Coaching and Care of Athletes

• COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES his body-weight during hurdle clearance. There are, none the less, certain limitations in this respect, which I shall discuss in due course. Meanwhile let us deal with the technique of hurdling, as it should be practised by the athlete of the average ideal build. Let us assume that the man in question has a right dominant and will use the Bullet Start, placing his right foot in the rear hole. We have now to consider whether he shall try to reach his -take-off spot, 7 ft. 3 ins. in front of the first flight of hurdles, in seven or eight strides. The distance he has to cover from the scratch-line to his initial take-off is 37 ft. g ins., but we cannot average his striding, because his first strides out of the holes will be shorter than his later transitional strides. In his first, and shortest, stride his right foot will (according to the length of his legs) probably reach a spot on the track from r l to 2! ft. beyond the scratch-line. The first two strides should be made with a powerful leg-drive, aided by forceful arm action. The subsequent strides lengthen progressively, and there is continual acceleration throughout a transitional period of five or six strides to bring the hurdler's body ,to the correct angle and his speed to its optimum. It is easier to hold optimum speed over the hurdles than to produce acceleration in the body of the race. The eight-stride approach to take-off gives the athlete one additional stride in which to accelerate his running to his optimum speed. But the man taking eight strides must use a faster metrical movement than if he took seven strides. If he takes seven strides each of those strides must obviously be lengthened. I prefer the seven-stride approach, which allows the athlete with a right dominant to throw his left leg first over each hurdle, but the problem resolves itself into a question of the build of the individual, and the correct answer, based upon fundamental principles, is that the long-legged hurdler will need to use the seven-stride approach, while his shorter rival must be content to reach his take-off in eight strides. If the short athlete with a ·right dominant is unhappy about throwing his right leg first over each hurdle, then he must reverse the position of his feet at the start. Let us suppose for the purposes of description that we are dealing with a right-dominant athlete who is capable of reaching the correct take-off spot, 7! ft. in front of the first flight, in seven strides, and that his left foot comes to ground 5 ft. beyond it. His 288