The Seven-Step Revolution
Back in 2011 I wrote an article entitled, “Seven Steps to the First Hurdle: Fad or Trend?” In that article I was addressing the question of whether or not 2008 Olympic champion Dayron Robles’ seven-step approach would catch on, as it seemingly gave him an advantage over his competitors, who were all taking eight steps. Robles was not the first hurdler to take seven steps, but his extreme level of success – a gold medal and world record – led me to ponder whether or not anyone would be able to compete with Robles without joining him in the seven-step approach. All else being equal, taking off that one step seemed to make a difference.
Not many people at the time thought that the seven-step approach would in fact catch on. After all, since the inception of the event way back in the late 1800’s, 99.99% of all hurdlers had taken eight steps to the first hurdle. There was no reason to doubt its effectiveness, or to try something new. But if there’s one thing I know about human nature, it’s that we like to imitate, not innovate. When we see someone else try a new approach and it works, we want to try it for ourselves. The innovator is often ridiculed at first, but then everybody hurries to hop on the bus. Fast forward to 2014, and it looks like a whole lot of people have hopped on the seven-step bus.
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At the 2013 World Championships, seven of the eight finalists in the men’s 110 hurdles took seven steps to the first hurdle, including gold and silver medalists David Oliver and Ryan Wilson. Back in the 2008 Olympic final, Robles was the only seven-stepper. So at the elite male level, it’s fairly obvious that seven-stepping has become a trend – one initially inspired by Robles’s success, and continually inspired by the success of those who have followed behind Robles. Since 2008, many elite hurdlers have switched from eight steps to seven steps, even though they’d been having significant success eight-stepping. Jason Richardson, Aries Merritt, Oliver, Liu Xiang, and Wilson are among the bigger names who have switched. But there are plenty of others.
I would go so far as to say that most, elite male hurdlers are seven-stepping. Now, it’s more surprising to see an eight-stepper in a major championship final. Whether or not the switch to seven is a key reason for Merritt’s 12.80 in 2012 or Oliver’s 12.89 in 2010 (to cite a couple examples) is debatable. Both had, and have had, injury issues before and after switching from eight to seven. Liu ran 12.88 eight-stepping, and hasn’t run as fast since switching to seven, but that can also be attributed to injury. So even though it’s virtually impossible to quantify how much of a difference the switch from eight to seven makes, a competitor is a competitor. Nobody wants to grant an edge to an opponent before even stepping into the blocks. Hence the trend.
And yes, the trend has trickled down. It has spread to the women’s race, to the collegiate level, and to the high school level. Lolo Jones started seven-stepping last year, and I feel pretty confident in assuming that other elite women will soon follow suit. Don’t be surprised if seven-stepping ultimately becomes even more prevalent among the females than the males. The males have a 42-inch barrier to clear; the women have only a 33-inch barrier to clear. So that means more shorter females can legitimately consider seven-stepping than shorter males. I would all but totally rule out the idea of a 5’11” male seven-stepping, for example, but I wouldn’t be so quick to rule out the idea of a 5’4” female seven-stepping.
The seven-step has definitely made its mark on the collegiate ranks. 2012 NCAA champ Andrew Riley and 2013 NCAA runner-up Spencer Adams are both seven-steppers. And there are plenty more out there. And as I attend indoor high school meets this year, I’m always seeing a sprinkling of seven-steppers in the mix. Some look awesome and some look awful, but they’re doing it.
My feeling about this trend – or perhaps we should call it a revolution at this point – are mixed. The initial skepticism of many old-school hurdlers and old-school hurdle coaches bothered me. It’s kind of like, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it. So I’m glad to see that more and more people are learning about it, experimenting with it, trying to figure out its benefits and potential pitfalls. I’ve always preached that if you don’t take risks you don’t grow, that fear of failure causes stagnation.
On the other hand, I fear that the pendulum may be swinging too far in the other direction. Now it seems like everybody and their grandmother is seven-stepping, and a lot of hurdlers making the transition don’t really know what they’re doing. It’s like seven-stepping is looked upon as some sort of magic elixir. Some hurdlers and coaches think that seven-stepping automatically means a drop in time, no matter how forced the seven-step is.
But not all seven-step approaches are equal, just like not all eight-step approaches are equal. As Dominique Arnold noted when I asked him about this toping for the December 2013 profile on him, it’s not what you do that matters, but how well you apply what you do.
As a high school coach, I’ve only had one athlete seven-step, and that was a kid who was 6’2” as a ninth grader. He had no choice but to seven-step because he couldn’t fit in eight strides to the first hurdle. I’m in no rush to test out the seven-step approach with every hurdler I coach. If I were coaching at the Division I collegiate level, I might feel a greater sense of urgency because there would be a greater risk of putting my athletes at a disadvantage by not having them seven-step.
When the likes of Oliver began seven-stepping, not hardly any research had been done on the topic, the biomechanics of it were a mystery, so trial and error was the only method by which to develop mastery. Now, a mere five years later, all you have to do is go on YouTube and you can study dozens of hurdlers’ seven-step approach. Studies are also being done by biomechanical experts. All of this speeds up the learning curve. More and more coaches are getting on board; more and more of them are gaining an ever-increasing understanding of its practicality. So there is no doubt that there will be more and more seven-steppers at all levels as the years go on, if for no other reason that more coaches will be open to considering it as an option.
My opinion is, no mater how much research is done, no matter how much data is gathered, trial and error will forever remain the primary method to master the seven-step approach. Just as with the traditional eight-step approach, the more you do it, and the more you make mistakes, and the more you learn from your mistakes, the better you get at it. As Oliver said at a coaches’ clinic I attended last week, you have to experiment, keep making adjustments – to the block setting, to the angles, to the strides themselves. Research can make practice more efficient, but it can’t replace practice.
I expect that in the next generation, more hurdlers will be seven-stepping from a younger age, when they first begin hurdling, as Antwon Hicks (profile subject of the November 2013 issue) did. So, with less hurdlers switching, from eight to seven, the overall quality of the seven-stepping should improve, just because it’ll feel natural for more of them.
With that being said, I don’t think the eight-stepper will ever be totally phased out of the event. I don’t think there will ever be a time when the 5’10”-6’0” male hurdler should seven-step. And with the hurdles being spaced ten yards apart, with the stride pattern for the rest of the race being so strictly regimented, the smaller eight-stepping hurdler will remain competitive, even at the elite level.
But with that being said, I do feel that a masterful seven-stepper has an advantage over a masterful eight-stepper. If nothing else, it negates the eight-stepper’s quickness advantage out of the blocks. That’s why, ultimately, seven-stepping is ideal for taller hurdlers. It allows them to push off the pedals and attack the first hurdle without fear of running up on it.
My advice to hurdle coaches is to experiment with seven-stepping on an athlete-by-athlete basis. If you have a taller athlete who gets crowded at hurdle one, suggest seven-stepping as an option. Study, learn, and grow along with your athlete. Don’t turn away athletes who are eager to try it (even smaller ones!), but don’t force it upon athletes who are not ready for it.
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