High School Hurdle Coaches, I have a question.

Spacing & heighth are good first steps. I have found that 4 steppers float the lead leg. Drills, drills, drills, on snapping the lead leg back to the track as fast as possible. Many times females bring their lead leg up as a whole & stiff instead of leading with the knee. She should be hearing: "Lead with the knee, snap the foot back to the track" until she is sick of it. Hip strength will help keep the trail leg from hanging, but it will follow the lead, so work on that first. Finally, be sure to practice "with the wind" until her confidence and form allow otherwise. I'm sure others will lend some good advice, but that is where I would start.

the time taken for progression to 3 step depends really on the person with their height stride length and ability and amount of training all factors that determined how long it will take.

I know that when i moved from the Under17 age group to the under20(no idea about age groups or spacing in America) and the hurdlers moved to senior distances and heights i at first struggled to make the spacings in 3 strides. But we set the hurdles at spacings that i could manange with the hurdles slightly down and then week after week slowly moved them apart (even if it was only a few milimeters ) until i reached full spacings. As i became comfortable wth those spacings we then put the hurdles up. I all takes time. Attempting to rush it won't work. No point moving hurdles further apart if you cant manage them close together. it also helps to just focus on increasing your stride through hip mobility and always think of sprinting in between the hurdles.

Thank you for the ideas. One other thing I didn't mention, is that we have an invitational where they are conducting a steeplechase. I'm very excited about this girl's potential in the SC. She was the jr. high league champ in XC her 8th grade year. Plus being able to alternate lead legs should be donducive to the SC.

Memory from years ago when the earth was cool--Coach did not move counterweight in hurdle thus keeping the knock over force below regulation during practice of 3 step---but I dk if they still use that kind of adjustable.

Coach hated to see a steepler stutter, on anything other than the splashy one and not pleased when it's done in an early lap there either.....last couple of laps he kinda let it slide.

Her potential sounds nice, but don't be surprised if it has little impact on the outcome of the race. For young athletes, the SC usually goes to the strongest, capable of multiple surges in & out of barriers. It's not unusual to see a youngster with poor hurdling form pulling away toward the end. As they get older and strength/endurance are relatively similar, form & efficiency become more vital to success.

Pulling trail leg through fast/hard forces lead foot back to the ground.

In hurdle clearance, keep hands below shoulders and inside the elbows. Do let hands swing outside of the elbows or above the shoulders as you clear and return to the track surface. This assists the runner in:

Keeping shoulders/chest square with the running direction as the hurdle is cleared. This assists the runner in returning to a normal sprint position.

One additional point.....runner should lead with heel over the "front" of the hurdle. As trail leg is pulled through the toe will point forward.

"Leading" with toe will hinder the straightening of the leg as it begins to go over the top. A "leading" toe often results in hitting the front of the gate bar.

We got a chance to go to a university and go over some 30' steeplechae barriers. She looked like a natural and even negotiated the water barrier on her first attempt. I'll be curious to see what she can do for 2000 meters.