Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES are that cadence and stride-length are harmoniously balanced in the runner's hurdling action, and that the preparation for clear– ance and the step-over movement curtail to the least possible degree the forward momentum. As Gerald Ayres has said, "When the step is p erfect and the form likewise the low hurdles should be cleared so rapidly that an untrained observer will be unable to follow the action of the legs and arms." Let us assume that the athlete has a natural preference for throwing his left leg first over each hurdle. When his right fQot at the end of the approach run strikes the take-off spot, from 7 ft. 6 ins. to 8 ft. short of the first hurdle, the body is given less forward inclination than is used by the high hurdler, the arms continue their sprinting action, and the left knee is raised to hip-level. As the right leg is fully straightened and the right foot leaves the ground the right arm and left leg go forward, both partly flexed. The left foot is lifted only just high enough for the heel to clear the top rail of the hurdle. The rea:r leg also is raised no more than is sufficient to allow the knee, shin, and ankle to clear the top rail. It must, however, be whipped fairly fast across the hurdle. As the left foot drops to the track the right knee is brought through without any pick-up-as in high hurdling-and the next stride is made with the body inclined forward, and .a powerful drive con– tributed by the fully straightened right -leg. The ideal method of covering the 20 yds. between flights is to do so in seven strides, but it is permissible for short athletes to take nine strides, provided that the cadence is increased. The striding distance is not in reality 20 yds. The athlete lands 4 ft. 3 ins. from the first clearance, and, for the second and subsequent hurdles, takes off 8 ft. in front and lands 4 ft. beyond= r2 ft . clearance. Deduct r2 ft. from 6oft., and you have 48ft. to cover in seven or nine strides-i.e., an average stride-length of 6ft. ro ins. or 5 ft. 4 ins. To hold an average stride of 6ft. ro ins. throughout the whole of a furlong is a task that beats most athletes, except the top grade of international low hurdlers. Even they cannot run the whole race at top pressure. Wherefore we take a tip from high-hurdling policy, and tell the low hurdler to get first to the initial flight if he can, to run over the first three flights as though his life depended on his speed, to allow himself a very little relaxation from the fourth to the seventh hurdle inclusive, and then to go flat out over the last three flights and during the run-in. In addition there must 302