl Malone is taking the last shot. Even Magic Johnson, the ultimate facilitator, took the last shot in game four against the Celtics in the 1987 finals. The second-best player is going to be the second option, not the first option. If you’re the Houston Rockets of that era, option one is Hakeem Olajuwon; if he’s not open, then you look to Kenny Smith or Vernon Maxwell or somebody else. For Jackson to design the last play for Kukoc was an insult to Pippen. Sure, it made basketball sense, and yes, it worked, but Pippen had earned the right to be the one the team rested its hopes on. He had carried the team this far in their first Jordan-less year, and you’re gonna give Kukoc the last shot with the season on the line? 

Jackson had Pippen inbounding the ball. With 1.8 left. That meant there was no chance Pippen would take the last shot. He wasn’t even the second option on the most important play of the season. I understand that Pippen’s role as inbounder was a crucial one, and that making the correct pass and delivering the ball with precision was not an easy task, but again, would you ask Jordan to inbound the ball with 1.8 left? Would the pacers ask Reggie Miller to inbound the ball with 1.8 left? Would the modern-day Los Angeles Clippers ask Kawhi Leonard to inbound the ball with 1.8 left? So why are you asking Scottie Pippen to inbound the ball with 1.8 left? I honestly don’t think Pippen would’ve sat down if he hadn’t been asked to inbound the ball. I think that’s what set him off. 

On the offensive possession before that one, Kukoc had gotten in Pippen’s way when Pippen was trying to make a move to the basket. So Pippen was already annoyed with Kukoc. 

I feel like Pippen was a victim of being a nice guy, of not having an alpha dog personality. He was so unselfish as a player and as a person that Jackson didn’t even think to think that Pippen’s ego would be bruised. Players like Jordan and Kobe Bryant would demand the ball in such a situation. And we as fans wouldn’t call them selfish for doing so. From Pippen’s perspective, Jackson designing the play for anyone but himself to take the last shot was an indication that Jackson didn’t believe in him. So he was hurt. Like, why would you not believe in me now, after all I’ve done for this team?

read more

=&0=&August 16, 2020

So what have I been up to the past few months since the coronavirus smacked us all in the face? In the words of Brotherman from the Martin TV show, “just chillin.” The small private school where I teach high school English went virtual last March, and stayed virtual through the end of the year. So I was home pretty much all day after that, and stayed home all day throughout the summer. 

When I wasn’t playing Solitaire on my phone, I was either napping, working on a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle, or working on the biography I’m writing on Renaldo Nehemiah. (If I have to explain to you who he is, then you don’t belong on this site). 

I found a website that lets you upload a photo that they convert into a puzzle, then they ship you the puzzle so you can put it together. Over the summer I finished ten 1,000-piece puzzles. The first one was of a photo of my dad and a friend of his from when they were in their twenties. In the photo, taken in 1953, Dad’s friend is holding a 78 rpm record as they both are looking at it and smiling. Dad was who I got my love of jazz from, so that one means a lot to me. The second puzzle was of a photo of my mom taken just a few years before she passed in June 2019. In the photo, she is wearing her winter coat and stylish hat, looking upwards and smiling. That puzzle and the puzzle of my dad are side by side on my bedroom wall. It’s a way of keeping them with me. I also did puzzles of a few of my favorite sports heroes, like Dr. J, Randall Cunningham, and Nehemiah. And of course, I had to do one of the one and only John Coltrane.  read more

February 6, 2020

In my book, The Art of Hurdling: A Manual for Coaches, I explain how I approach hurdling, and coaching hurdlers, from a 1-2-3 perspective. The seeds of this approach began, unbeknownst even to myself, when I was diagnosed with aplastic anemia during my teen years. My doctor informed me that this blood disease is characterized by bone marrow failure—the bone marrow ceases to produce new blood cells, so the victim slowly runs out of blood. Blood, my doctor explained, is comprised of three types of cells: red blood cells, which carry oxygen to all parts of the body; white blood cells, which serve to fight off infections; and platelet cells, which prevent bleeding and bruises. His brief hematology lesson gave me insight as to why I had been feeling tired all the time (low red cell count), why I’d been getting a weird whirring sound in my ears (low white cell count), and why random bruises would sometimes appear on my arms and feet (low platelet cell count).

It wasn’t until years later—after I had made a full recovery, graduated from college and then grad school, and then began working full-time—that I found myself contemplating the wonder of it all. These three types of cells work together to create a harmonious balance, a marvelous tapestry of rhythm in motion to protect the body from internal and external threats. If there is an imbalance in any of the three, there is an imbalance in the entire system, and therefore in the entire body, which can lead to a myriad of possible catastrophes. And yet, until we get sick, we don’t even think about how fragile our health is, and all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Once I latched onto this 1-2-3 concept in terms of blood cells, I took note of it in other aspects of life as well. The three primary colors, the three components of an atom, the body-mind-spirit of the human being, the holy trinities of several religious traditions, etc. So much in life, I observed, seems to have this 1-2-3 thing going on at a fundamental level. And if that’s true of so much in life, I reasoned, then it must be true of the hurdles.

And of course, it is. In hurdling, the three basic components are technique, rhythm, and speed. If any of these three is deficient in some way, then the other two are forced to compensate, throwing off the delicate balance that is so essential to fluid, effortless hurdling. Just like none of the three types of blood cells is more important than the other two, none of the three key components of hurdling is more important than the other two. Therefore, all three—technique, rhythm, and speed—most be trained together, so that they are in harmony with one another. And developing all three is a season-long, career-long journey.

In my book, The Art of Hurdling: A Manual for Hurdle Coaches, I discuss the training methods I use to develop these three basic components of hurdling, as well as the 1-2-3 action of the lead leg, trail leg, and lead arm. I discuss how to develop them all individually, and how to put them all together. If you’d like to learn more, click here to purchase a copy.

February 5, 2020

One of the topics I discuss in my book, The Art of Hurdling, is how to build a conditioning base for the 400m hurdles. I’ve always felt that conditioning for hurdlers should involve hurdling, even in the very beginning of the off-season. That philosophy somewhat contrasts the approach of many coaches, who prefer to build a base before putting any hurdles up. But my logic is simple: jumpers jump, throwers throw, vaulters vault, sprinters sprint, and hurdlers hurdle. So, while I’m definitely not saying that hurdlers should hurdle every day, I am saying that hurdling work should be incorporated into the training plan at least once a week throughout the year. The thinking is, the only way a hurdler can get used to the rigors of hurdling is by hurdling. The only way a hurdler can refine technique is by hurdling. For the 400m hurdler, I’m cool with plenty of non-hurdling workouts in the off-season to develop strength and speed-endurance. But I feel that if hurdling isn’t included in the mix from the giddy up, then we may not have enough time to get to the type of super-demanding race-prep workouts that are so essential to optimizing success in the championship part of the season.

One of my go-to workouts for building hurdle-endurance for the long hurdler is the back-and-forth workout, also known as the up-and-back workout. It’s a pretty basic workout that is nevertheless very effective. Five hurdles up, five hurdles back. I first learned about the workout from Renaldo Nehemiah’s coach, Jean Poquette, who used a 110h version of the workout when coaching Nehemiah. I adapted it to the 400h by stretching out the spacing—placing five hurdles at the marks for hurdles 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9 in one direction, and five more beside them facing the other direction.

Recently I’ve posted a few videos on my Instagram page and YouTube channel showing one of my hurdlers doing the workout. Below is one of those videos. If you want to learn more about the workout and others that I use in coaching my 400m hurdlers, pick up a copy of the book from its Amazon page.