The Second Step
In the constant search for ways to improve time in the 100/110m hurdles, it becomes important to look at aspects of the race that are easy to take for granted. One of these aspects would be the specific role that each step between the hurdles plays, and figuring out how to gain maximum benefit from each of those strides. This article will focus on the second of the three strides between hurdles, while also looking at the first and third strides, but in relation to the second stride. This article will be geared toward the consistent three-stepper, with some consideration for the slower or less experienced athlete who struggles to maintain his or her three-step for an entire race.
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First, let’s take a look at the three strides between the hurdles, and the function of each. The first stride, which is the trail leg coming down off the previous hurdle, is going to be a short but explosive stride for the elite athlete – short in order to make room for the next two strides, explosive in order to create speed off the hurdle. So you don’t want to just “drop” the trail leg, because a lack of power will equal a lack of speed. Yet neither do you want full extension on the stride, because you’ll be certain to run out of room to negotiate the next barrier. For the non-elite athlete, it is okay to cover more ground with this stride, but you still want the stride to be more explosive.
The second stride will be the longest of the three strides between. Of the three strides, it is the only one, for the elite athlete, that can be considered even remotely to be a “sprint” stride. But even that is relative. It is nothing like an actual sprinter’s sprint strides. For the non-elite athlete, the second stride is the stride where some tend to over-extend, or reach, to ensure that they are able to keep the three-step rhythm going. For such athletes, it is important to trust your speed and to sprint this stride the same as a sprinter would, with high hand action and high knee action.
The third stride, for the elite athlete, isn’t really much of a stride at all. More so, it is a preparation for take-off, for flight into the next barrier. This is the shortest of the three strides, and the hurdling action begins while taking this stride. For the non-elite three-stepper, this stride is also the shortest of the three, and it serves the same purpose as it does for the elite athlete.
So, in looking at the three strides between the hurdles, it is looking like the second stride provides the greatest opportunity for covering ground and either pulling away from opponents or catching up to opponents on the ground.
In looking at elite female hurdlers like Olympic champion Brianna Rollins and world record holder Kendra Harrison, both of them have very effective second strides. In Rollins’ case, it is the arguably the greatest key to her success overall, as her tilt to her lead leg side during hurdle clearance causes her first stride to be a recovery stride in which she regains the forward momentum and forward alignment of her hips. For Harrison, who maintains forward alignment of her hips during hurdle clearance, her first step off the hurdle is therefore more explosive, giving her an advantage coming off each hurdle. In Rollins’ case, the second stride is where she is both very explosive and covers the most ground. The same is actually true for Harrison. If anything, she might want to shorten her second stride a little bit. But being 5’4” allows her more room to sprint than most female hurdlers have. The same can be said for Rollins, who is about the same height. Many of the women who are 5’6” or taller have to really hold back with that second stride in comparison to these smaller girls.
Typically, hurdlers with lazy trail legs really rely heavily on the second stride to give them a major boost. Back in the 1980’s, when Roger Kingdom and Greg Foster were competing in some epic battles, Kingdom would often chase down Foster from behind, and the key to doing so was not in the hurdling action, but in the running action on the ground. And with Kingdom’s trail leg often being wide and low, his second stride was often the one where he made up ground. Among elite males, who really can’t sprint at all between the hurdles, it could be argued that a shorter first stride is best, as it creates room for a longer second stride, which is the stride that provides the most potential for creating speed on the ground. The high hurdles are an event in which speed is most likely going to be generated in the push into each hurdle and in maintaining forward angles on top of the hurdle. If you go to professional meets or big-time college meets and watch the 110 hurdlers warm up, you’ll see a lot of them doing a funky thing in their drills in which the trail leg lands at virtually the same time as the lead leg. The reason for that is to teach themselves to minimize the length of that first stride while keeping it explosive, setting up space for a longer second stride.
When hurdlers talk about flirting with the danger zone, of trying to getting as close as possible to each hurdle without getting too close, the second stride is the one where there is the most potential for experimentation. The advantage of a long stride is that it enables you to make up ground on the ground. The danger is that it takes away space for the third stride, which can lead to bad technique or even a crash. At the elite level, it becomes important to know the optimal length of each stride, based on optimal take-off distance. But that’s something that is always a work in progress, even for the most systematic, scientifically-oriented hurdlers. For example, the optimal take-off distance at hurdle one may not be the same optimal take-off distance at hurdle five, when you’re at the peak of speed that you’ll reach in the race.
My observation, both as a coach and as a fan, would be that the best hurdlers, both male and female, do create some distance between themselves and their opponents on the second stride between hurdles. As it is the only stride in which you’re neither preparing to take off into a hurdle nor coming off of a hurdle, so you want to take advantage of it. It’s a tough stride for taller hurdlers, both male and female, because it kind of makes their height advantage more of a disadvantage.
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