Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify the best hurdle interval distance for 4th-grade elementary school students to run in three easy steps, and to investigate the effect of P.E. lessons based on this method on the students’ hurdle-running velocity. Four lessons were conducted with the following objective: to help students become able to jump vigorously and run with a high step frequency over a course based on a hurdle interval distance that students can run in three easy steps. In the second and fourth lessons, we measured the following items for a 40-meter hurdle course: race time, hurdling velocity, and running velocity. The main findings were as follows: 1)The best hurdle interval distance for hurdling with three easy steps was in the range 3.0 to 5.0 m. 2)Improved hurdle record correlated positively with improved hurdle-interval step frequency (r=.30, p<.05), but did not correlate positively with improved hurdle-interval step length (r=.16, n.s.). 3)This study revealed the importance of the choice of hurdle interval in running three fast steps. These findings suggest that the learning content applied in this study and the use of a hurdle interval distance students can run in three easy steps constitute an appropriate instruction method.
