Technique and Stride Pattern Development in the 400m Hurdles
by Steve McGill
The following passages are from the 400m hurdle section of the book I’ve written entitled The Art of Hurdling. Since Savannah Cress wrote another article for this issue of The Hurdle Magazine comparing sports to the arts, I felt that including an excerpt from my book would serve as a good companion piece. The book is not out yet, by the way, I plan on having it available as an Ebook within the next month or so. In the sections below, I discuss the role that technique plays in contributing to a long hurdler’s success, and to how to develop a consistent stride pattern in the long hurdles. So, enjoy your sneak preview!
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Developing Technique
The importance of efficient hurdling technique in the long hurdles is a somewhat debatable subject, as technical flaws in this event don’t necessarily amount to a death sentence for your race like they often do in the sprint hurdles. Even some of the best 400m hurdlers are often high over the hurdles, their arms might be wide, their lead leg might kick out–flaws that we would absolutely would want to fix in the shorter race. If you were to ask the question, Which is more important in the 400 hurdles—400 meter speed or hurdling technique?, the answer you’d get from most people would be 400 meter speed, and I’m not sure that I disagree, hurdling purist that I am. Especially when you factor in the 40m run-in off the last hurdle. No matter how good your technique is, 40 meters is enough to go from first to last if your quarter-mile finishing speed isn’t on par with that of your opponents. Two-time world champion and one-time Olympic champion Kerron Clement is the first name that comes to my mind when I think of a 400 hurdler whose technique was suspect and stride pattern was inconsistent, yet his blazing 400 meter sprint time (44.57 indoors, 44.48 outdoors) made him a legitimate threat at every major competition in which he took part.
My contention would be, however, that no matter how fast you can run the 400m hurdle race with noticeable technical flaws, you will be able to run even faster if those flaws are corrected. The reason is simple: efficient technique decreases wasted effort, and decreased wasted effort increases late-race strength. And in the 400 hurdles, whatever you need to do to increase late-race strength, you should do it.
In developing technique, long hurdlers should do the same drills that sprint hurdlers do, as the same basic rules apply. Technique is learned by doing drills for the 100/110m hurdles, and then it can be adapted to the longer race. Whether we’re talking about sprint hurdlers or long hurdlers, we want to reduce air time over the barriers as much as possible. We want to be on the balls of the feet with the ankles dorsi-flexed. We want to lead with the knee of the lead leg and bring the trail leg to the front high and tight. We want our hands moving in an up-and-down motion with minimal lateral movement. So, even the long hurdler who doesn’t compete in the sprint hurdles should do the sprint hurdler’s drills (fence drill, side walk-overs, marching popovers, cycle drill, quicksteps) in order to learn and ingrain proper technique. And if it’s a sure thing that the athlete will want to alternate in races, then all the sprint-hurdle drills should be done with both legs.
The Take-off and the Landing
My thinking here does not align with that of a lot of coaches, but it is consistent with everything I’ve explained in regards to fluidity, ease of motion, and minimal wasted effort thus far in this book. Most coaches would argue that you want more of a flow over the hurdles in the 400m hurdles, taking off farther away than in the 100/110h and landing farther out. I understand the logic behind this line of thinking, and don’t disagree with it in principle. The long hurdles are all about maintaining an open stride, covering ground, not about getting back on the ground and being quick in between.
My thing is, as I’ve suggested before, is that we want to spend as little time in the air as possible. So, even though we won’t be looking to have a major cut step like we want to have in the sprint hurdles, we do want the last step into the hurdle to be shorter than the previous stride, so that our momentum takes us forward, toward the next hurdle. Too much time over the hurdle means we’ll lose momentum in the air, and be forced to fight to regain momentum.
As it relates to stride pattern decisions, a close-enough take-off distance that allows for a push through the hurdle and the feeling of accelerating off the hurdle is the most significant factor in determining when to switch stride patterns during a race. Taking the same amount of strides between all hurdles for the whole race is quite impressive, but I’m not convinced that that’s always the best strategy. If you look at Muhammad, for example, if she had tried to stay with the 15-step pattern through hurdles nine and ten in her two world record races, would she have had the momentum off those last hurdles needed to sprint off the last hurdle and through the finish line like she did? I would argue that she wouldn’t have. The 15-step would’ve been a reach; she would’ve taken off too far away, and she would’ve landed with no forward momentum. Taking 16 strides allowed her to maintain the same take-off distance and to therefore maintain the same momentum through the last two hurdles. Similarly, Warholm, who has 13-stepped the whole way in some races, ran his 46.92 in Zurich when he 15-stepped the last two hurdles, as I mentioned before. And although his ninth hurdle was a choppy fifteen, his tenth hurdle was in perfect rhythm. In other races, when he has 13-stepped the whole way, he has looked to be really over-extending his stride between hurdles 8 and 9, and then again between 9 and 10. Always, a hurdlers wants to push forward through the hurdle, not just get over the hurdle. So, that thought must be kept in mind when considering take-off distance and stride pattern.
