Athletes in Action

HIGH HURDLES (4) TnE fonvard body-lean is still maintained, until the ankle of the foot of the rear leg is clear of the hurdle. It will be noticed that this rear foot is carried over the hurdle absolutely parallel with the top rail and with the toes pointing straight out to the side. The leading leg is beginning to clavt', or snap, down strongly for the ground, and the right hand and arm have presened a correct position. It should be remarked that the right arm is now being drav;;n back, its forward stretch having terminated in the full step- over action shown in Fig. 2. The fault apparent in Fig. 4 is that the left arm has been allm.\·ed to fly too far forward and to the side. This arm should have remained flexed at the elbow with the hand bent back on the wrist and the forearm almost parallel to the ground. The flinging forward and out of the left arm has the effect of making the Hurdler sail to earth, and thus prevents him from getting the full benefit of the chop-down action of the leg. Each phase of hurdle clearance should be practised at quite a slow run to begin with and the action should be checked by snapshots. One can walk up to a hurdle and practise the leading leg swing, which begins the step- over action, as shown in Fig. 2, but without allowing the rear foot to leave the ground and without actually crossing the hurdle. Then, one may take the hurdle, concentrating only upon the preservation of the body dip and the maintenance of the rear-leg hang. After that, attention may be given to the action of the rear leg. "':::!