Before you go anywhere else for hurdling videos, check out Hurdling Movies at .

The Following Videos can be purchased directly at

Hurdles (Errors & Corrections)
Explosive Sprint Drills
Developing Championship 300/400M Hurdlers
How to Develop a Championship Sprinter
Becoming a Champion Hurdler
Becoming a Champion Sprinter
Hurdle Drills for Women
Sprint Drills for Women
Hurdling: Technique and Training For Women
Sprinting: Technique and Training For Women
Hurdles
Hurdle Drills
Sprint Drills
300 & 400 Meter Hurdles
High Hurdles
Sprints, Starts and Relays
Hurdles
Hurdling: Illustrated Technique Poster
Sprinting: Illustrated Technique Poster
Fundamentals of Track and Field, 2nd Edition
The Science of Hurdling & Speed - 4th Edition
Strength Training for Track & Field
Progressions for Coaching the Hurdles
Progressions for Coaching the Sprints and Relays
Coaching High School Track & Field: Hurdles
Coaching High School Track & Field: Getting Started
Coaching High School Track & Field: Sprints & Relays

****George Matthews is a track fan in England who has footage of races dating back to 1964. If you're seeking hard-to-find race footage, he's your man. Email him at teneleven90matthews@btinternet.com to tell him what you're looking for.****

The following is a list of books and videos that provide specific hurdling instruction. I have read or seen all of them, and recommend them as beneficial for athletes and coaches alike. The biographies are stories of the lives of track athletes or coaches that I have read and found to be worth the read. There are no biographies to be found about any hurdlers, but I'm hoping to put a change to that in the near future.

Books

Videos

Biographies

Books
The Track & Field Omnibook by Ken Doherty. I own the fourth edition, but there is probably a newer edition out there by now. This book thoroughly covers all track & field events. The section on the hurdles is qiute informative, and includes an interview with Renaldo Nehemiah, and another one with Nehemiah’s high school coach. It also lists workouts, drills, stretching routines, etc. When I was in college and didn’t have a hurdle coach, this is the book I used to help me plan workouts for myself and the other hurdler on our team. It’s an oldie but a goodie, tried and true. Purchase at amazon.com.

The Hurdler’s Bible by Wilbur Ross. I own the second edition, which is still the most recent edition. This book is the definitive text for hurdling technique, training methods, and hurdle theory in general. It also serves as a good history book; if you want to know the history of the hurdles, and know the names and accomplishments of all the greats from back in the day, this is the book to get. The book’s emphasis is definitely on the men’s 110 meter high hurdles, although there are lengthy sections on women’s hurdles and the 400 meter hurdles as well. Purchase at amazon.com.

The Hurdles edited by Jess Jarver. I own the second edition, but there has been a third edition published, although I doubt that the content has changed all that much. This book features various articles on mens and women’s hurdling, both 110’s/100’s and 300’s/400’s. The articles vary in degrees of complexity. Some are very scientific, while others are more straightforward. I have found several of the articles to be useful to me in coaching boys and girls in the short and long hurdles. Purchase at amazon.com.

The Science of Hurdling and Speed by Brent McFarlane. This is a highly technical book, as the title implies, but it is very informative, as Coach McFarlane has worked with some of the best Canadian Track & Field athletes the world has ever known, including 1992 Olympic high hurdle champion Mark McKoy and 1996 100m champion Donovan Bailey. Purchase at amazon.com.

Videos
High Hurdles with Renaldo Nehemiah and Jean Poquette. This is an excellent instructional video for the 110 hurdles. Every technical problem that a hurdler might encounter is addressed in this video. Lead leg, trail leg, lead arm, trail arm, lead hand, lead foot, head, hips – every part of the body is specifically discussed by Nehemiah and his high school coach Poquette. We also see Nehemiah doing his “back and forth” workout in this video; he also talks about coming out of the blocks and driving to the first hurdle. This is a video that I find myself constantly coming back to. It seems like a simple, very straightforward video, but repeated viewings have proven to me that this video can help me to solve just about every technical problem I may encounter with one of my athletes. If you’re interested in learning an abundance of hurdle drills, then this is not the video for you. This video is all about technique. Purchase from Championship Productions.

