Teaching Lead Leg Mechanics to Beginners

In last month’s issue of The Hurdle Magazine I wrote an article about teaching trail leg mechanics to beginners, so it only seemed appropriate to write a similar article about lead leg mechanics. While it may seem backward to discuss trail leg first, the reason I did so is because the most dangerous technical error – pointing the toe down of the trail leg and bringing the trail leg directly under the butt – is the one that must initially be addressed before anything else can be addressed. The face-first fall is the worst fall of all.

But regarding lead leg, the most common error I see among beginners (and some experienced and even advanced hurdlers) is that of swinging the leg from the hip instead of leading with the knee.

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This habit is what causes issues with balance during hurdle clearance, which consequently causes balance issues, rhythm issues, and speed issues between the hurdles.

A straight-leg lead leg impedes forward lean, forcing the hurdler to clear the hurdle with higher clearance than would be preferable. It also causes the hips to rise, twist, or both, giving the athlete less control over his or her own race, compromising his or her forward momentum.

Therefore, beginners should be taught in the initial stages of their development to lead with the knee of the lead leg, to use the knee as their steering wheel so that they attack each hurdle aggressively, with their hips pushing forward.

In the videos below, I demonstrate the lead leg fence drill – a common drill designed to teach effective lead leg mechanics. I break it down into three parts. The upward drive of the knee, the forward extension of the foot, and the cycle back to the ground.

Let’s look at the first part:

In this video, I am demonstrating the first part of the lead leg action, which consists of driving the knee of the lead leg up while making sure the heel rises with it so that the heel is high and tight under the hamstring. What I’m also emphasizing here is the importance of driving the knee up to a level where it is higher than the crossbar. That’s very important, because if the knee remains below the crossbar before the foot extends, the foot will extend up instead of down, creating more air time, wide arms, etc. The phrase I use with my hurdlers is “make the hurdle small.” A high lead leg knee makes the hurdle small, so that you can properly cycle the leg over the hurdle.

Now let’s look at the second part:

Here, I am doing the first two parts of the three-part lead leg action. I am driving my knee up, then extending the foot and attacking the barrier. When moving full speed, both 1 and 2 will occur before the lead leg foot reaches the hurdle. That’s why it often looks like many hurdlers are swinging from the hip when in fact they are not. Straight-leg leads are exposed by their tendency to hit hurdles with the foot of the lead leg. The straight leg takes away the space needed to get clear the obstacle cleanly. When extending the lead leg and attacking the bar, the knee should stay slightly bent. You don’t want to lead with the knee and then ruin it by kicking the lead into a straight, locked position on top of the hurdle. A slightly bent knee allows the leg to cycle back down. A locked knee inhibits the cycling action, creating a pause in the hurdling motion, causing the hurdler to sail and float and twist and all that other good stuff.

Now let’s look at the third part:

Here, I am doing the complete 1-2-3 of the lead leg action: drive the knee up so that it’s higher than the crossbar, extend the foot and attack the crossbar, cycle the foot back to the ground (landing on the ball of the foot with the foot under the hip). Here, the hurdle is there as a guide; I don’t want to actually drive my foot into the crossbar like I did in the second part. Instead, I skim or slightly miss the crossbar so that I can cycle the foot back to the ground without pausing. Were I to actually drive my foot into the crossbar like in the second part, there would be a pause before the foot cycled back down, which doesn’t mimic what I want to do when I actually hurdle at full speed.

The hurdle that I used in my demonstrations is 42 inches. You’ll want to use a hurdle that’s the height you will clear in a race. For the purposes of the drill, using a higher hurdle can’t hurt, but using a lower hurdle can, as it can deceive you into believing that you have driven the knee high enough when you really haven’t.

To do the fence drill as a muscle strengthener in addition to a teaching tool, do it while wearing ankle weights. (2 ½ – 5 lbs. should suffice). Do three sets of ten of part 1, three sets of ten of part 2, then three sets of ten part 3. After a short rest (2-3 minutes), do two more cycles of that routine. It strengthens the hip flexor, groin, lower back, lower abs, and hamstring on the lead leg side, and it teaches the body effective mechanics without putting pounding on the shins. If you do this in conjunction with the 3-part trail leg fence drill as demonstrated in the April instructional video, you’ll be strong on both sides, and have muscle balance so that one side isn’t stronger than the other. And of course, you’ll also ingrain efficient mechanics on both sides.

Another useful drill for teaching lead leg mechanics is the one-step drill. What I like most about the one-step drill is that, because the hurdles are spaced so closely together, the hurdler has no room to swing from the hip or to lock the knee with a straight leg. A straight leg will crash. So, the hurdler has no choice but to lead with the knee. Actually, the hurdler can “cheat” by jumping up and raising the hips, but that defeats the whole purpose, which is to “run” over the hurdles with minimal air time.

In the short video below, my athlete Jackie Howell demonstrates the one-step drill. The hurdles are 30 inches, spaced 8 feet apart.

Though Jackie could do a better job of getting her heel under hamstring when she takes off, she is doing a good job of leading with the knee, making the hurdle small, extending the foot without locking the knee, and cycling her foot back to the ground.

Though we’re only using four hurdles here, this is a drill that can be done with as many as 10-12 hurdles. With more hurdles added, the athlete is forced to really stay focused, as any slip in concentration can result in a crash. So, add more hurdles only when it’s clear that the hurdler is ready for more. Having a coach present to monitor mistakes and correct them on the spot is pretty much essential to derive the maximum benefits from the drill.

Walk-over drills, as demonstrated in last month’s article on trail leg mechanics, can also serve as a good teaching tool for lead leg mechanics. But every coach has his or her own preferences. For me, the bread and butter drills for teaching lead leg mechanics are the fence drill and the one-step drill.

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