The approach to the first hurdle: eight steps from blocks or a standing start, rising early, a short second-to-last step — with distances, drills and typical errors.
The approach to the first hurdle is a start with a fixed step pattern: eight steps from the blocks or standing start to the take-off at the first hurdle. In basic training eight steps are the standard, seven only in exceptional cases, nine when prerequisites are lacking [1].
The honest answer to how hard this is: you run the first metres against the clock and against the obstacle. You accelerate, rise, and at the end must push off exactly under the centre of mass. Sprint hurdling is a “forced run” in which step count, length and rhythm have to be adapted to the dimensions [1]. That is demanding, but it can be built up in small stages.
Seven or eight steps: in 12 male sprinters over 110 m hurdles, the step count made no meaningful difference in speed and time to the first hurdle, but it did in the distances of take-off and landing. The seven-step runners took off 0.20 m further away and landed 0.42 m closer to the hurdle [3]. For you this means: take the step count with which you hit the hurdle rhythmically.
Run eight steps with ground marks or cones whose spacing grows from step to step. The last steps shorter, the last one powerful. Cone runs with a given number of contacts train exactly that, without loss of speed [1].
Milestone (practice standard): 8 out of 10 runs hit the marks without extra steps.
In basic training the trail leg is in front and the lead leg behind in the block setting. A medium setting (two feet front block, three feet rear block) is recommended [1]. After the gun the back foot is pulled forward flat and fast, the first four steps are powerful on the ground [1].
Milestone: a stable set position and a flat first step.
Set the first hurdle about 3.00 to 3.50 metres closer, that is, two steps fewer than normal [4]. That way you learn to attack the hurdle with speed without the long approach hiding errors.
Milestone: 5 runs with a secure take-off, without a braking impact.
After three to four steps the upper body rises, the forward lean remains [1]. With a short second-to-last step you initiate the powerful last step, which ends in the take-off to the hurdle [1]. Drills: cut step into the wall and pendulum take-offs with a short first and powerful last step [1]. The last foot strike should lie as far as possible under the centre of mass, and the step must accelerate “into the hurdle”, not brake [4].
Milestone: the last foot strike is under the centre of mass.
Run over the first hurdle at competition distance from the blocks and sprint away at maximum speed, up to about 20 metres behind the first hurdle [2]. To learn, the hurdle height can be reduced (68 or 76 cm) [2]. Important: keep accelerating after the first hurdle. Maximum speed is reached at about the third hurdle [1].
Milestone: 8 out of 10 runs with eight steps and an even rhythm.
The first hurdle is a risk point because you run quickly at an obstacle. In a US analysis of emergency-room cases in hurdlers up to 18 years, 79 % of 749 hurdle-related injuries came from trips, falls or landings involving the apparatus [6]. So start with low hurdles and build up step by step.
Warm up thoroughly: 48 % of 357 athletes at the 2018 European Championships had had a hamstring injury at some point in their career [7]. This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training or a coach.
Rigid competition spacing already in training often leads to wrong automatisms, such as stretching the steps, which prevent a fluent clearing. The state federation therefore recommends working with initially shortened distances and bringing the athletes up slowly [1]. Shorten the distance until your rhythm is right, then go back to the competition measure centimetre by centimetre.
In basic training eight is the standard; seven only for U14 or female U16 in exceptional cases, nine when prerequisites are lacking [1]. In 110 m hurdles, runners decide on seven or eight without approach speed deviating strongly [3].
In the world federation 13.72 metres for men over 110 m hurdles, 13.00 metres for women over 100 m hurdles [5]. In youth athletics, for example, 12.00 metres (female) and 13.50 metres (male), each with its own hurdle height [2].
In sprint hurdles the trail leg, the lead leg stands behind [1]. This has consequences for the take-off: you push off into the hurdle with the trail leg.
After three to four steps, with the forward lean remaining [1]. In sprint hurdles the upper body rises earlier than in flat sprinting [4].
Do not fiddle with step length, change the start position, for example with a set-back block [1]. In training, shorten the approach and build it up bit by bit [4].
Hang Technique in the Long Jump: Flight in the Hang Position and Landing