300-400 Intermediate Hurdles with Danny Harris and Steve Lynn. This is another very good instructional video, similar to the Nehemiah video. It focuses on hurdle technique as it specifically pertains to, in this case, the long hurdles. It is the only video I’ve seen in which stride pattern in the 300’s and 400’s is specifically addressed at length. The viewer also gets a clear idea of how difficult it is to train for the long hurdle races. Purchase at Championship Productions.

The Hurdles with Dennis Shaver, track coach at LSU. This is a great video for learning drills. Several LSU athletes are featured in this video, performing the various drills. Most of the video consists of hurdle drills, plenty of which look far from easy to do. There is also some weight-room stuff on this video, as well as some plyometrics, and even some stride-length stuff. Very, very informative. There’s no way that a high school coach could use all that is shown in this video, but the point is to be able to pick out the drills and exercises that can be worked into a training program while considering time constraints and athletes’ ability levels. Purchase at Championship Productions.

Hurdling: Technique and Training for Women with Galina Bukharina. Whew! Talk about informative! This video has more drills than I would’ve thought it was possible to pack into a half an hour. It is the only video I know that is specifically geared towards women's hurdling. Purchase at Championship Productions. Purchase at Championship Productions.

Biographies

The Last Protest: Lee Evans in Mexico City by Frank Murphy. This book came out in 2006, and tells of 400 meter runner Lee Evans' experiences at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. Here's a customer review at Amazon.com:
Circle a track once. Fast as you can. Faster than anyone. Do that as your country asks'What are you?' 'Who are you with?' If the 400 meter run is magic, Frank Murphy is a magician of a writer. He tells the story of Lee Evans, a quarter miler running for the U.S. at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. The Olympics where raised fists caused fits. Heroes and villians stride through Murphy's story, but better still, there are people captured in time, making choices without certainty as to their impact, only as to the justness of their cause.
For those who lived in that era, The Last Protest is a fresh look at men America asked to bring home gold medals, display them when asked, but not ask too much for themselves.
For those who only remember seeing a photo of two men, gloved hands clenched above them, the book is a way to understand them by understanding one man that circled that track. The race sequences alone are worth the price of the book. Murphy writes with a novelist's voice, drawing you along with Evans as he runs through the duties he accepts and the distractions he endures. He places those battles in the context of this era "There was a time when a black man driving from one end of a southern state to the other, Alabama for example or Louisiana, would pack a lunch and carry his drink in a thermos." This is history writ well.
Purchase at amazon.com.

The Autobiography of Colin Jackson by Colin Jackson and David Conn. This book came out in 2001 and tells the story of the life of former 110m world record holder Colin Jackson of England. I ordered a used copy but it never came, so I just ordered a new copy from amazon.com. This is the only biography I know of that focuses on a hurdler, and since Jackson is a great human being in addition to being one of the greatest hurdlers ever, I'm sure it will be worth the read. Purchase at amazon.com.

Slaying the Dragon by Michael Johnson. This book came out shortly after Johnson's incredible achievements in the 1996 Olympic Games. It is well-written, easy to read, provides genuine motivation to keep pushing through the hard times, and practical advice on how to physically and mentally approach an individual sport like Track & Field. This book is hard to find now, but used copies are available at amazon.com.

Pre: The Story of America's Greatest Running Legend, Steve Prefontaine by Tom Jordan. Although I'm not nearly as big on distance running as I am on hurdling, Pre is an athlete for whom I have a great amount of respect. This book provides good insight into the mindset that made him such a fierce competitor and such a great athlete. Pre gave it everything he had every time he stepped on the track, whether for an international competition, local competition, or daily workout. Purchase at amazon.com.

