Leaning vs. bending

We've talked quite a bit about lean vs. bend lately. Here are some images that help show what we're talking about. All of these shots are about 6 inches after takeoff.

Here is David Oliver, fastest U.S. hurdler. You can see the full extension he gets. Lots of lean without nearly any bend. When you see guys like this hurdling, you get the impression of a bend when you see them on top of their lead leg as they cross the hurdle, but it's just continued lean, which starts right here. This provides tremendous power into and off the hurdle.

Here is Jonathon. Shin angle is pretty good. Not much different than Oliver, but then you see the hinging at the knee because the hip was not pushed forward. He tries to compensate for that by bending slightly. You also see the  lower leg escaping on the lead leg, which also forces the lead arm to extend more than needed to compensate for the swinging lead leg. A better leg action may be all that is needed to correct this. You can push the hips forward when the lead leg straightening out this soon.





Here is Brandon. He's a high school hurdler -- and was a big bender. He has improved since this was shot last year, but this bend is extreme. You lose a lot of push into the hurdle when folding into the hurdle. To his credit, he's doing a great job of keeping the lead leg tucked under, but the bending causes several problems. Bend reduces takeoff power because push off is more upward despite the illusion of lean created by bend. When lean is reduced, you have slower clearances and getaways. Insufficient lean also stresses the hip flexor and hamstring, which also may lead to lateral arm action to compensate for fatigue, weakness or inflexibility in those areas.

Here's Kevin. He was a lead foot swinger, too. But he has a decent lean here and is pushing the hip forward pretty well. Not bending; just not fully extending at knee joint. With better lead leg action, he might have been able to get a lean like Oliver.

Bottom line: triple extension in ankle, knee and hip contributes to better force vectors for more power and faster clearances and getaways.

Note to women: This doesn't apply as much in women's hurdles because the lower height requires less lean. Slight lean is needed -- but again, don't bend.