Balance is Power
by Steve McGill
In a recent training session with one of my athletes, I was explaining to him the importance of removing effort-ful power moves from his technique. No need to kick the lead leg out forcefully, no need to “snap” the lead leg down, nor to “attack” the track with the trail leg coming through. These things will “happen” if you put your body in the right positions; that way, you don’t have to do them consciously; instead, you can focus simply on running. In this article, I will identify the key causes of a loss of balance in hurdle races, and how correcting these flaws can lead to more speed and power over the hurdles and between the hurdles.
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Common issues that affect balance:
1) Lateral movement into hurdle one
A lot of hurdlers set themselves up for a loss of balance from the very first step out of the starting blocks. If that step is wide, the next step will be wide on the other side of the lane to compensate, and the lateral movement can continue all the way through hurdle one, causing a side-to-side swinging of the arms and a twisting of the hips and shoulders during hurdle clearance.
Often, we assume that balance issues must be corrected by addressing flaws in hurdling technique. But the truth is that balance issues are evident before the athlete ever even gets to the hurdle. In some cases, the balance issue begin at step one. So the coach’s role is to make sure the athlete is moving in a straight line out of the blocks. For those athletes who are habitual in stepping out with a lot of lateral movement, you might need to put down strips of tape parallel to the lane lines but inside the lane lines, thereby narrowing the lane. The aim would be for the athlete to keep his or her strides within these narrower lane lines.
2) Tilting to the lead leg side of the body instead of leaning forward
A lot of hurdlers will tilt their weight over the lead leg during take-off into the hurdle. This tilt will occur before the back leg even leaves the ground. Now understand: Tilting over the lead leg and leaning forward both enable the lead leg to get back on the ground faster, and they both give the trail leg room to clear the hurdle without making contact with it.
The difference between tilting vs. leaning forward (and the reason that leaning forward is preferable) is that tilting flattens out the trail leg, causing it to take a wider path to the front. As a result, the knee of the trail leg will not come through high and tight, and it will not be facing the front when the foot of the lead leg lands. Therefore, the first step off the hurdle will be a “plop” or a “drop” while the hips will be realigning themselves while the athlete is taking that stride.
On the other hand, when the athletes leans forward instead of tilting, the trail leg will have the room it needs to come through high and tight, the knee will be facing the front when the lead leg lands, the hips will stay square, and the first stride off the hurdle will be fast and powerful just for the simple reason that the athlete is on balance.
In the above video from Team Steve Speed & Hurdle Camp 4, I explain the importance of leaning forward into each hurdle.
3) The trail arm gets away from the body
Ideally, the hand of the trail arm rests on the back pocket during hurdle clearance, with the elbow of the arm bent. When the trail arm swings outward away from the body, that causes twists in the hips and shoulders, increasing air time, decreasing speed. Be aware, however, that wide arms (lead arm and trail arm) are sometimes a consequence of a different problem, as the arms will instinctively do what they can to compensate for imbalances. Yet there are other times when the arms are the source of the problem. And the only way you can tell which is which is through experimentation in practice.
4) The lead leg foot extends before the knee is higher than the crossbar
This is a big one – a very common one, and a very basic one. Lead with the knee. That phrase is well-known, but not commonly practiced. “Lead with the knee” doesn’t just mean avoid swinging the lead leg from the hip. It means drive the knee upward and forward during take-off, with the heel behind the knee, until the knee is higher than the crossbar. If you extend the foot before the knee is higher than the crossbar, then the foot will have to kick up in order to avoid contact with the crossbar. The kicking-up action will cause a myriad of balance issues – the torso will rock back, the hips and shoulders will twist, the arms will either parachute or swing side to side, and the trail leg will hang low after it pushes off the track.
5) The knee of the lead leg locks
The knee of the lead leg should always stay slightly bent throughout hurdle clearance. If the knee locks at any time during hurdle clearance, that creates a pause in the hurdling action, and again, the trail leg therefore hangs low. When that trail leg is hanging the shoulders and hips twist, and the athlete lands off balance.
6) Weak foundation in the basics
When I use the word “basics,” I’m talking about things that you have to be doing right before you ever even give thought to clearing the hurdle. These include running on the balls of the feet with the ankles dorsi-flexed, making sure that last step into each hurdle stays on the ball of the foot, pushing the torso forward instead of running too erect. If you run with your toes pointing down and your ankles plantar-flexed, you are going to have balance issues. If you run too erect, you are going to have balance issues. If you land flat-footed on the last step into the hurdle, you are going to have balance issues.
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To conclude, I would reiterate the point I made in the beginning of this article: power is not something that needs to be forced. Instead, it is the result of maintaining a balanced approach to each hurdle and between each hurdle. When you stay balanced, you get faster, you get more powerful without trying to be. It’s like running down a hill.
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