Quick or Fast?
In another article for this month’s issue, “Hurdling in the Off-season,” I point out the value of a quick-step workout that I have my hurdlers do in the off-season. In this article, I want to discuss in further detail the advantages of including quickness work in the off-season, but how it can also be dangerous for those who aren’t ready for it.
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The fall is traditionally known as a time of year to stay away from the hurdles, to focus on first establishing a strength and cardiovascular base so that the body is ready to hurdle once the time comes. But I have always felt that hurdling should be an integral part of the training regimen from the start. In addition, I feel that hurdling in the off-season should be done largely to a rhythm that mimics the rhythm of a race. Hence my love for the quick-step workout. In this workout, hurdlers can be quick between and over the hurdles without going full speed. Ingraining a race-like cadence is a critical element in the training program. Doing so early on in such a way that does not force the body to go at speeds that it is not yet ready for is ideal. That is why moving the hurdles closer together for a quick-step rhythm makes sense.
However, there is a category of hurdlers for whom the quick-step workout could be a bad idea, and for whom it could ultimately backfire. This category of hurdlers would be those who do not need to be quick in races, but need to be more focused on being fast between the hurdles. Generally these hurdlers are often beginners, but we’re basically talking here about hurdlers who aren’t fast enough to need to be quick.
I did make the mistake one year of having all my hurdlers do the quick-step workout in the fall. One of my hurdlers was a girl whose previous season’s personal best was a 16.5. Throughout the weeks of doing the drill, she looked sharp and quick and was correcting many of her technical mistakes. I was feeling good about her prospects of dipping under 16.0 straight out the gate once the outdoor season started. But when we got to indoor season and dropped the quick-step drill in favor of race-specific workouts with the hurdles spaced close to the actual race marks. She was having trouble reaching the hurdles in three steps. What had happened was, the quick-step rhythm has become so ingrained that she had forgotten how to open up her stride and sprint between the hurdles.
For faster hurdlers, that wouldn’t be a problem because they’ll never need to open up and sprint anyway. But for this girl, the quick-step workout had really messed her up. She had gotten into the habit of running with her knees low and her hands low. So I had to go back and move the hurdles closer in than I would have liked to wean her out of the habits that the quick-step workout had ingrained.
After making that mistake, I changed my ways, Since then, when coaching hurdlers who run in the 16’s or slower, I focus on getting them to sprint with a full range of motion, the way an open sprinter would. This lesson hearkens back to a point I made in an earlier issue that less advanced hurdlers shouldn’t necessarily look to elite hurdlers as role models because they face different rhythm issues. Slower hurdlers (for lack of a better term; ain’t trying to diss anyone) struggle more with maintaining a three-step rhythm, whereas elite hurdlers struggle with getting too close to each hurdle.
For those slower hurdlers, the sprinting five-step workout that I mention in this month’s “Hurdling in the Off-season” article would be preferable to the quick-step workout. The five-step stride pattern gives the athlete time to focus on being a sprinter between the hurdles, and it also forces the athlete to open up his or her stride. That way, when it comes to three-step, the needed sprint mechanics, stride length, and stride cadence are already in place. The key with the sprinting five-step workout is to place the hurdles far enough apart to force the athlete to open up his or her stride. Otherwise, that workout could also have the same effect of quickening up the cadence more than is preferable.
A final category of hurdlers that needs to be addressed is the 4-stepper who will potentially be transitioning to 3-stepping. For such a hurdler, there are two options: 1) do the regular quick-step workout, but switching lead legs each rep or each set so that each lead leg gets an equal amount of work. 2) Prepare for transitioning to the three-step stride pattern by doing the opened-up five-step workout discussed above.
The four-stepper is difficult to coach in this regard. A quick four-step is often much more efficient than a loping, bounding three-step. But, ultimately, the goal has to be to three-step with speed and aggression, without the loping and bounding. And you can’t get there is you stay in the safety zone of four-stepping. A third option for such an athlete, besides the two mentioned above, would be to go ahead and leave the hurdles alone during the fall, focus on doing sprint workouts that emphasize sprint mechanics, and to use weight room time and plyometric exercises to improve leg strength.
Personally, I like to experiment. I don’t know what the right way to go about it is, but I know that the only way to figure it out is to try out different things. A lot depends on the individual athlete, as well. If I have a 5’0 girl with 13.5 100m speed, chances are that trying to get her to stretch into a consistent three-stepper is a way of setting her up for failure. But if I have a girl the same height with 12.8 100m speed, then three-stepping might be worth a try. But let’s say that same girl plays volleyball and is in the school play. She won’t be able to put in the time necessary to progress fast enough, so I’ll have to cut my losses and plan for her to four-step, keeping in mind that I might change that plan if in the winter and spring she makes more progress than I had anticipated. With high school athletes especially, you just never know when they suddenly might blossom, or grow taller, or start taking themselves and their hurdling more seriously.
In all, it’s essential to have a plan, but equally essential to have no expectations. As a coach, you have to know what works best for you, but you also have to be ready to adapt your plans to the individual athlete. It always comes back to that.
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