Coaching Young Athletes

A Trail Leg Cue to Use When Coaching Young Athletes

Many coaches would know how difficult it can be to teach young athletes a good hurdles trail leg action.

One feature of a good trail leg action is that the knee should be brought right around to the front – with the thigh held high and parallel to the ground – before the foot is planted back onto the track.

The Problem

Lots of young athletes tend to use a low knee action as they tuck their leg up, sometimes even pointing their knee towards the ground.  It is also common for young athletes to rush their trailing foot back onto the track before their knee is pointing forward. This “chopping” or “kicking” down of the foot can lead to a loss of balance when running off and away from the hurdle.

The Solution

To assist with the achievement of a fully-completed trail leg action, where the knee is brought right around to the front, ask the athletes to “pop a balloon” with their trailing foot.

“Pop the balloon” with the trailing foot

Tell the athletes to imagine that there is a “big red balloon” on the track just beyond the hurdle where you want their trailing foot to land.

In order to pop the balloon, they need to bring their trailing foot over the hurdle, around to the front and above the balloon, before bringing their foot down directly on top of the balloon to pop it.

Tell the athletes that if the foot is brought down without bringing the knee fully around to the front (and the foot over the top of the balloon) they risk merely kicking the balloon away or even missing it completely. This can be practised during drills, then transferred to the full hurdling movement.

You may need to curb the tendency of some athletes to inevitably want to “stamp” on the balloon and bring the trailing foot down too hard, but once learnt, the simple command of “balloon”, even when used during a full hurdling action, can be an excellent cue.

What is are your favourite coaching cues?

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Further reading

Articles:

How to Teach Young Athletes to Hurdle

Hurdles: How to Get Young Athletes Started

10 of the Biggest Mistakes Young Athletes Make in the Hurdles

Games That Kids Love: The Hurdles Shuttle Relay

How to Put Your Best Foot Forward in Hurdles

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