Beginner Triple Jump Training Sessions

This blog follows on from the previous one which looked at introducing the Triple Jump to young athletes.

Step into Triple Jump – a guide for coaches introducing the event to young athletes

I am currently working with an U15 Triple Jump Development Group in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire area, seeing the athletes once every three weeks. This blog outlines examples of the training sessions that will be used during the October to March period to get the young athletes competition ready for next season. To begin with I’ve outlined a suggested Dynamic Warm Up routine that includes speed drills and Triple Jump ‘lead up’ drills including some basic low intensity ‘baby’ bounding, skipping and hopping drills that help condition the body to triple jump. This is then followed by 8 progressive training sessions that will help prepare young athletes to take part in competitions. The training sessions can be used as part of a ‘run, jump, throw’ programme for Under 15 athletes in a club setting.

Warming up for Triple Jump

Warming up properly is a necessary prerequisite for taking part in any sports activities especially those like Triple Jump that involve fast and explosive movements. The Warm Up will start off with a series of low level general jogging and skipping activities, include some dynamic flexibility and mobility work, include Speed and Jump specific drills and then move in to the main technical part of the session. For young athletes a good repertoire of movement skills included as part of the warm up can also help improve other essential ingredients of the Triple Jump like posture, coordination, speed and strength. I tend to break the warm up into four parts:

Part One – General movements

The first part of the warm up should include jogging and low level skipping drills. Mark out a 50 metre zone with cones. The athletes carry out a range of general movements up and down the zone – jog 50m, skip 50m, jog and arm circles 50m, sideways skips and so on. Do this for around five minutes.

Part Two – Dynamic Stretching

Dr Anne Rex from the Cleveland Clinic explains that, ‘Dynamic Flexibility’ focuses on actively moving the joints and muscles (usually 10 to 12 repetitions for any given dynamic stretch) with sport-specific motions targeting necessary muscle groups to increase the power, flexibility and range of motion needed for enhanced performance. She goes on to explain that the benefits of warming up dynamically include:

The increase of body heat and blood flow loosens muscles and tendons. This improves overall power and strength performance.
It prepares the muscles by practicing the movements that will be required of them. This means the muscles are well engaged and ready for a quick sport-specific response.
It improves the flexibility needed for the specific sport by increasing the range of motion around the joints. Over time, this will maximize performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Here are some drills that I use with young Triple Jumpers. These are carried out in a 10/20 metre zone. Each drill is followed by a walk back to the start recovery.

Toe and Heel walks – Walking on the toes and heels, forwards, backwards and laterally, helps improve the strength of the ligaments, tendons and joints on the feet and ankles which are necessary for absorbing the forces that occur in Triple Jump, Hop and Step landings.

123 High Knee Grab – at walking pace pull the knee towards the chest every third step. Keep the standing foot flat on the ground and the torso erect. Stretches the gluteal muscles.

123 Extended heel to butt – as above but this time pull the heel towards the butt every third step. Stretches the quadriceps.

Inch Worm – with your hands and feet on the ground and limbs extended as in the push up position, walk the feet toward the hands while keeping the legs straight. Then, walk the hands forward while keeping arms and legs extended. A great exercise for stretching the whole body especially the Hamstrings.

Lunges – Like Inch Worm, Lunges work a range of muscle groups including the abdominals, glutes, thighs, hips, and calves. Adding a broom handle to the movements by holding the arms above the head will also stretch upper body muscles in your arms, chest, and shoulder.

Hurdle Walkovers are another good way to mobilise the Hip region. There are a whole range of hurdle walk over drills including single leg and alternating leg walkovers, over and backs, “over unders”, lateral and backwards. The drills are also a great way to improve core stability, posture, ankle ligament strength and overall balance.

