Hurdling

Hurdling

The skills required for hurdling are in addition to the core skills required for sprinting - power, speed, quickness, acceleration, reaction time.  For the 100m, 110m, and 400m hurdles,being a good sprinter is a prerequisite for being a good hurdler.  Some of the additional abilities required for hurdling include:
Balance - unlike sprinting, hurdling is an asymmetric series ofmovements.  Remaining centered and keeping all momentum moving forward, instead of side to side or up and down, is critical.  Additionally, maintaining balance when clipping a hurdle with either legis critical as well.
Flexibility and Body Control - this is actually much more important than jumping ability, which is not actually a big factor in hurdling.  A good hurdler doesn't actually raisetheir center of mass very much when going over a hurdle.
Spatial awareness - one of the critical skills in hurdling is being in the proper position to attack the hurdle, which means landing yourtakeoff foot in the right 6-12 inch zone at the right distance in front of the hurdle to optimize your clearance.  To accomplish this, a hurdler needs to evaluate their position when they land afterclearing one hurdle and make any necessary adjustments to get in position for the next one. In the 100/110m hurdles, this is usually a minor consideration in a clean race (i.e. not hitting a lot ofhurdles or bumping into other athletes), since everyone takes a standard 3 steps between each hurdle.  In the 400m hurdles, it is a huge component of the race because the distance between thehurdles is greater, and there is more variance in speed throughout the racing, due to pacing, exhaustion, etc.  If these adjustments aren't made properly, the hurdler need to slow down and/or shortertheir steps as the approach the hurdle, which will significantly reduce their ability to clear the hurdle efficiently, an action which requires moving at high speed and accelerating into the hurdle....