Why Developing Stride Pattern in the Long Hurdles can be so Difficult
by Steve McGill

One of the most difficult elements in the long hurdles is that of developing a consistent stride pattern. Even at the highest levels, not every hurdler takes the same amount of strides between the hurdles from race to race. There are many factors that make developing a consistent stride pattern challenging, which is why, when working with my long hurdlers, I look to have a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C. Plan A will be the stride pattern we want to use in the next race based on what we’re seeing in that week’s long-hurdle practice session. Plan B will be an alternate pattern based on factors like which way the wind is blowing, level of fatigue due to competing in previous events earlier in the meet, the level of competition in the race, the quality of the surface of the track, etc. Plan C will be just forget everything and run as fast as you can and be an athlete. I don’t like ever needing to resort to Plan C. But sometimes, especially with beginners who have no clue about stride pattern, Plan C functions as a temporary placeholder until a Plan A can be put into place.

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The main reason that developing stride pattern is hard is because doing so requires sprinting at full speed at much longer distances than are required to develop and ingrain stride pattern in the sprint hurdles. Reps over the first four hurdles are 150 meters, and reps over the first five are 200 meters. Even getting the first hurdle down requires 45 meters of full-speed sprinting. In the sprint hurdles, wasted reps may reduce the quality of the workout, but they don’t sabotage the workout, as most reps are shorter than 50 meters. In long-hurdle sessions, wasted reps can sabotage the workout. 

What I like to do when working with athletes who are clueless, as well as with athletes who are getting faster/stronger and therefore need to make changes to their current stride pattern, is make sure we know how many strides we want to take to the first hurdle. The first hurdle pretty much determines the first half of the race. I would say, generally speaking, it goes something like this: 

• 26 strides to the first hurdle = 19 strides between the hurdles through the halfway point of the race
• 24 strides to the first hurdle = 17 strides between the hurdles
• 23 strides to the first hurdle = 15 strides between the hurdles
• 22 strides to the first hurdle = 15 or 14 strides between the hurdles
• 21 (or less) strides to the  first hurdle = 13 strides between the hurdles

These are starting points. Practice sessions are where decisions are made. We’ll work on the first hurdle, out of the blocks or from a 3-point start. I do the counting while the athlete does the running. Two (maybe three) good reps in a row lets us know that we can move on to adding the second hurdle. A “good” rep means that there was no stuttering and no overstriding. The athlete attacked the hurdle in rhythm, pushing through the hurdle and maintaining speed off the hurdle. If the hurdler stutters, overstrides, and/or lands off-balance, that’s not a good rep. For the 300 hurdlers, the above correlations are what we aim to reach for. Because the first two hurdles are solidly on the straightaway and the third hurdle is mostly on the straightaway, we have to be consistent through three hurdles. So, one good rep over two hurdles means we can go straight to three hurdles in the next rep. For 400 hurdlers, because the first hurdle is on the curve and the second hurdle is almost wholly on the curve, it could be tricky. But because fatigue is not a factor yet, I approach the first half of the 400 hurdle race (first five hurdles) the same as I approach the first half of the 300 hurdle race (first 4 hurdles).

We want to get to a point where we have the first half of the race on lock. A session where we do four reps over the first four (300h) or first five (400h), and we’re able to maintain the stride pattern without having to add an extra stride or two informs us that we have reached an important goal: we know that in the race we will not waste energy in the first half of the race, making us confident that we’ll be able to finish the race strong. Most late-race breakdowns are caused by early-race mistakes, not by a lack of conditioning or speed. 

Another tricky element when deciding on stride patterns is whether or not to switch lead legs at any point in the race. An athlete who takes 21 steps to the first hurdle, for example, might be better off taking 14 strides between the hurdles instead of 13, especially if they’re shorter in stature. For any hurdler, the ability to alternate can prove useful, even if the opposite leg is used only once in the whole race. It can help the athlete to maintain a rhythm and avoid stuttering or overstriding. But I’m not big on alternating lead legs if the athlete doesn’t have full trust in the weaker leg at full speed in pressure-filled conditions. In some cases, the athlete may be able to get over the hurdle with the weaker lead leg, but isn’t able to maintain speed off the hurdle when leading with that leg. Also, switching lead legs on the curve can be very tricky, as it can easily lead to an awkward landing and loss of momentum. So if you’re going to switch legs as part of your race strategy, you have to know (not hope, not try) you can switch legs efficiently. Only then will I, as coach, see where we should implement it into our race plan. 

A lot of the Plan B strategies will be based on this ability to alternate. Should we maintain 15 strides through six hurdles, for example, or should we change down to 16 strides at hurdle six? The ability to alternate efficiently means we can change down without losing hardly any speed because our take-off distance will allow us to push through the hurdle. Again, no stuttering and no overstriding is more important than taking less strides. Taking the same amount of strides all the way is ideal because it eliminates the need to think, but the hurdler who can do so is very rare. 

My attitude in regard to the end of the race—let’s say the last three hurdles—is compete. I might have one workout per year when we’ll go over 8 hurdles (400h) or 6 hurdles (300h), because I’m not a fan of running the whole race in practice. And we’ll use early-season races to decide what we want to do in late-race situations at the end of the season. 

Finally, there is the issue of the athlete getting faster/stronger as the season goes on. Such improvements might necessitate stride pattern changes, as the athlete is covering  more ground per stride. I prefer not to make such changes, because they’re hard to ingrain late in the season, after the body has adapted to a certain rhythm. I’ll only make such a change if it’s evident that not changing can cause more damage than changing. If the athlete can no longer fit 22 strides to the first hurdle, for example, then we’ll switch to 21. If the switch goes smoothly, we’ll stick with it. If not, or if the risk seems too great because the margin for error is too minimal, then we’ll revert back to what we’ve already been doing.

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