I saw a previous thread about the pole vault and I've wondered about the hurdles. They look difficult but all the hurdlers on our team are addicted to them. This makes me wonder what the attraction is, and what it takes to be good at them besides the obvious trait of speed. Are there mental as well as physical attributes for success?
I'm a former high school/collegiate hurdler, so I'll toss in my 2 cents....
I think flexibility (particularly in the lower body) is key. One of the most important things about getting over hurdles quickly is trying to avoid being airborn too long. And that means you need to stay low and create very little space between you and the hurldle as you pass over. If you're inflexible this is very difficult to do efficiently and you tend to crash into the hurdles more. Crashing into the hurdles not only slows you down but it can throw off your rythmn and steps, which is a recipe for disaster in the 110s.
Women are usually better hurdlers than men, which has something to do with the fact that they are usually a bit more flexible. Notice the way they just graze over those hurdles without touching them. Women just lack the raw speed to run with the men. If you gave Gail Devers (in her prime) the raw speed of say - Terrance Trammell, she would have destroyed the likes of Trammell, Johnson, Xiang, etc in the 110 hurdles. Of course, height is also a factor, but my point is - flexibility makes you a better hurdler.
It's less important in the 300/400m hurdles.
Obviously to be a competitive hurdler at a high level you're also going to need excellent speed. Trammell was the Indoor 60m Champ a few years back. I'm no Trammell, but I was my school's record holder in the 55m and 200m (state qualifier in both), so I had speed. It also helps if you aren't a midget. But against other hurdlers who have similar speed and height, you will be at the advantage if you are flexible.
The most important thing is to not be afraid to attack the hurdles. It takes getting used to but some beginners are able to do this better than others.
As a former collegiate hurdler and D1 coach, here's my two cents:
I agree with most of what's been posted above. Obviously, speed and flexibilty are extremely important. Height is also extremely important. If you're under 6', you're not going to be a good 42" hurdler. There was a guy who could easily beat me in high school (39") but he never came close to me in college (42"). He was 5'9". I'm 6'2". I also think having BALLS to attack the hurdles is extremely important. You absolutely have to be 100% completely unafraid of the hurdles. You have to embrace a good crash. I always felt that if you never had a good crash, then you never hurdled hard enough. And if you're gonna crash, take out as many guys as you can with you. I wiped out four other guys once. It was fantastic. It was the talk of the meet!
I disagree with Gail Devers being a "pound-for-pound" better hurdler than the top men. First of all, 33" is ridiculously low. They absolutely need to raise them to 36". And even that might be low considering a lot of women hurlders now are 6'. I coached a girl who was 5'11" and she could easily get over 39" with good form. The 33" hurdles allow for far too many technical flaws. 42" hurdles allow for zero technical flaws. Women can get away with a lot of flaws and still win a race. Gail Devers' lead leg drove me nuts. I studied a lot of her film and she always kicked her lower lead leg out instead of bringing it straight up from under the knee. She was the greatest hurdler in the world because of her speed, not because of her form. And if you have that kind of a flaw as a man, you will lose.
I think the 110s are the best. It's the most exciting event of any meet. A great high hurdler is poetry in motion. Way better than watching some skinny guy run around the track 26 times.
j/k - I've seen some amazing 10Ks too.
You have to have guts to run the hurdles --be aggressive as hell. If you balk you will crash and burn. Height is not necessarily indicative of a good hurdler. Leg length is. You can have very long legs and a short torso. Stride length is crucial to success.
Speed, flexibility, and cohones are what make up a good hurdler.
I ran some hurdles in HS and they are hard as hell. I always lacked the balls facter as I was more concerned about making a perfect clearance than getting past the barriers as fast as possible. I was afraid to hit. I always felt like my nuts would get caught or something.
would you say that a guy like roger kingdom, whose style was to ride down the hurdles, had great form? great results, definitely.
The speed of a sprinter, the agility of a gymnast and the courage of a boxer.
I had speed, but was lacking in technique. I could have been much better if I could have sat down on the hurdles more than I did. I didn't skim them so gave up time to hurdlers with better form. Yet my speed kept me in the game.
Kingdom and Devers don't have the best form and would probably have been even better hurdlers if they could have improved in that area. Their speed and aggressive running took them very far. Form can be taught, speed can be developed to a point, but without the mindset that allows you to attack the hurdles you won't ever be a good hurdler.