Steeplechase Question - Advice When Landing and Jumping Over Barriers.

backwise = backwards

Thanks again LetsRun readers.

without seeing you run, i can't tell what the problem is but most of us are not great a hurdling barriers - so one solution is to step on the barriers and not even try to hurdle them...i found this saves energy and i don't have to worry about hitting the barrier - the downside is i would get a little back pain from the leg that drove into the hurlde...so you have to still get some height as you approach.

i try a trick that keeps me forward... in practicing jumping the barriers i act like i am checking my watch. putting your arm in front of you like you are checking your watch puts your arm in a good position, and gets you to lean forward a bit.

try doing some drills too. it is crazy how much they help.

with good drills I improved my time by 30 seconds this year... and actually went from mediocre to a contender... so drills can do a lot.

don't step on the hurdles, you give up a lot of time doing that, and don't save energy at all because you lose speed and have to accelerate to get up to pace. One of the biggest things is getting your trail leg through. If you watch hurdlers you'll see them driving that leg through so that your stride is in rhythm when you land. If you're trail leg is not through you will land off balance. Just keep jumping them until it feels natural. For the water jump try to keep your body open as you come off the barrier so that you don't stumble forward.

Brilliant suggestions, thanks so much for all your comment. I really want to try my luck at this event. My jumping isn't that great, I was planning on doing another event but missed that, so ended up doing the chase and ran 9.47, would love to get down near the 9.15 mark.

Please keep them coming. Any video links or reads would be appreciated also.

Disclaimer: 9:50=steeple PR, 8:45=3k PR

For the water barrier: the best advice my coach ever gave me was to pace out my last 8 approach strides ahead of time. For example I would measure 12 walking paces out from the barrier and put a piece of tape there. Then I could adjust my stride to hit the tape and take 8 strong strides to hit the barrier perfectly, instead of breaking stride right in front of it. Just have a teammate watch a few approaches and mark where your stride hits. Eventually I could just eyeball it off the cones.

One way or another, good luck with the steeple career!

Like the advice about looking at the watch as your tail leg comes over the barrier, that worked for me today.

If you can, get a sprint hurdles coach or hurdler to observe and coach you for about a half dozen workouts. They can teach you some drills, workouts and critique your form to get you on the path to becoming an efficient hurdler. It doesn't matter how you look going over the barriers, but it matters a lot how much energy you expend and how relaxed your going over the barriers.

Some Steeple 101:

Practice on hurdles and not actual barriers. Do some intervals with them.

Don't worry too much about clearing them by too much. Worry more about sighting them well, not stutter-stepping on the run-up, and landing without killing your momentum.

Always accelerate a bit coming into the water jump, no matter what you feel like.

Aim for the inside 1/3 of the water barrier. Most people seem to go for the middle, and coming out of it you might be able to pass some people on the inside.

bump - surely must be more steeplechasers on here with some useful tips?

3kmSC PB: 9.11

3km FLAT: 8.28

Tip: Hurdle drills. Check out youtube videos and watch how pros jump.

Remarkable positive thread, so far. How much emphasis do good steeplers put on ab / core work?

I have only tried the steeple a couple of times, with poor results. One of my many shortcomings was ab cramping.

I posted before but one other thing I forgot to add. HIP FLEXORS. Stretch them as much as you can. Then stretch more. After you race the first time you're going to hurt in unexpected places (lower back for me). But just make sure you keep stretching, try to do a lot of hurdle drills and stretches.

I had this problem a lot as well when I did my steeple training. My coach tried to teach me the proper hurdling technique but it seemed to worsen the backwards motion.

Something that helped me a ton on the barriers (not the water pit haha) is forget about proper form. Try natural, whatever feels good. For me I approach the same but instead of extending a single leg over the hurdle with a trail leg I tuck both legs under me (sort of like some kenyans do) and this eliminates that backwards feeling. I went from a 9:23 pr to a 8:54 with this. Try it out. It's a great race

I'd highly recommend learning to hurdle the barriers and step the water jump with BOTH legs. If you must use only one leg as a lead leg you will stutter at some point in the race.

I always hurdled the water barrier the last lap and as you can see I never set any land speed records. Once again learn to use each leg as a lead leg.

With my hurdle technique I could beat guys in the steeple that could beat me by a GOOD 30 seconds in the 5K...heck maybe 30 seconds in the 3K! By using either leg hurdling I never ever had to adjust pace going into a barrier.

Just don't do this. At least she got it on video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9haxOZvlAFs

Good advice on using either leg as lead leg. This will allow you to never be intimidated or feel the need to stutter step. I was able to do this, and it helped in the steeple, too.

But let's remember one thing first and foremost - the 3k steeple is a DISTANCE RUNNING event.

Regarding hurdle form, just watch the Kenyans. Very few of them will ever win any kind of prize for beautiful hurdling technique or form. When we say technique, we're often referring to sprint hurdle technique, which is really a very different thing from steepling. In fact, using very good sprint hurdle technique during the steeple can often cost you a lot of energy. I'm surpised malmo hasn't commented on this yet, because he and I agree. Fundamentally, the Kenyans ARE good hurdlers for the steeple, even though it often looks ugly to us. Why? First and foremost, their center of gravity/mass keeps moving forward. Even though arms and legs may seem to flail, as long as the center of gravity continues in a forward arc over the barrier and with no slowing before or after the hurdle, this is good form for a steeple. So, it looks ugly, but they very very rarely ever slow before a hurdle from stuttering or have to re-accelerate after a hurdle. Look at Shaheen's form - terrible. The guy looks like he leans back the entire time he runs. And when he hurdles, his body is almost straight up and down. BUT, his center of mass always moves forward.

Thanks for all your suggestions. I did my first 2000m SC today. I ran 6.09 and won comfortably, hurdling still terrible. Now hoping to get a good winter and work on the suggestions which have been mentioned and hope to run 9.20 next year. Thanks again and any suggestion would be great.

Stuff that helped me:

Learn to go over the barriers with either leg. You probably don't want to do this with the water jump, but if your weak leg is strong enough more power to ya.

Snap your lead leg down immediately after it clears the barrier...every tiny piece of second that you're not putting your feet on the ground is a tiny piece of second you lose...

Definitely talk to your hurdle coach, he should be able to give you some good advice.

Most importantly, be in beastly shape.

6.09 is a solid progression from your recent 9.45, this suggests you could go much quicker already over the 3km, possibly sub 9.20.

With the steeplechase, you will get better with experience, learn to jump with both legs, this way you will not stutter when appraoching barriers.