News
Hurdle Clinics
15/11/2023 00:00, In Blog / Track & Field /
Earlier this month athletes and their coaches once again attended Hurdle Clinics, which was put on by Pathway Lead and National Talent Development Coordinator for Sprints, Rhys Williams. The South Wales session took place in Swansea Indoor athletics track and was led by coaches Derrick Stephenson and Mike Guest, with over 20 athletes and their coaches in attendance. The following day, the clinic took place at Deeside in North Wales, which was led by coach Tania Williams.
The session's aim was to further assist athletes and coaches in their preparations for this season’s indoor competition.
Coach Derrick Stephenson who co-led the South Wales session, emphasised the importance of such sessions for development athletes:
The aims of this first hurdle clinic of this season was to provide the athletes and coaches in attendance with guidance and opportunities to practice key aspects of acceleration, as well as identifying the optimum take-off and landing points for the approach to the first hurdle, and to establish and maintain rhythm and timing over subsequent hurdles.
Although the athletes were of different ages and stages of development, everybody demonstrated enthusiasm and a willingness to learn, throughout the session.
The next session in Spring 2024 will provide further opportunities for developing athletes to build on the key technical points, required for effective hurdling, for both the short and long events.
Rhys Williams, Welsh Athletics Pathway Lead and National Talent Development Coordinator for Sprints, shared:
" very much enjoy these sessions and I hope that the athletes and coaches do also. I liked how our coaches broke down the event specifics and gave individualised feedback to the athletes present. I could visually see improvements with every run for some athletes who are in their development stage as an athlete. It was great to see how small adjustments can make a big difference.
The next hurdle workshops will be held once again next March for athletes and their coaches and those eager to learn.