Raising the Hurdles

[dal4018]

The boys were 42-inch until some time around 1940.

I always thought the standard for boys was '33 inches when I was in high school???????

[cacique]

are you people insane??? I WANT TO LOWER THE MEN"S HURDLES. as it is, the event is for freaks only right now. i'd like to see some more average folks in it.

but yeah, raise both the women's 100 and 400 hurdles.

[EZSum]

Haven't you guys watched Stefan Holm on Youtube? I reckon they should raise the men's hurdles to 72".

[mojo]

Nettey's time was over the 30" hurdles not the 33".

I only got to do 30" 100mH once at a meet in Salem Oregon-what a blast that was! I ran 13.6 (it was a crumbling cinder track but then many of the tracks we ran on back then were! :lol: )

As a 100mH hurdler in HS (14.3) I feel that the hurdles should definitely stay at 33"for Junior age athletes and the spacing should not change either. I would have no objection to high school meets running the hurdles at 30" (although for regular meets I would do 33").

I feel the high school program should be geared to athletes who are not in clubs or training year round.
I would change the 400mH to 300mH for high school meets as well. In club meets I would do regulation heights and distances.

I agree with 110 hedge.

Off topic but Nettey long jumped 6.09 last night.

I coach a girl who is not too far behind her now with a PB of 5.95 (same age). 8-) 8-)

[rainy.here]

The average college - all colleges, all hurdlers - 100Her is in the 15-16 seconds range -.

Surely these are not athletes on scholarships. These are mediocre times which would not make it to the finals of the Ontario High School Championships, a meet where Felicien once ran 13.43 and Jessica Zelinka 13.79. Athletes running the times you're talking about are too slow to be on a track team, sorry. :wink:

Christabel Netty (from BC) ran 13.49 last year. She graduates this year. Of course, she and her older sister could both LJ over 6m when they were in grade 9.

[paulthefan]

nah, raise them to 45 for the men but keep the women's the same.

[tandfman]

Note that at the usatf they are running the junior women at 33"

Women's 400m Hurdles (33 in.)

http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAJun ... status.asp

If this is not an error, there will be some surprised young women. The men are still running 36" so it isn't an equality thing.

That must be an error.

[kuha]

Re: Raising the Hurdles

I have always thought they should raise boys HS hurdles to the 42' standard and raise womens hurdles to 36' inches? Thoughts

Nope. That's be too high for your AVERAGE HS hurdler (think 17-18 seconds - that's average, not even below average). But I definitely think that the Intl women's hurdles should be 36".

Agree. The 39" height is good--as Marlow says--for "average" HS hurdlers. Speaking personally, the 39" height was a real test; 42" was impossible. The women's height should be 36"

[GeorgiaFan1]

Note that at the usatf they are running the junior women at 33"

Women's 400m Hurdles (33 in.)

http://www.usatf.org/events/2009/USAJun ... status.asp

If this is not an error, there will be some surprised young women. The men are still running 36" so it isn't an equality thing.

[Marlow]

The women's hurdle is just too low to hit. The only reason most women fall is because their stride is off, not because they aren't high enough. Men try to stay lower over the hurdle precisely because it is higher (relative to their CoG), so they do tend to scrape it more - Kingdom being the prime example of that.

The '8th hurdle' comment is about how high some women get over the hurdles, especially at the end of the 400H, when they're tired and more afraid of hitting a hurdle. When I ran the 440H, I do believe I would have cleared 48" hurdles at the 9th and 10th, because they sure seemed that high.

[sprintblox]

Again, is 2 feet really that much? I don't think it is, others disagree.

If you don't think it is much, try shortening the men's spacing by 2 feet and see what happens.

Why would you think that both men and women can effectively 3-step with the same distance between hurdles?

[26mi235]

I am a bit out of my depth compared to most of the posters here but I have an observation and a guess at the interpretation.

The men hit the hurdles much more often then the women hurdlers do (I am seeing high-level competition primarily). Is this because the cost of hitting the hurdle are greater for women than for men? Does this, in part, come from the women's hurdles often being set at too high a tipping force and hence does not allow them to push through the hurdle and hence they learn to clear the hurdle by more? Is the women's hurdle height effectively 'higher' as a result (and is this related to the comment about the 8th hurdle in the w400m)?

[110hedgeNYC]

folks, sorry but I think your discussion on the current high school standards and hurdle heights is pointless and beside the issue.

I say, keep the high school setting as they are. these are fine, for high school.

the transition should occur at the college and international level.

and, I do think it makes sense to raise the women's 100 hurdles to 36". the women's 400 hurdles could also go from 30 to 33".

regards distance between: remember, the distance for the 110 hurdles does NOT CHANGE between high school 39" and college/international 42".

An this basis, I do not see the need for change the distances of the women's 100 hurdles.

look at Jackie Joyner, or say, Karoline Kluft, both are extremely tall, incredible powerful, all around athletes that have efficiently adjusted to the constraints of hurdling. both could have essentially run the same race over 36" barriers.

part of the art of high hurdling is the stride pattern. look at the variance in heights for men's world class hurdlers: F. Swartoff of Germany was 6'7" and he ran 13.06; Mark McKoy, Colin Jackson, Terrence Trammell and Allen Johnson are much shorter - and they are clearly among the best in history in the event. this is part of the beauty of the 110 hurdles race.

for women, however, pure sprint speed is a much greater predictor of success than it is for men's high hurdles. technique and leaping ability, also ability to efficiently negotiate and constrainted stride pattern, are less influencial factors in the women's 100 hurdles.

i think that raising the women's 100 hurdles to 36", and keeping everything else the same would make the women's race more interesting, and give it greater separation from the flat sprint discipline.

[Speedfirst]

Yeah most of the HS girls are 3 stepping, especially the top level ones.

The "top level ones" don't represent the average or the majority. If you believe that "most" of the girls are 3-stepping then I have to assume your experience is mostly with large invites and championship-season meets, where the MINORITY of kids are competing. Go to any dual meet, small invite, or league championship meet in California and I'll bet you good money that you'll see more than half of the 100h girls 4 or 5-stepping at least part of the race.

I am referring to large invites amd championship meets, sorry for not stating that. But I definitely have the girls I coach 3 step, including Jr. high.

Then you misstated when you said most of the top level ones are 3-stepping. ALL of the top-level girls are 3-stepping. Now go look at my numbers again and tell me what %-age are 3-stepping - a small minority, I'd say the girls under 17.

I would agree on the small percentage based upon the list. You however have some 3 steppers who because they are still developing, the times are slower than those who are more developed.

[Marlow]

Yeah most of the HS girls are 3 stepping, especially the top level ones.

The "top level ones" don't represent the average or the majority. If you believe that "most" of the girls are 3-stepping then I have to assume your experience is mostly with large invites and championship-season meets, where the MINORITY of kids are competing. Go to any dual meet, small invite, or league championship meet in California and I'll bet you good money that you'll see more than half of the 100h girls 4 or 5-stepping at least part of the race.

I am referring to large invites amd championship meets, sorry for not stating that. But I definitely have the girls I coach 3 step, including Jr. high.

Then you misstated when you said most of the top level ones are 3-stepping. ALL of the top-level girls are 3-stepping. Now go look at my numbers again and tell me what %-age are 3-stepping - a small minority, I'd say the girls under 17.