Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES and the left breast is now in contact with the thigh of the left leg. The right hand is out beyond the left foot, and the chin is in advance of the left knee. When the left foot reaches its high point, and that foot is still I2 ins. short of the hurdle, the sharp chop-down action is used, causing the athlete just to miss grazing the top rail of the hurdle with the lowest point of his left buttock. Simultaneously the trailing right leg is whipped up with a sideways lift, so that the 'three right' angles' position is secured. At the same time the right arm is being drawn back, and the trunk is rising from the full body-dip position. The athlete lands on the ball of his left foot-he must never let his heel down-4! to 5 ft. beyond the hurdle, and his weight goes forward, over the foot fulcrum of a fully straightened left leg, to the true sprinting angle. The right knee is brought around before the left foot reaches the ground. As the body swings fotward over the grounded foot this right knee is picked up to breast height in preparation for the first full stride after hurdle clearance. The left arm, flexed at the elbow, swings forward as the right knee is raised, while the right arm, also flexed, swings back ready to assist the left leg in making the second stride (Plate XXIX, Figs. 85 and 86). There is here another mistake to guard against. So many hurdlers, studying the stiff-left-leg transition from clearance to first-stride position shown in Plate XXIX, Figs. 85 and 86, seem to think that the moment the leading foot is over the top rail of the hurdle they must claw for the track with a straight left leg. As I have said, the chop-down should be started when the leading foot is I 2 ins. higher than and I 2 ins. away from the top rail of the hurdle. This early start of the chop-down ensures a quick, well-balanced landing. At no time in hurdle clearance, however, is the leading leg fully straightened, or extended from hip to ankle. There is always a slight flexion at the knee. As the lead– ing leg goes over the hurdle the lower leg goes back rapidly in reflex running action, so that the spikes of the sole of the shoe secure a firm grip as they engage the track. Having landed, the hurdler becomes a sprinter for the next three strides. The first stride after landing is of necessity the shortest of the three strides between flights·. Hurdle clearance is bound to check forward momentum slightly, and it is to regain momentum that a comparatively short first stride of st ft. is 290