Hurdling is also pretty rad

All year I look forward to the Track&Field season because of one event: the 400meter hurdles, with which I have a love-hate relationship. A lap around the track, ten obstacles to jump... who wouldn't want to do it?

Physics has helped me become a better hurdler. What a lot of people do when they start learning is they overestimate how high the hurdles are - I certainly did - and focus on jumping up rather than forward. This takes a lot more energy and slows you down a lot, since you're launching into the air at a higher angle (technically, air time doesn't change, but it affects your time to the next hurdle).

But when you practice for a while, you get more confident at jumping lower over the hurdle, until you're pretty much stepping over it super quickly. With a lower launch angle, you can save energy and time before moving to the next hurdle, which will get you a better time overall.