When is the last time you coached a successful hurdler? Are you having trouble getting your beginning hurdlers to 3-step? Here are three drills that will get you headed in the right direction with your hurdlers.
The following post is provided by our friend Hector Cotto
Hello, my name is Hector Cotto, and I am a Track & Field coach specializing in the sprint-hurdles.
I was once a star athlete myself. I ran 7.46s in the 55h as a senior earned myself a college scholarship and rode that success all the way to the Olympic Games. Now my only objective is to teach thousands how to hurdle so that I can see a day when it takes 13.99s to make the Conference Final.
It is my firm belief that every single city in the USA has at least 10 athletes that can run 13.99 seconds in the 110m hurdles. No need to debate whether you think it can be done, instead I will get to work on showing you the many many ways you can improve this week.
Here are 3 critical drills to help you train your hurdlers
Cycle Drill
Cycle Ladder Drill
Jammed Hurdling
What will the Cycle Drill do for your hurdlers?
- build confidence in clearing hurdles.
- develop the basic 3step rhythm
- ingrain good habits when clearing hurdles
- break the bad habit of opening the hips
- break the bad habit of kicking the lead-leg forward
- break the bad habit of bringing the trail-leg wide
- ingrain the good habit of SWINGING the arms over the hurdles
Cycle Ladder Drill – Key Coaching Points
- Pump the arms
- Legs are cycling up to the hips and back to the ground
- Keep a forward lean
- The trail leg should be driving down into the ground ( it will feel like it is landing next the the lead leg and that is ok)
- Set 4 hurdles with increasing distance between them ( 11ft-13ft-15ft-17ft)
- Once the athlete can 3 step those four, remove the fists hurdle and place one at the end that is 19ft apart.
- Continue removing the first hurdle (once the can 3 step all four) and adding one at the end that is 2ft further apart than the previous hurdle. Continue in this fashion until you have the hurdles race distance apart.
Jammed Hurdling – Set Up
- Place the first hurdle at the normal mark for the athlete’s race
- Place the second hurdle 4ft closer that its normal mark
- Pace the third hurdle 8 ft closer than its normal mark
- Place the fourth hurdle 12 ft closer than its normal mark
- Place the fifth hurdle 16ft closer than its normal mark
- Once the athlete is running over hurdles with rhythm and speed at this distance , adjust the hurdles to 3ft apart (place the 2nd hurdle 3ft closer than normal mark, 3rd- 6ft closer than mark, 4th – 9ft closer , 5th – 12 ft closer)
- You can continue in this fashion until you have the running smoothly over hurdles at race distance
These clips are just a samples from Coach Cotto’s online training courses.
If you are interested in more opportunities to learn from Coach Cotto, he has these two hurdling courses available. You can find out more about each by clicking the links below:
The Sprint Hurdles System–Developing Beginning Hurdlers
The YouTube videos below have audio, so please make sure that your volume is turned up and that you have access to the site. Some schools block access to YouTube.
The Cycle Drill
Cycle Hurdle Drill
Jammed Hurdling