whenever I try to lead with my right leg I either do like a leg switch in mid air so that I lead with left or just crash when I hit my leg on the top of the hurdle. How should I practice leading with my non-dominate leg?
this is an easy thing to do but it takes time. a lot depends on how old you are but all you have to do is simple drills and repeat them, and repeat them, and repeat them, until the drill becomes a habit. hurdling is just a skill, and like any seemingly complex skill, like juggling, driving, handwriting, it just takes practice. all you are doing is re-wiring the neuro-muscular pathway that controls the leg muscles.
I shall use the expressions dominant leg (dl) and passive leg (pl), where dl is your current preference for lead leg.
1. get a soccer ball and practice kicking it with you pl. just run around on a grass area kicking the ball with your pl. you can do this as part of your warm up. any other skill you do with one leg, practice doing that with both legs and also do a load of one-leg exercises like single-leg squats, leg press and so forth, but practice both legs equally and concentrate not on weight or reps but on control. also, when you are not training, think about things you do naturally with one leg in preference over the other, like going up stairs, for example, or putting on your clothes, do you habitually stand on one leg first? try doing them the other way round and see what happens.
2. practice a one-foot standing jump. you want to learn to do a standing long jump off a single foot, but off both feet equally. start by standing on the take off mark (this does not have to be at a pit, you can do this in a gym or on grass or even at home in your bedroom if you want). lift one foot off the ground and take a one-legged jump moving forwards. don't try for distance, just get comfortable jumping forwards. practice with both legs.
3. progress to a one stride approach to the long jump. stand one stride back from the line, take a single step and jump. practice with both legs as the lead. when you can do this comfortably with both legs, take a 3-stride approach. don't worry about landing properly just concentrate on the take-off and being equally comfortable in both legs.
4. lay some markers on the ground, relay batons, broom sticks, lines of tape, anything thin, just lay them on the ground about 2 metres apart. practice running over them so that you don't step on the markers. you want to go around 40 metres with each run and don't worry about speed but think about footwork. take a slow walk back to recover.
5. move the markers to a distance apart that makes it comfortable for you to lead with the same leg over them. practice leading with each leg so that you run over the markers leading with dl, and then run over them leading with pl. repeat. and repeat, and repeat.
6. get some of those low hurdles they use for sprint drills and replace your stick markers with the hurdles. start by walking over them with a dl lead and then a pl lead. over time, gradually, as you become more proficient, move the hurdles further apart and increase the speed at which you go over them until you feel comfortable leading with either leg. as you become more proficient replace your practice hurdles with proper hurdles and increase the height until you can hurdle properly off both legs over standard hurdles.
I teach this to 14-year-olds and there is probably one in each class that just can't get it but with a little practice almost anyone can learn to long jump off both feet, and do low hurdles off both feet. further progress depends on commitment and consistency in your practice.
I believe you can do this.
okay, and you need to decide fairly early on whether you want to be a steeple chaser or a 400m hurdler. I teach all my kids to hurdle, even those that want to be javelin throwers learn to hurdle, but 400m hurdling is not the same thing as steeple chasing. the hurdle action is the same (sort of) but the conditioning work, the aerobic background, the intervals you need to do for the 3kmSt will not do you any favours in the 400mH and the speed work and stride drills you will need to do for the 400mH will mess with your 3kmSt training. my kids do both at a fairly basic level but by 15 or 16 they have to choose because good 400m runners do not make good 3km racers and vice versa.
Good luck.