Part 3 – Speed Drills

Young Triple Jumpers need to be able to run fast on the run up, although they do not need to generate as much speed as would be required to Long Jump successfully. The speed required in the Triple Jump needs to be much more controlled to ensure that the three phases of the jump are balanced and coordinated. It is essential therefore that training for speed improvement and proper sprint mechanics are part and parcel of coaching sessions.

These drills are done in a 20 metre zone.

Mini Pedals – the athlete is encouraged to make a cycling/pedalling action with low heel recovery and knee lift. The feet turnover quickly on the ground

Midi Pedals – as above with a slightly higher knee lift and heel recovery

Maxi Pedals – this time the knees come through high and the heel recovery is almost touching the ‘butt’

A Skips – Start off doing this drill as an A High Knee March , keeping the torso tall and the arms moving as in the sprint action. March forward keeping the thigh high and parallel to the ground and keep the toes pointed up towards the knee in a ‘Dorsi-Flexed’ position. While marching concentrate on a fast downward movement, striking the ground with the ball of the foot.

Move from a marching movement on to a small skipping movement landing on the same foot and then switching legs.

B Skips – The B Skip is very similar to the A Skip except that when the thigh is in a high parallel position the lower leg is then extended and pulled back to the ground quickly in a clawing like action. The toes should stay pointed upwards when the leg is extended and the foot strike following the clawing action should aim to land underneath the hip.

The action can be practiced by simply doing a ‘marching’ action first to get the feel of the leg extending and then clawing downwards back to the ground.

Part 4 – Triple Jump Lead Ups

As mentioned in the previous blog building low intensity skipping, galloping and bounding drills into warm up routines are essential for young athletes to learn the correct way to land in the Hop and Step phases of the Triple Jump. Athletes need to make single leg ‘flat foot’ contacts on the ground to cushion the impact of the Hop and Step landings.

Straight Leg Bounds – The athlete bounds forward with their legs straight and toes pointing up – dorsi flexed – performed in a scissor type movement. The athlete should keep the upper body erect – no leaning back – with the arms moving in a sprint like action. The emphasis should be on the downward movement, done quickly and forcefully.

Low Skips for Distance – The idea here is to skip forward horizontally and quickly covering as much ground as possible with each skip. The thigh action in each skip is kept below the level of the hip in a blocked position. The foot should be ‘dorsi – flexed’ and striking the ground in a rolling flat foot action.

Gallops – like ‘low skips for distance’ teaching young athletes to gallop is an excellent way of reinforcing the rolling flat foot ground contact. Galloping includes a vertical element to the drill while also maintaining horizontal displacement. When athletes are confident with the movement pattern of the drill, small 6” hurdles can be introduced – each hurdle should be about 3 metres apart. The thigh action should remain in a blocked position below the level of the hip.

Bounding – Bounding is like an exaggerated running stride where the athlete lands in a rolling flat foot position instead of the ball of the foot. Learning to bound is essential if athletes wish to do well at Triple Jump. One of the best ways to introduce bounding is by asking the athletes to run forward initially, striking the ground with a full foot ‘flat’ contact This is then progressed into a ‘Baby Bound’ where the athlete will continue to switch legs but will feel that they are pushing both horizontally and vertically off the ground. Once the athlete can do this in a consistent manner then challenges can be set that aid further progression, for example, increasing the distance covered with each bound, bounding over 3/4 small 6” hurdles starting with a 2 metre space between each hurdle or marking out a distance of 15/20m and seeing how many bounds it takes to cover the distance…

Hopping – As in the bounding progressions start off with ‘baby’ hops focusing on flat foot landings. From the beginning encourage the athletes to try and make a cycling action with their free leg (non take off leg) rather than a kick back action. Start off with three consecutive hops each around 1 to 1.5 metres and as the athlete becomes more proficient, increase the distance between the hops. Focus on driving forward horizontally with each Hop rather than hopping for height. Try to keep the torso erect on each take off.

