.............................. wrote:
There are VERY VERY few women who take 7 steps. Many of those are 5'10 tall or better and very powerful.
I'd be surprised if the world championship finals had more than 1 woman taking 7 steps.
So if most of the HS or college girls you coach take 7 you are either miscounting, mis-coaching, or working in the [Amazon].
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M-cLwFpIOQIn this high-level race (semifinal in the 2008 USOT), all eight women took eight steps to H1 (if my counting was correct).
One factor: Most people tend to use the same leg as their takeoff leg for the hurdles, and the front leg for a block start. That's the "power" or "plant" leg; the other is the "swing" or "speed" leg. So there's automatically a predisposition in favor of taking an even number of steps to the first hurdle, whether it be in the highs or the intermediates.
More importantly, I think: The approach to H1 sets a rhythm and stride length for the rest of the race. The women's hurdles are set fairly close together, and the faster you run, the (slightly) farther away from the hurdle you need to take off; the eight-step approach establishes a turnover/stride length that's closer to what a top woman will carry between the rest of the hurdles.
In line with this, note that most (no, not all) international-level high hurdlers on the women's side tend to be of average height and shorter. Their natural sprinting stride is better for the short/quick steps that are required for running between hurdles. (Even on the men's side, there are few super-tall guys, and a lot of the very top men are around six feet or just a little taller.)
I agree with "Periods" that the HS and college females who have a seven-step approach tend to be taller. They also tend to be slower, so that the advantage gained by eliminating a step (in the approach to H1) more than offsets any difference between the approach strides and the strides between hurdles--because, for these slower women, the strides between hurdles show slower turnover (and slightly greater length) anyway!
As a real-life example:
I once coached a multi-eventer who won the high hurdles in our conference meet. She was a bit taller than average and had good power, but had low turnover--definitely *not* a sprinter. In her case, moving to the seven-step approach (from a standing start, no less) was a help.
Years later, I coached another multi-eventer (similar height, less power) whom I had take the eight steps. She, too, was a conference HH champ (and AA in the highs and hept).
In other words, different things work for different people. You don't coach the hurdles; you coach the hurdlers.