Stride Pattern Development
This process is actually pretty simple. Set up the first hurdle, go at it. Set up the first two, go at them. Set up the first three, go at them. Work your way up to the first five, and you’ve got the first half of the race on lock.
To be more specific, the first thing you want to do is practice the start, out of starting blocks, from the line to the first hurdle. In some cases, the athlete will be best served to take an even number of steps, whereas in other cases an odd number will be best. If an even number works best, then the blocks can be in the same position as in the 100/110 hurdles. If an odd number works best, then the pedals will need to be switched, with the lead leg in the front and the trail leg in the back. Determining the number of strides to the first hurdle in determining the number of strides that the athlete will settle into for at least the first half of the race. For example, an athlete taking 24 strides to the first hurdle will most likely take 17 strides to hurdle two, and beyond. An athlete taking 20 strides to the first hurdle will most likely take 13 strides to hurdle two. An athlete taking 22 or 23 strides to the first hurdle will most likely take 15 strides to hurdle two. So, if you don’t know how many strides you’re taking to hurdle one, then you’re pretty much guessing and hoping for the best the rest of the race. And in a race that makes you pay for your mistakes the way this race does, that’s not going to work.
Once we’ve done enough reps so that we have figured out the best amount of strides to take to hurdle one, we can add a second hurdle and figure out how many strides to take to hurdle two. In this process, by the way, I don’t ask the athlete to count strides. I instruct them to simply run as fast as they can while I do the counting. After a while—a short while, usually—the athlete can “feel” how many strides they’re taking just by the rhythm of the strides. I have had athletes who prefer to count the strides themselves, although that more the exception than the rule. For most athletes, counting while sprinting full speed is a bit too much of a distraction.
Once we’ve got the first two hurdles down, we’ll keep adding a hurdle until we get to five, which gets us through the first half of the race. In some cases, graduating from one hurdle up to five hurdles can take a few sessions, while in other cases it can take a few months, depending on the athlete’s conditioning level and speed. We want to get to where there is no drop off in the amount of strides taken between the hurdles at all. If the athlete has to from, say, 15 strides to 17 strides at hurdle four, we’re not ready to move on to five hurdles yet. We need to maintain that 15 through four hurdles first.
Adding more strides before hurdle five means we’ll probably need to add more strides again at some point in the race. So, if we end up going from 15 to 17 to 19 by the end of the race, that’s too many strides and now we’re putting ourselves in a position where we’re not going to be as competitive.
To me, it’s very important to get those first five hurdles on lock before adding more hurdles or doing more creative types of workouts. If we can run a mistake-free, rhythmic, fluid race for the first half, we greatly reduce our chances of late-race breakdowns caused by fatigue. The 400m hurdles is all about conservation of energy. Waste energy early, and you’ll pay the price later. Stutter at hurdle three, and you’ll be laboring between hurdles nine and ten.
Keep in mind that for many hurdlers, this stride pattern development can remain a fluid thing throughout the outdoor season. Professionals and some collegians have their stride pattern on lock because they’ve run so many races that they know what works best for them. But athletes who haven’t run the races as often may be making adjustments and changes from meet to meet for a large chunk of the outdoor season. For example, the 23 strides to hurdle one that felt perfect in March might feel too crowded by early May. The 15 strides that felt perfect may feel too bunched later in the season, but 13 feels like a reach, so we may need to alternate early and take 14. These kinds of stride pattern issues come up often, especially for younger hurdlers who are still finding their identity in the event. I say that some experimenting is necessary in the early to middle parts of the outdoor season, that locking into a stride pattern while the weather is still cold and the athlete’s speed is not at its peak is not advisable. But by championship season you want to have decided on a definite stride pattern so that the athlete doesn’t have that on the mind as a distraction. Even professionals like Warholm May vary from meet to meet a little bit. In some races he has take 13 all the way, whereas in that Zurich meet, for example, he took 15 over the last two. But he made no changes in the first half of the race.
Ultimately, a 400m hurdler doesn’t want to be thinking about stride pattern, but about racing. But getting to the optimal stride pattern requires a good amount of thinking and planning so that the non-thinking mindset can be reached.
In practice, I’ll never set up more than eight hurdles for the 400m hurdler to clear in a workout, and that will be in the form of a one-rep time trial over 300 meters. I don’t believe in running your race in practice. When I explain workouts I use later in this section, I’ll show how I prepare athletes for the 400 meter distance. Also, I believe that races themselves will help me to determine which stride-pattern strategy will be the one we’ll want to aim for come championship season. Mistakes in early-season races are useful in helping me make decisions, so that we have a set strategy that we trust for the big late-season meets.
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