Coaching and Care of Athletes

HURDLING Let us see if the point can be settled mathematically. The aver– age first-class hurdler of 6 ft. stature, possessing length of leg in proportion to his height, takes off 7 ft. 3 ins. in front of the first hurdle, and lands 4 ft. I I ins. beyond it. In clearing the second and subsequent hurdles he takes off 7 ft. 8 ins. in front of each hurdle, and lands 4 ft. 6 ins. beyond it.l Therefore the average clearance distance from take-off to landing is I2 ft. 2 ins. Subtract I2 ft. 2 ins. from the 30 ft. distance between each flight of hurdles, and you have I 7 ft. Io ins. (call it I8 ft.) left, which allows an aver– age of 6 ft. per stride for the three strides between flights from one landing to the next take-off. Not very long striding, one would say, remembering that the great professional sprinter Harry Hutchens, although not a tall man, had a stride of 7 ft. 6 ins., while H. M. Abrahams, Olympic roo metres champion in I924, an athlete of over 6 ft., had a full sprinting stride of 7 ft. 3! ins. Does it not follow, therefore, that such an exceptionally long– legged, hurdler as Percy Beard must chop the leading leg down to a foot-landing nearer than 4 ft. I I ins. or 4ft. 9 ins. to the hurdle cleared, to save himself from coming too close to the next hurdle in three strides? On the other hand, an athlete like the little Englishman Corporal Dyson, of the Somerset Light Infantry, who is in the I5 secs. class, and perhaps the best hurdler of his inches I have ever seen, must land 5 ft. 3 ins. or 4ft. IO ins. beyond the first, second, and sub– sequent hurdles ifhe is to get close enough in the three strides to the next hurdle to clear it. Dyson stands 5 ft. 8! ins., and weighs I r stone 3 lb. The length of his leg from fork to sole of the foot is 34l ins. Actually he takes off6 ft. in front of the hurdle, and lands 5 ft. beyond it. In other words, there is style variation according to the three types of hurdlers: (I) tall men, with exceptionally long legs, who take the barrier with a step-over action, without bounding, and get a fast chop-down, with the first foot landing closer to the hurdle than (2) men with legs of medium length, who bound and use less chop-down, and (3) short men, who are compelled to bound. Slavish imitation of the arm action of any particular champion hurdler is also bad policy. His arms should serve the hurdler as balancers, and be moved in accordance with the disposition of 1 These figures are approximate, but are based upon the measurem ents for a number of hurdlers of the distance from the front-spike track-prints to the centre of the hurdle at ground line. 287