| Women began contesting the 3000 m steeplechase during the 1990's
using barriers of different dimensions than men. Whenever a new event
is introduced for women, consideration should be taken as to whether
different technique or training methods should be utilized. This study
investigated three aspects of hurdling technique: 1) Differences in
the ratio of the landing step to the penultimate step between men
and women around each non-water jump steeplechase barrier, 2) differences
in step lengths between the four non-water jump barriers, and 3) changes
in the step lengths around the barrier throughout the race. The step
lengths around the 28 non-water jump barriers of the top seven men
and women at the 2003 USA Track and Field Championships were measured
using a two-dimensional analysis. A t-test determined any differences
between men and women for the ratio of the landing to penultimate
steps. A 2x4 repeated measures ANOVA tested for differences between
the four non-water jump barriers. Linear regression tested for changes
in step lengths throughout the race. Men exhibited a smaller ratio
between the lengths of the landing to penultimate steps than women
(0.73 ± 0.09 and 0.77 ± 0.10 for men and women respectively,
p = 0.002). No step length differences were observed between the four
barriers in the step lengths around each barrier (p = 0.192 and p
= 0.105 for men and women respectively). Athletes gradually increased
the total length of all steps around the barriers throughout the race
(R2 = 0.021, p = 0.048 and R2 = 0.137, p <
0.001 for men and women respectively). The smaller ratio between landing
to penultimate steps shows that the barriers affect women less than
men. There may be a need to train men and women differently for the
non-water jump barriers in the steeplechase or slightly alter racing
strategy.
KEY
WORDS: Gender, physical endurance, running, track.
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