The Perfect Mile by Neal Bascomb. This book discusses the build-up to the first four-minute mile ever run. England's Roger Bannister, America's Wes Santee, and Australia's John Landy vie to become the first middle-distance runner to break the four-minute barrier, with Bannister being the successful one. In additionally to being thoroughy researched and very engaging, the book shows that an athlete can accomplish things beyond his own beliefs if he or she is willing to make the necessary sacrifices and to push his or her body beyond its known limits. Purchase at amazon.com.

Heroes without a Country: America's Betrayal of Joe Louis and Jesse Owens by Donald McRae. This is one of the few books out there about a track athlete who isn't a distance runner. It provides a great account of the social climate in which Owens grew up and competed, exposes much of the hypocrisy of Track & Field's governing bodies at the time, and it also provides a riveting account of Owens' feat at the 1936 "Nazi Olympics." The Joe Louis stuff is cool too, as the book enables the reader to see how these two athletes, even before Jackie Robinson, pioneered athletic greatness for African-Americans at a time when blacks were, at best, second-class citizens. Purchase at amazon.com.

An Olympic Journey: The Saga of an American Hero: Leroy T. Walker by Charles Gaddy. This is the story of the life of legendary track Coach Dr. Leroy Walker, who coached some of the greatest track athletes of all time, including hurdlers Lee Calhoun and Charles Foster. Purchase at amazon.com.

A Kind of Grace: The Autobiography of the World's Greatest Female Athlete by Jackie Joyner-Kersee, with Sonja Steptoe. JJK tells the story of her life growing up in East St. Louis, all the way up through her Olympic triumphs. JJK is a true role model for women and men alike, serving as a true example of the power we all have to overcome adversity and reach our dreams as long as we maintain our willpower and have the help of caring people along the way. Purchase at amazon.com.

See How She Runs: Marion Jones and the Making of a Champion by Ron Rapoport. If you're one of the cynics who assumes Jones must have been on steroids during her peak years of 2000-01, then don't bother reading this book. But if you're willing to read a good story about an athlete's struggles to become the best at her sport, then this book is worth the read. Like the athletes in the other books on this list, it took Jones a while to find herself as an athlete, and her ability to overcome the obstacles she faced provides us with lessons we all can grow from. Purchase from amazon.com.

The following are books I haven't read myself, but look like they could be winners:

Carl Lewis: One More Victory Lap by Carl Lewis with Jeffrey Marx. This book chronicles Lewis' last Olympic go-round in 1996 at the age of 35. Purchase from amazon.com.

The Greatest: The Haile Gebrselassie Story by Jim Denison. The story of Ethiopian distance star Haile Gebrselassie's rise to international prominence as one of the greatest distance runners who ever lived. Purchase from amazon.com.

Wilma Rudolph: A Biography by Maureen Smith. From amazon.com's book description: Wilma Rudolph was born into a large family and struggled with health problems for the first several years of her life, including polio. Though she had trouble even walking, her love of sport and movement motivated her to rehabilitate her legs. Rudolph would blossom into athletic talent and after earning a scholarship to Tennessee State, qualified for the 1960 Olympic Games where she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in track and field. Purchase at amazon.com.

Man Who Could Fly: The Bob Beamon Story by Bob Beamon. From the BookList review on amazon.com: In this refreshing biography, Olympian Bob Beamon begins by recounting the "complicated mess" of his difficult childhood. His mother died shortly after his birth, and he spent his formative years in an abusive household with an uncaring grandmother and an alcoholic father. Amazingly, this scraggly inner-city New Yorker, who teetered on the edge of juvenile delinquency, rose to Olympic stardom. His remarkable long jump of more than 29 feet at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City remains an Olympic record. In addition to his track career, Beamon retraces his bumpy life, including his college days at the University of Texas in El Paso, where he and other black athletes not only faced racism from townspeople and peers but from the school's athletic director who "fondly" called the athletes "niggers." While Beamon admits to making "bad choices" during his lifetime (including four failed marriages), he says he eventually put his life in order because he "refused to stay down." An inspirational and sports biography. Purchase at amazon.com.

This page was last updated January 18, 2007

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