Hop and Step combinations – As the young jumper becomes more skilled at bounding and hopping the next progression is to introduce combinations of hops and steps (bounds). Here are some examples:

Walk into a Hop followed by a Step
Jog into a Hop followed by a Step
Then progress to walk on and jog on Hop, Step, Step
Try a Hop followed by Step followed by Hop, followed by step…
Then go for, Hop, Hop, Hop, Step, Step, Step

Be creative and add other combinations.

Walking and Jog on Triple Jumps – The next progression is to move to ‘walk on’ and ‘jog on’ triple jumps on the run up with the final landing into the sand pit. Start with ‘walk on’ first using four steps and then move on to four to six ‘jog on’ approaches. Remember to use coloured cones and the 35:30:35 ratios outlined in the previous blog to reinforce balanced jumps. During walking on and jogging approaches emphasise good posture as they approach the take off, keep the hips high, the chest up and the head in a neutral position. Get the athlete to feel that they are moving forwards off the Hop phase, keeping low and horizontal rather than ‘hopping’ high and up.

Example Beginner Sessions

Start each session with a variety of the general movement, dynamic flexibility work and speed drills outlined previously. The main part of each session is then broken into two parts:

Lead Up Drills
Short Approach Jumps

The session should end with a Cool Down including some easy jogging and skipping and some gentle static stretches.

Session 1

Lead Ups

3 x 20m Low fast skips
3 x 20m Low Gallops
3 x 20m Flat Foot runs
3 x 20m Baby Bounds

Short Approach Jumps

8 x Standing Triple Jumps – do 4 hopping with the Right Foot and 4 on the Left foot – ask the athlete which felt more comfortable. Measure some of the jumps to give athletes an idea of their distance achieved
4 x 2 step walk on Triple Jumps off preferred foot

Session 2

Lead Ups

3 x 3 consecutive low hops – Right Foot
3 x 3 consecutive low hops – Left Foot
3 x 20m Baby Bounds
6 x Walk on Hop – Step combinations

Short Approach Jumps

6 x Walk on Triple Jumps – Using 4 walk on steps
6 x 4 Jog on Triple Jumps – measure the last three to give athletes some idea of distance achieved and compare with measured standing jumps from the first session.

Session 3

Lead Ups

2 x 30m Low Fast Skips followed by 2 x 30m Gallops over the same distance
Standing 5 consecutive bounds using markers at 1.5 metre intervals – 3 reps
4 Step – Walk On consecutive bounds extending markers to 2 metres apart – 3 reps

Short Approach Jumps

3 x 4 stride Triple Jumps – using a’jog on’ approach
3 x 4 stride Triple Jumps – using a faster controlled ‘run on’ approach
3 x 6 stride Triple Jumps – trying to add a little bit more speed from the previous 4 stride jumps. Measure the three jumps and record best performance.

Session 4

Lead Ups

4 x 15m Mini Hops – each Hop about 1.5m, two using Right foot and two using left foot
Two step walk on x 3 consecutive bounds over 6” Mini Hurdles spaced 1.5/2m apart – 6 repetitions
Walking Hop – Step, Hop – Step, Hop – Step combination sequence – a good way to introduce this is by getting the athletes to do the sequence across the track where each Hop and Step lands on the white lane line.

Short approach Jumps

6/8 x 6 stride approach Triple Jumps – mark out the ratios for a 8.50m Jump – Hop landing = 2.97m, Step landing = 5.52m, Jump landing = 8.50m. Give feedback on how well the athletes are hitting the ratios. Measure the jumps.

Session 5

Lead Ups

6 x Standing Single Leg Long Jumps into pit taking off on leg used for jump phase of Triple Jump
6 x Hop Step on Track with 4 step run on
6 x Standing Hop, Hop, Step, Jump into pit – 3 off each leg

Short Approach Jumps

3 x 6 stride approach Triple Jumps – Mark out the ratios for a 8.50m Jump as in previous week
3 x 8 stride approach Triple Jumps – Mark our ratios for a 9m Jump: Hop at 3.15m, Step at 5.85m and Jump at 9m. Measure the jumps.

