Technique Development Workout

by Steve McGill

A lot of off-season hurdle workouts are designed to help improve hurdle rhythm and hurdle endurance, while a lot of in-season workouts are designed to prepare the athletes for races. But there aren’t many workouts that are designed specifically to address technical issues, which is why a lot of bad habits get ingrained without being corrected. We tend to associate technique development with drills, which is appropriate. So, to address technique specifically, I think the method is pretty simple: turn the drills into a full-blown workout instead of using them as just part of the warm-up or cool-down.

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Two of my favorite drills for technical development are the cycle drill and the quickstep drill. So I’ve combined them into one workout, with different approaches to hurdle one. Here’s the breakdown:

• Two-step approach to hurdle one, three steps between the rest (cycle drill).
• Four-step approach to hurdle one, three steps between the rest (cycle drill).
• Six-step approach to hurdle one, three steps between the rest (quickstep drill).

With the two-step approach, The athlete won’t have much speed to first hurdle. Two big strides and then clear the barrier. The pace between the hurdles will quicken as s/he goes, and negotiating the space between the hurdles will be more of a challenge as s/he goes.

With the four-step approach, the athlete will take two big strides followed by two quick strides into hurdle one. There’ll be more speed to hurdle one than with the two-step approach, so the spacing between the hurdles increases. (see below for details on spacing).

With the six-step approach, the athlete will take three big strides followed by three quick strides, so the spacing between the hurdles will increase even more.

The faster the approach to hurdle one, the greater the possibility that old mistakes that seemed to have been “fixed” will reappear. So the athlete will continually feel challenged at each new level after achieving mastery at the previous level.

Hurdle Heights:
Hurdles should be one click below race height, or even two clicks for hurdlers who have significant technical flaws to fix. For girls who need to go two clicks below race height, it’ll be necessary to break out the fold-up practice hurdles, which can be set at 27 inches or 24 inches. Start “low and slow” (low hurdle height, slow pace).

Number of Reps:
Number of reps can vary; there is no set number that is the “right” number or “target goal” number for this workout. I like to do three “good” reps in a row before presenting a new challenge. The new challenge might not necessarily be moving from the two-step approach to the four-step approach, or from the four-step approach to the six-step approach. In some cases, the new challenge might be keeping the spacing and height the same, but adding an extra hurdle. In some cases, I might keep the height of the hurdles the same, but increase the spacing by a foot. In some cases, I might raise the height from two clicks below race height to one click below race height. I, as the coach, know what I am looking for, so it is my job to keep challenging the athlete as I see fit.

Spacing:
I don’t really have set-in-stone spacing for these drills, but here are some standards to serve as a starting point:

• Standard spacing for two-step approach (girls): 12 feet to the first hurdle, 16 feet between all the rest.
• Standard spacing for four-step approach (girls): 24 feet to first hurdle, 18 feet between all the rest.
• Standard spacing for six-step approach (girls): 30 feet to first hurdle, 21 feet between all the rest.
• Standard spacing for two-step approach (boys): 12 feet to first hurdle, 19 feet between all the rest.
• Standard spacing for four-step approach (boys): 24 feet to first hurdle, 21 feet between all the rest.
• Standard spacing for six-step approach (boys): 33 feet to first hurdle, 24 feet between all the rest.

Of course, feel free to adapt the spacing by a foot or so either way if the athlete is struggling too much.

Number of Hurdles:
I will generally do these drills over five hurdles. That’s my standard number, but I might add more hurdles during the outdoor season. Sometimes I’ll have the athlete do a rep or two just over the first hurdle just to get a feel for the timing, and also maybe have him or her do a few reps over the first two hurdles to get the athlete acclimated to the rhythm of the drill.

Miscellaneous:
Depending on the athlete’s progress, I might stick with the two-step approach for an entire workout, or, at the other end of the spectrum, I may spend the bulk of the reps at the quickstep spacing. The athlete’s progress determines what we get done on that particular day, not any pre-determined expectations of mine. Also, you always want to make sure to end the workout on a good rep so that the athlete leaves feeling confident and so you can have a good segue into the next time you do the workout.

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