THE USE OF MOTION ANALYSIS AS A COACHING AID TO IMPROVE THE INDIVIDUAL TECHNIQUE IN SPRINT HURDLES

Abstract

Biomechanical data are oflen presented as a group average, which may not always help individual athletes to improve their own performance. The purpose of this study was to analyse techniques in sprint hurdles within the athlete and find critical individual aspects, which influence performance. The hurdle clearance of three athletes (eight trials each) were videotaped with four video camera recorders and analysed three-dimensionally. There were several statistically significant correlations between the critical overall horizontal velocity and other variables, especially for one athlete. Such trends in individual performance presented ideas to coaches, athletes and also to researchers, regarding what happened in less successful runs and which technical points were worth individual attention in training.