Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES There is a slight difference between the 440 yds. and the 400 metres hurdle races. In the former there is a space of 40 yds. between the flights of hurdles, 40 yds. also from the start to the first hurdle, and 40 yds. from the last flight to the finish. In th~ 400 metres hurdles the distance from the starting-line to the first flight of hurdles is 45 metres (49"2I3 yds.), the hurdles are placed 35 metres (38·277 yds.) apart, and there is a distance of 40 metres (43·745 yds.) from the last flight of hurdles to the finish. These variations must obviously make it necessary for the coach who is training an athlete for top-class competition to plan the training work in accon;lance with the distance at which the big race is to be run, either in yards or in metres. The situation is particularly diffic~lt in England, where all intermediate hurdle races are run at 440 yds., despite the fact that all the best hurdlers are pointing for the Olympic championship at 400 metres, which is 437 yds. I ft. 4i ins. There need be no trouble about building up the approach run to the first hurdle. All one has to do is to find out which leg the athlete prefers to lead with over hurdles, and then, by experi– menting with the approach run, decide upon the number of strides that will get the athlete to hit the correct take-off spot with the proper foot. The athlete must, of course, reverse the position of his feet in the starting-holes if necessary. In all probability it will be found that the proper number of strides for the approach run is twenty-four plus or minus one stride. The dash for the tape after clearing the last hurdle calls for no $et number of strides. The difficulty is in the adjustment of striding between hurdles. The hurdler takes off at approximately 7! ft. in front of the first hurdle to clear it, and lands about 4! ft. beyond it. For the secondf and subsequent hurdles the take-off is 7! ft. from the hurdle, ·and the landing 4! ft. beyond it, plus or minus perhaps 3 ins ..on either side. If we ignore the first hurdle clearance and take our figures as 7 ft. 9 ins. and 4ft. 3 ins., and subtract the total clearance distance- J from the distance between flights, then we get I20 ft. -I 2 ft. = I o8 ft. in the 440 yds. event and I I 5 ft.- I 2 ft. =I 03 ft. in the 400 metres race to be covered between flights. · Now the ideal in regularity to aim at is for the hurdler to take fifteen or seventeen strides between each flight. Therefore at 440 yds. the fifteen-,stride man will need an average stride of 7 ft. 2 ins., and the other a stride of 6 ft. 4 ins. But in the 400 metres 3I2