Session 6

Lead Ups

4 x 20m low skips
4 x 20m gallops
4 x 20m Hop, Step Step combinations

Short Approach Jumps

4 x 4 stride approach Triple Jumps
4 x 8 stride approach Triple Jumps – Mark our ratios for a 9m Jump as in the previous session

Session 7

Lead Ups

4 x 5 consecutive bounds for distance
4 x 2 step walk on Triple Jumps into pit
4 x Standing Hop, Hop, Step, Step, Jump into pits – two starting on right foot and two on left

Short Approach Jumps

4 x 8 stride approach Triple Jumps – Mark our ratios for a 9m Jump: Hop at 3.15m, Step at 5.85m and Jump at 9m. Measure the jumps.
Extend run up to 10 stride and try a few attempts at this longer run up. Monitor the jumps to ensure ratios are being maintained. Decide if the athletes are ready to use a 10 stride approach or would be better staying at 8 strides.

Session 8

Lead Ups

3 x 20m Hop – Step sequence
3 x 20m – Hop, Step, Step – Hop, Step, Step…
2 x – Hop, Hop Hop, Step, Step, Step – start with right foot hops
2 x Hop, Hop Hop, Step, Step, Step – start with left foot hops

Short Approach Jumps

Competition rehearsal – mark out 8 or 10 stride run up for each athlete, check each run up for accuracy on board making any necessary adjustments.
Do a few easy practice jumps off a 4 stride approach prior to the practice competition
Under competition rules each athlete takes 4 x 8/10 stride approach Triple Jumps – measure and record each distance.

Finally – this blog has set out to allow young athletes learning the Triple Jump to follow a set of coaching sessions under the guidance of a Coach to prepare them to take part in their first competition. I have deliberately not given too much technical information regarding the four phases of the jump – the approach, the Hop, the Step and the Jump – other than emphasising flat foot landings and balanced ratios in each of the phases. The next Blog will focus on basic technical information on each phase including the run up and offer some advice on the use of the arms for young athletes and how to remedy faults.

Feedback appreciated. Happy Leaping. 😀

Further Resources

Dr A Rex, Cleveland Clinic – ‘Why Dynamic Stretching is Best for Your Young Athlete’ – https://health.clevelandclinic.org/dynamic-stretching-best

The Importance of Sprint Form
By: Aaron McAndrew Fern Creek Traditional H.S. Louisville, KY http://www.iatccc.org/notes/mcandrew.pdf

Aaron King (2019) – 6 Simple Drills for teaching sprint technique https://kingsportstraining.com/simple-drills-for-teaching-sprint-technique

Digital Track and Field: Track and Field Jumping Progression Triple Jump https://digitaltrackandfield.com/track-and-field-jumping-progression-triple-jump/

Mario Gomez (2017) – These three simple jumping drills are the only ones you need https://simplifaster.com/articles/jumping-drills/

John Shepherd (2009) – 101 Youth Athletics Drills – Triple Jump Pages 88-94

Gerry Carr (1999) – Fundamentals of Track and Field – 2nd Edition – Chapter 9 Triple Jump Pages 155 to 169

Darren Wensor, Triple Jump phase landings quick reference guide available to buy as an e booklet from: https://coachingyoungathletes.com/triple-jump-phase-landings-quick-reference-guide/

Step into Triple Jump – a guide for coaches introducing the event to young athletes

The Triple Jump as the name suggests is made up of three consecutive phases – a Hop, followed by a Step (or Bound which more accurately describes the action) and ending with a Jump. Male athletes in the UK can take part in Triple Jump competitions once they have reached Under 15 level. (School year 8 and 9). Recently the event has been gaining increasing popularity in the UK mainland among young female athletes since its inclusion in the national championships in England, Scotland and Wales. The South of England AA and the Midland Counties AA include it in their regional championships and many county associations have followed suit. At English Schools level it is included in the Junior Boys programme but not as yet as an event for Junior Girls.

