Anticipation

In the last three issues of this magazine, I talked about the timing aspect of hurdling – in regards to what each limb does in relation to the other limbs throughout the phases of hurdle clearance. For faster hurdlers, and in many cases for taller hurdlers, being able to sprint between the hurdles is impossible. Any attempt to lift the knees and to forcefully attack the track like a sprinter will lead to certain disaster. As a result, many faster hurdlers and/or taller hurdlers learn to shuffle between the hurdles, keeping their feet low to the ground and concentrating on being quick with their feet.

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In addition to shuffling, and as extension of my discussion on the timing aspect of hurdling, this article will focus on how hurdlers with exceptional speed must learn to master the art of anticipating each movement prior to executing it. This habit serves the purpose of slowing down the race, so to speak, so that you retain a sense of control even as the hurdles are coming at you rapid fire one, after another.

The logic is, when you’re moving at hyper speeds in a hurdle race, if you don’t focus on a particular movement until it’s time to execute it, you’re already too late. You won’t have room to execute it. In any sport, the ability to “slow the game down” becomes more important as the skill level increases and the intensity level ratchets up. An NFL running back has to hit the hole before the hole opens up. If he waits until it opens, it’ll be closed by the time he gets there. An NFL quarterback has to throw the ball to the receiver before the receiver has created separation from the defensive back. That’s why quarterbacks and receivers get together in the off-season: to work on their timing, to develop that trust, to sharpen their instinctual connection. Because, in most cases, that receiver is going to be open only for a millisecond, and the quarterback has to deliver the ball in that narrow window of time.

When I think of athletes in other sports who have mastered this ability to anticipate the next movement and to thereby gain a unique control of events, former NBA star Dennis Rodman comes to mind. Yes he was a weird dude in a lot of ways but that’s neither here nor there. When it came to rebounding the basketball, Rodman demonstrated an uncanny ability to anticipate where the ball would go and positioning himself to grab it as it caromed off the rim. In many cases it seemed like he was at the right spot before the ball even got there. Logically speaking, someone his size should not have been such a dominant rebounder. A good one, sure. But he was maybe 6-8, 230, something like that. For someone that size to be a dominant rebounder was a result not only of his athleticism and tenacity, but of his unique ability to anticipate where the ball would be.

In hurdling, what athletes most clearly demonstrate this skill? Well, quite obviously, anyone running in the 12-high or 13-low range is demonstrating it at a high level. For the women’s race you’d have dip down to the sub-12.50 range for the ones who have to really anticipate each movement. But who would I say is the best? For the first time in forever, my answer is not Liu Xiang (although he’s high on the list). To me, the best at this particular skill is Aries Merritt, 2012 version. When watching the final of his Olympic victory over and over again on YouTube, as well as his world record 12.80 later that summer, I noticed he was doing something different, but I couldn’t identify what it was.

Finally it hit me: he’s starting to run off the hurdle before his lead foot has even touched down. That was the optical illusion he created anyway – that he was back running on the ground even though he was still in the air. The way the foot was continuing to cycle all the way back underneath the hip, and the way his hips were pushing forward prior to touchdown, made it apparent that he was, in his mind, already back on the ground. That way, once he actually did touch down, he had more space to fit in his three strides to the next hurdle. Not that he literally had more space, although he probably did; but  more importantly, he felt like he had more space.

So let’s identify the movements, and the anticipatory thoughts that go with them, in order:

• While taking the penultimate step, think of taking the cut step (last step into the hurdle).
• While taking the cut step, think of leaning, driving the lead leg knee, and pushing off with the trail leg.
• While pushing off, think of extending the lead leg and raising the trail leg.
• While extending the lead leg, think of hammering down the lead arm and snapping down the lead leg and bringing the trail leg to the front.
• While touching down, think of taking first stride off the hurdle.

As mastery of anticipation develops, you can play with sharpening your senses. You can maybe try to work on thinking two steps ahead instead of thinking just one step ahead. Having never run anywhere near the low 13’s, I don’t know if you may need to think two steps ahead, or three, or four. One thing I do tell my more advanced high school hurdlers – those few who are in the sub-14 range – is that they need to think “down” when they’re taking off. Even though in hurdling you want to get up and get down, faster hurdlers can’t think about the up part. If they think “up” while they’re taking off, they’ll come down too late, land too close to the next hurdle, and increase their risk of crashing. Sometimes when they’re doing full-speed reps out the blocks I’ll yell “down!” at take-off of every hurdle. “Down! Down! Down!” Forget about the up part. Your body knows to do that. Focus on getting back on the ground. Keep creating space. Keep creating the illusion that you have a lot of space between these hurdles.

To summarize, hurdlers who can get in the habit of anticipating movements prior to making them can thereby slow the race down in their minds, and can gain a higher level of efficiency with their technique. As a result, they can run cleaner races without sacrificing speed and aggression.

To develop these anticipatory skills, do drills with the hurdles bunched. For example:

• Quick three-steps over 5-10 hurdles with the hurdles 15 feet apart for males, 13 feet apart for females. For males, hurdles should be no higher than 36 inches, for males no higher than 30 inches. Approach first hurdle with an A-March. Speed will increase during each individual rep, so danger will increase with it, as will the need to anticipate each movement.
• Same drill as above, with the hurdles 18 feet apart for males, 15 feet apart for females. Hurdles should start at 36 for males, 30 for females, and can get up to race height for both genders.
• Starts over two hurdles with the second hurdle moved in 3 feet. Begin with the hurdles low, then gradually raise them to race height as the athlete gets more adjusted to anticipating the movements.
• Same as above, adding as many as three more hurdles.

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