Tall Girl Problems
Over the years, much has been made of the difficulties taller male 110 meter hurdlers face, and why it is difficult for them to negotiate the space between the barriers. But not as much has been made regarding the same issue as it applies to female 100 meter hurdlers. Arguably, being too tall is even more of a problem for taller women than it is for taller men. In the men’s race, at the elite level, pretty much everybody has to shuffle between the hurdles. In the women’s race, on the other hand, smaller hurdlers can sprint well enough that the idea of “shuffling” really hasn’t entered into the common vocabulary when the 100 meter hurdles are being discussed.
[am4show not_have=’g5;’]
[/am4show][am4guest]
[/am4guest][am4show have=’g5;’]
I was at a college meet a couple weekends ago and wound up talking for a long time to a coach who keeps up with my website and with whom I’ve engaged in hurdle-related conversations several times over the years. He was talking about how he coaches his women hurdlers much differently from how he coaches the men hurdlers. He was giving some pretty detailed descriptions of drills he does with his males and he was explaining various angles of different body parts during hurdle clearance. But in coaching women, he said, he tells them “just go.” He does lots of workouts with the hurdles at 30 inches to get his women in the habit of unleashing their speed. Of course, he said, technique in the women’s race matters, but it’s more of a sprint race, and therefore a sprinter’s race. The men’s 110’s, on the other hand, is much more of a technical event, and therefore much more of a hurdler’s race.
I agree that the women’s race is much more of a sprint race, and I have found over the years that speed is the main ingredient to a successful women’s hurdle race, whereas it is just one of many important factors in the men’s race. With that being the case, taller women are inhibited by their height more so than their tall male counterparts.
So how tall is too tall? I did a Google search of the heights of female sprint hurdlers, taking a sampling from back in the day through to the here and now, and here are the heights of some of the big names, in no particular order:
Joanna Hayes: 5-6
Perdita Felicien: 5-5
Priscilla Lopes-Schliep: 5-4
Dawn Harper-Nelson: 5-6
Sally Pearson: 5-6
Kellie Wells: 5-4
Lolo Jones: 5-9
Ginnie Crawford: 5-9
Queen Harrison: 5-7
Brianna Rollins: 5-5
Gail Devers: 5-3
Michelle Perry: 5-8
Susanna Kallur: 5-7
Jasmine Stowers: 5-9
Kendra Harrison: 5-4
Dior Hall: 5-6
Kendell Williams: 5-9
Tiffany Ofili: 5-9
So, based on this quick snapshot of 18 hurdlers, it seems that they all fall within the range of 5-4 to 5-9, with the exception of the 5-3 Devers. She is an interesting one to consider, as she was as good of a sprinter as she was a sprint hurdler. It could be argued that her smaller stature allowed her to sprint faster between the hurdles than her opponents. Had she even been 5-4 with that kind of exceptional speed she would’ve run into problems on a regular basis. Even at 5-3, she famously crashed in the Olympic final in 1992. But overall it seems evident that Devers’ small stature allowed her to maximize her sprint speed to a degree that enabled her to be one of the greatest 100 meter hurdlers of all time. A comparable example does not exist in the men’s race. While, hypothetically, a male hurdler in the 5-8 to 5-9 range would have similar room to sprint, he wouldn’t be able to take advantage of it because the hurdles are too dang high. Hence, world-class male hurdlers smaller than 5-10 are a very rare breed. That’s about the cut-off point.
As the list above indicates, 5-9 is about as tall as a female hurdler can be and still be among the best of the best. I could be wrong, but off the top of my head at least I can’t think of any world class 100 meter hurdlers taller than 5-9. I remember several years ago I helped out at a camp held by youth coach Blane Williams, father of Kendell Williams (the superstar hurdler/heptathlete for the University of Georgia), who was a high school sophomore at the time. At that age, Kendell was her current height of 5-9, and complained of not being able to run comfortably between the hurdles. Though I didn’t have time to work with her directly due to the large number of kids at the camp, I did explain to her that, with her height and her speed, she would never feel comfortable between the hurdles.
Last year I was coaching Jacklyn Howell, currently a freshman at the University of Kentucky, who is also 5-9. Jackie was fast enough and tall enough that she could just coast between the hurdles, which is what she often did out of fear of getting too crowded. We all remember how Lolo Jones, also 5-9, got too close to the ninth hurdle at the 2008 Olympics and lost her chance at what would most certainly have been a gold medal.
I personally feel that female hurdlers in the 5-9 range need to learn to modify their sprint stride similar to how male hurdlers need to. I’m not sure if they need to shuffle between the hurdles (since the hurdles are so low), but they definitely need to keep their hands low and their feet low. They have to think in terms of being quick as opposed to being fast. Coaches of taller female hurdlers can’t assume that they can coach such hurdlers the same as they coach the rest of the female hurdle crew. Of course, I’m talking about fast tall girls, not a 5-9 high school girl who lacks turnover and runs maybe 13.5 in the 100 meter dash. Height alone doesn’t cause the problem of running up on hurdles, but the height combined with the speed.
Many coaches will just have the taller female hurdlers specialize in the long hurdles, since height can only be an advantage in that race, but I don’t think it’s always necessary to make such a concession, especially with females who prefer the shorter race. Through drilling (high volume, low intensity), particularly in the off-season, taller females can master the art of being quick between the hurdles as well as the men can. Then, when they add in the speed, they’ll already be pre-conditioned to get their feet down instead of opening up their stride. As a result, their height now becomes an advantage because of how easy it is for them to step over those 33’s.
In terms of drills, I like one-steps to start with, as they force the athlete to get up and down without wasting any time in the air. The hurdles should be 30 inches high for those, set 7 feet apart. If you raise the hurdles to 33 inches, they should be spaced 8 feet apart. No less than 4 hurdles, no more than 10.
The next step is to put together a quick three-step rhythm by spacing the hurdles 13 feet apart. The hurdles should be at 30 inches. The hurdler approaches the first hurdle by bouncing on the balls of the feet, getting the knees up so that the heel is even with the calf of the other leg. Then, she clears the first hurdle and continues to quickly tap dance between the hurdles, fitting in her three steps despite the limited space.
If these drills are done on a consistent basis in the off-season, then the hurdler will transition smoothly to getting the feet down quickly when it’s time to compete. Right now, since we’re in April, the best way to go about things would be to incorporate these drills once or twice a week. In addition, the hurdler would benefit from having the hurdles moved in during hurdle workouts. For example, have her go over five hurdles out of the blocks, with all hurdles after the first hurdle moved in 2-3 feet in order to simulate the super-crowded feeling the athlete is experiencing in races.
[/am4show]
