Coaching Young Athletes

Tips And Tricks For Introducing Hurdles To Beginners

Check out this Little Athletics NSW video. (I am the host and on-camera coach).

A handy summary can be found below the video.

Video Summary

Basic Rules

1. Athletes are not permitted to deliberately knock down a hurdle.
2. Athletes must clear their own hurdle.

Safety

1. Ensure a stable, non-slippery hurdling surface.
2. Use modified hurdles when introducing the event.
3. Hurdles are designed to fall in a certain way. Don’t allow kids to hurdle from the wrong direction.
4. A progressive introduction to the skill is important.

Step-By-Step Teaching Progression

1. Run Over Low Objects at Random Spacings

Ask the kids to run over randomly spaced low objects without slowing, hesitating or stutter-stepping.

2. Run Over Low Objects at Correct Hurdle Spacings

Have the kids run over 2-4 low objects placed at the correct spacings they will use when racing. i.e. correct run-in to the first hurdle and distances between hurdles.

3. Run (Gallop) Over Low Modified Hurdles

• Get the knees up to the front. i.e. Both knees come up and point forward as they go over the hurdle.
• Get the feet down on the ground quickly. i.e. The feet hit the ground in quick succession so that the child can then run on quickly to the next hurdle.
• It’s not too important at this stage that the child is using a correct hurdling technique other than getting their knees up to the front.

4. Trail Leg Development

• An effective trail leg action allows the child to go a little bit lower over the hurdles.
• The trail leg is more complex than the lead leg. It requires the child to fold their leg up to the side and tuck their heel in.
• The trailing knee then comes around to the front before the child puts their foot back down on the track.
• The trail leg can be practiced by stepping over hurdles at a slower pace and then slowly increasing that pace as the child becomes more proficient with the skill.
• Eventually, you can get them to step over the hurdle and run away from the hurdle, trying to perform an effective trail leg technique.

5. Whole Skill

Once the kids have got a basic lead and trail leg technique, you can work on putting the whole skill together. This means running to a hurdle, clearing that hurdle, and running away from the hurdle.

Common Errors

1. Hurdle Hesitation

This is when a child uses small, stuttering, hesitant steps when approaching a hurdle.

Tip: Use lower hurdles so that the kids can more confidently approach those hurdles, run fast at them, and get over them a lot more easily).

2. A Wide Trailing Leg

Sweeping their trail leg too wide can make a child’s hurdling a little bit awkward and slow them down. It may also infringe the rules if their leg goes over the hurdle next to them.

Tip: Peg a pool noodle in on either side of the hurdle to narrow the space in which they can hurdle. If they do happen to swing their trail leg too wide, they will touch that pool noodle and it will give them feedback to try and correct that action.

3. Trail Leg Tucked Under

It’s okay in the early stages of learning for kids to tuck their trail leg up underneath them over the lower hurdles. To keep low over higher hurdles, however, that leg needs to be tucked up to the side. If they tuck their leg underneath them when the hurdles are higher, it causes to jump too high to get over the hurdle, which will slow them down. Or they might clip the hurdle as they go over it which will interrupt their hurdling action and may even cause them to stumble.

Tip: Go back to rehearsing the trail leg at a slow pace so that they just get in the groove of learning what that correct action is.

4. Incomplete Trail Leg

Ideally, when kids perform a trail leg action, after folding their leg up to the side, they bring their knee around to the front so that they can then leave the hurdle and continue sprinting. If they try to bring their foot back down to the ground before they’ve fully got their knee round to the front, it can cause them to stumble and wobble when they land after clearing the hurdle.

Tip: Rehearse the correct trail leg action, by walking and practicing running away from the hurdle. Get them to bring their trailing knee right around to the front. Maybe even have them point their knee at a target that is in front of them before they put their knee back down on the ground.

5. Prop and Stop

Kids should ideally clear the hurdle and then continue in an uninterrupted run toward the next hurdle. A lot of kids will clear the hurdle, stop, prop and then continue their run, which of course is going to slow them down.

Tip: Go back to some of the earlier drills done at a slow pace where the kids can be thinking about what they’re doing and get in the correct movement. Activities where they put their foot down and continue running to the next hurdle are useful.

Final Word

Hurdles is not a jumping event. It’s a running event where we have to teach the kids to continue running in an uninterrupted motion over objects as they race toward the finish line.

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