Is my hurdler losing time in the air or on the ground?
Two different problems produce the same slow split between hurdles, and they need opposite fixes.
The split between two hurdles is slow, or it varies from rep to rep, and the clearance itself looks clean enough from the stands that nobody can say where the time is actually going. It matters, because the fix for time lost in the air is not the fix for time lost on the ground, and coaching the wrong one for a week changes nothing.
Two clocks, one number
The interval between hurdles is the time spent clearing the barrier plus the time spent taking the three strides after it. Both add to the same split. A hurdler who floats too high over the barrier and one who takes short, braking strides between barriers can post the exact same slow time, and from the stands they look nothing alike but read identically on a stopwatch.
What each one looks like
- Losing time in the air: a long, floating clearance, with the hips rising well above what the hurdle actually needs, closer to a small jump than a step over the barrier.
- Losing time on the ground: a flat, clean clearance followed by short, choppy strides, often because the athlete is already setting up for the next hurdle instead of running through this one.
Both feel like the same problem to an athlete told only that they are "slow between hurdles." They are not the same fix. One needs a lower, faster clearance. The other needs the strides after it to stay full length.
Where the numbers separate it
The hurdle setting in the Film Room reads trunk dip over the barrier, lead-leg extension, how far the hips rise at the hurdle, and overstride between barriers. Hip rise at the hurdle answers the air question directly, since a high number relative to hurdle height is time spent going up. Overstride between barriers answers the ground question, since a reaching first stride after the hurdle brakes every step that follows it. Film the same athlete over two or three hurdles and read both numbers before deciding which drill to run.
A single 2D camera cannot tell you whether extra hip rise comes from a technical habit or from an athlete who is quietly afraid of clipping the barrier, and those two need different conversations even though they produce the same number. The camera can find the fault. Only a coach on the track finds the reason for it.
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Related
Why does your hurdler take a different number of strides between each hurdle?
The step count between hurdles is a symptom, not the problem, and Film Room's overstride number usually moves before the pattern actually breaks.
Read →Why does my hurdler lose speed between the hurdles even though the clearance looks clean?
Clearing every barrier well does not guarantee the three steps in between are still sprinting, and that is where the time usually goes.
Read →Why your hurdler can't three-step
Three-stepping is a speed problem wearing a stride-length costume, and the fix is almost always the spacing rather than the athlete.
Read →Try it: Hurdle technique analysis from video: trunk dip, lead leg, hip rise