Stuttering in the 400m Hurdles: What It Is & How to Avoid It
by Melinda Burris

Stuttering, also known as stutter-stepping, refers to when a hurdler slows their stride as they approach a hurdle. This is often wrongfully attributed to fear of stepping over the hurdle. In reality, stuttering occurs when hurdlers lack confidence in their stride pattern.

This article discusses why stuttering must be overcome so hurdlers can maintain their momentum and run their races in good time. The importance of training for these situations so hurdlers have good strategies in place to enable them to make good decisions in the heat of competition will also be examined.

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According to Coach Darren Wensor who specializes in training young athletes, many novice hurdlers tend to slow down as they approach the first hurdle, and the delay causes them to stutter-step. He attributes this to a fear of stepping over the hurdle “wrong-footed.”¹ Wensor and Coach Steve McGill agree that teaching hurdlers to switch their lead leg is fundamental to helping them overcome stuttering.

How to Avoid Stuttering

McGill explains why developing the capacity to lead with the other leg is so vital: “This skill expands your options regarding stride patterns. While a handful of long hurdlers can take the same number of strides between the hurdles all the way around the track, most can’t. Most will need to change down at some point after the fifth hurdle. Some people think that it’s best to take as few strides as possible, but that’s only true to an extent. The key is to take off from a distance that allows you to PUSH through the hurdle in such a way that you not only don’t lose momentum, but you gain momentum.” ²

Wensor observes it is common for young athletes to heavily favor one leg or the other when hurdling and this continued use of a “preferred lead leg” is a primary cause of inexperienced hurdlers falling into a habit of stuttering. Coach Wensor recommends taking immediate action to correct this by using low hurdle drills with the athlete taking turns practicing leading with each leg to correct the habit of always leading with the preferred leg.¹

Train to Recover!

Coach McGill is also a firm believer in incorporating strategies for dealing with technical mistakes into practices on a regular basis so that they become part of the muscle memory of hurdlers he trains. He explains he repeatedly shouts, “Recover” when athletes make mistakes during training session reps because “I want my hurdlers to hear me say [that word] so often that they start saying it to themselves.” McGill explains this approach isn’t geared toward “providing positive reinforcement.”³ The goal is to give competitors “a useful, functional, straightforward instruction that can instantly be recalled during the heat of the battle in the midst of a race”³ so that when errors occur that cause a loss of balance or valuable seconds to come off the time clock, instead of falling into the self-defeating trap of thinking, “What now?” or “I’m lost!” the athlete instinctively thinks to themself: I must recover. Then, they quickly switch into recovery mode by analyzing the situation and deciding on their best option for success and making the necessary “split-second adjustments”³ that are the difference between continuing forward and finding a way over that next hurdle and recovering their rhythm or surrendering to defeat.

Frustration Comes with the Territory

McGill notes that it’s not uncommon for student-athletes who show an early interest in hurdles to find the frustration that comes with the challenging sport to be too much. The fact is miscues and ugly situations are a part of the sport every hurdler must contend with. However, McGill is quick to point out that just because these challenges can’t always be avoided does not mean they can not and should not be planned for.

Coach McGill recommends using practice sessions to develop efficiency at different stepping rhythms. For example, a hurdler who’s normally a fifteen-stepper can work to develop the ability to transition to a fourteen-step so if the athlete’s rhythm gets off during competition and he or she finds themselves in a position where they must take the next hurdle in less time, they can recover and fall back on the ability to successfully clear the hurdle by using a skill they have trained and prepared their body to use should such a need arise.³

Elite Hurdlers Struggle with Stuttering Too!

Australian Jana Pittman was a sensation in the sport of hurdling in the early 2000s. She won many prestigious events in her rookie European season, including the 400-meter races at the 2002 Golden League in Paris and the Commonwealth Games in the UK.

Yet, when speaking of what others would describe by any measure as a phenomenal success for her, Jana herself recalled it quite differently: “My hurdling technique was poor…I kept doing stutters or [using] the wrong leg. Not bad for an amateur athlete but for the level I want[ed] to go, not good enough.”⁴ Pittman committed to a new coach, Phil King, and rigorous training at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra where they worked to perfect her stride length and rhythm.

Her efforts paid off and she was able to correct her stuttering. Pittman achieved much in her athletic career, competing in three Olympic games and winning two world championship titles. And in 2003, she beat out all her competitors and was acknowledged as the fastest 400-meter hurdler in the world.⁵ All of which goes to show that while stuttering can be daunting no matter what level you compete at, it can be overcome; and you can go on to have a successful and rewarding hurdling career.

So, if you struggle with stuttering, remember to persevere and recover!

References:

1. Wensor, D. (28 August 2016). 10 of the Biggest Mistakes Young Athletes Make in the Hurdles.
2. McGill, S. (22 June 2022). Email to author.
3. McGill, S. (2008). Keep Running.
4. The Sydney Morning Herald. (1 February 2003). Smoothing Out Those Stuttering Starts.
5. Chenery, S. & Cheshire, B. (1 November 2021). ‘Drama Jana’ No More: How Australia’s One-time Golden Girl Jana Pittman Continues to Surprise.

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