In Defense of Four-Stepping
While the dilemma for many elite hurdlers may be deciding between taking 8 or 7 steps to the first hurdle, the big dilemma for many hurdlers at the high school and youth level, and even among some non-scholarship collegians, the dilemma lies in whether to take three steps or four steps between the hurdles. The hurdlers with this issue are usually smaller and lacking of the raw sprint speed that can compensate for a lack of height. In some cases, they are taller, yet lack the foot speed to truly sprint through the hurdles taking three strides. These hurdlers generally run anywhere from the mid-18’s to low-16’s, and occasionally in the 15’s.
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I’ve recently been emailing back and forth with a parent of such an athlete, who is in that in-between zone, where she “should” be able to three-step but where four-stepping is actually producing faster times. Of course, the ultimate goal is to three step with efficiency and fluidity. Many of these in-betweeners feel like three-stepping the barriers is a “stretch,” that they are “bounding” between the hurdles. To get the four-stepper to three-step without feeling like he or she is stretching and bounding takes time. Let me first explain why, then I’ll explain how to go about the process.
As we all know, hurdling is a rhythm event. So the rhythm of a four-stepper is much different than that of a three-stepper. A four-stepper drops the trail leg coming off each hurdle, whereas the three-stepper wants to cover ground with that first stride off each hurdle. A four-stepper relies on quickness whereas a three-stepper relies more on speed. So of course, a four-stepper who has grown accustomed to relying on his or her quickness, who has grown accustomed to dropping the trail leg after touching down, has to learn a whole new rhythm, and a whole new mentality, when transitioning to three-stepping. To the habitual four-stepper, three-stepping feels very slow, and it feels plain old wrong.
When I first started coaching, I made the mistake of saying “No four-stepping.” In my mind, it was either three-step or try a different event. I had two girls who were both stuck in the 18’s because they were too slow to three-step, so they had to resort to five-stepping, which is god-awful. Then a younger girl came along, and she four-stepped naturally, and she was beating the other two girls. I was like, oops! And the next day I started the two other girls on alternating drills, and the more talented of them was able to get down into the high 16’s by the end of the season.
The thing about four-stepping is that it allows the athlete who isn’t as fast to at least be competitive, and to run with a race rhythm. Five-stepping is a warm-up rhythm, a practice rhythm. Four-stepping, the athlete can gain confidence and begin to develop. Whether or not three-stepping becomes a viable option down the road, the four-stepper can improve within the confines of four-stepping, as his or her technique becomes more efficient.
Ultimately, what you want to happen (if you’re a coach), is for the athlete gets so proficient and fast in four-stepping that he or she naturally grows into three-stepping. Four-stepping no longer allows enough room for the athlete to sprint. This happens sometimes, but more often than, not the coach needs to facilitate the process of the transition into three-stepping, and there is no step-by-step guide for how to do so.
But for those seeking advice on this matter, I would say that it all comes down to take-off distance. All hurdlers have a sweet-spot take-off distance. Usually for boys it’s going to be in the 6-7 feet range, and for girls it’ll usually be in the 5-6 feet range. The key lies in hitting the optimal take-off distance, with the last stride into the hurdle being shorter than the previous stride, so that momentum is going through the hurdle, the same as I discussed in another article in this month’s issue regarding 7-stepping to the first hurdle.
In helping the 4-stepper to transition into 3-stepping, set up three or four hurdles, with all hurdles after the first one discounted by a foot, or maybe two feet. Put tape down where the hurdler should take off in front of each hurdle. From a standing start, or from the starting blocks if the athlete’s start is on point, have the athlete sprint full speed over the hurdles, focusing on being fast and aggressive. Lowering the hurdles might be a good idea for early reps so that speed is not compromised. The key leg is the trail leg. The emphasis has to be on getting a full stride with the trail leg off the hurdle. Doing this will feel scary at first to the four-stepper, so you can’t let him or her back off out of fear.
What you’ll find, over time, as you increase the spacing and the athlete gets more races under his or her belt, is that the athlete will be able to three-step maybe a hurdle or two before it feels too slow. My advice is to allow the athlete to develop naturally. Don’t try to force the three-step if it isn’t there yet. If the hurdle can three-step part of the race, and then switch to a four-step when the three-step feels slow and bound-ish, then that’s fine. I had a girl years back who three-stepped the first five, then four-stepped the last five, and that worked perfectly for her.
In the meantime, a lot of speed work with the sprinters will help the four-stepping athlete to grow out of the reliance on “quickness,” as “quick” is essentially a bad word in sprinter land. Sprint workouts beside sprinters will teach the four-stepper to open up the stride like he or she will need to in order to three-step, thus helping to ingrain a new rhythm.
Sprint workouts for this purpose should be of shorter distances – between 30 and 90 meters. I prefer 50’s and 60’s. Long enough to open up the stride and go full blast, but short enough that fatigue doesn’t become a factor. About six reps with recovery time of 4-5 minutes between reps is ideal to gain the maximum benefit.
To me, coaching a four-stepper with three-stepping potential is one of the trickiest situations that a hurdles coach faces. Three-stepping for just one hurdle too many can lead to a loss of momentum that can never be recovered.
And as a side note, I would argue that hurdlers who can lead with either leg with equal efficiency are actually better hurdlers, in the purest sense, than hurdlers who lead with the same leg the whole way.
Keep in mind too that evaluating the athlete’s sprint mechanics – and implementing drills to improve sprint mechanics – is an essential element in this process as well. Poor sprint mechanics leads to poor hurdling mechanics. A four-stepper with poor sprint mechanics may never progress to three-stepping. Flaws such as back-kick, low knee lift, and poor sprinting posture will make covering the extra ground too difficult.
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