A note about safety

Before attempting the event in a competitive environment young athletes need to receive a series of ‘lead up’ coaching sessions that gradually and safely introduce the event. Many young athletes will have gained their first taste of Triple Jump through taking part in the standing version of the event at Sports Hall athletics competitions and this is a good starting point to progress the event further.

Due to the forces placed on young growing joints, it is important that a variety of low level jump conditioning activities are included in the lead up to trying the event before using a run up particularly activities that teach the athlete to land properly in a ‘flat foot’ position at the end of the Hop and Step phases. Activities that emphasise good posture and coordination are also essential ingredients in preparation to learning the event.

Lead up activities

Building low intensity ‘baby’ bounding drills into warm up routines is a good way to start. Young athletes need to be taught how to make these single leg ‘flat foot’ contacts on the ground to cushion the impact of each landing phase. To get this flat foot contact a good cue is to tell the athlete to ‘lead with the heel’, keeping the toe up in a ‘dorsi flexed’ position. This will allow their foot to naturally come down on the surface with a full foot and flat contact. All too often young athletes will land on the ball of their foot with their toes pointing down. This puts a lot of strain on the ankle and knee ligaments and can cause injury. They must be taught to point their toes up and land flat before moving on to triple jumps with a run up.

Skipping and Galloping drills are also a good way to teach the flat foot ground contact. Get the athletes to skip and gallop low and fast over distances of 15 to 30 metres concentrating on pointing their toes upwards and getting their foot back down to the ground as fast as possible.

Single leg low intensity hopping drills over short distances from 10 to 20 metres can also be included in lead up activities. As in the ’baby’ bounding and skipping drills focus on flat foot ground contacts. Hop ‘low’ and ‘out’ rather than ‘high’ and ‘up’. Try and keep the arms moving quickly in tandem with the legs.

Coaching the basic Triple Jump sequence

Normally an athlete will have a preference as to which leg to take off from. Most triple jump coaches would advocate that the athlete takes off from their strongest leg usually the one they Long Jump off. It makes sense as this will mean that two of the three parts of the total jump – the Hop and Step – will be performed by the athlete’s stronger leg. Sometimes a young athlete may not know which is their stronger leg so a good way to test this is to ask them to do three standing hops on one leg and then repeat on the other leg. Their stronger leg is the one that produced the longer distance. If both are equal which is sometimes the case ask them what leg felt more comfortable and go with that to begin with.

A good way to cue the athlete to perform the Triple Jump sequence is to say:

Same leg – Same Leg – Other Leg – Both Legs

SAME = Hop Take off,

SAME = Hop Landing/Step Take off

OTHER = Step Landing/Jump Take off

BOTH = Jump Landing

Placing coloured markers on the ground is a good way to reinforce the Same/Same/Other/Both sequence so we have Red – Red – Blue – Red/Blue

RED = Hop Take off,

RED = Hop Landing/Step Take off

BLUE = Step Landing/Jump Take off

RED/BLUE = Jump Landing

Balanced phases from the start

The ‘Step’ phase is probably the most difficult for young athletes to get right at the beginning. The usual pattern for youngsters attempting the Triple Jump is a ‘high hop’ followed by a short ‘pokey step’ leading to the jump. The high hop is usually a result of the athlete taking off as if they are doing the Long Jump. This results in the leg collapsing as they land out of the Hop and they then try to regain their balance by simply poking their other leg out in front of them in a very short step phase. Young jumpers should be encouraged to hop low and out, keeping the thigh as parallel to the ground as possible in the Step with an active ‘pawing’ type action on landing before going into the jump phase. Keeping low through the Hop phase will maintain horizontal speed throughout the jump and this should be continually reinforced with young athletes learning the event.

Even with experienced jumpers the step phase is usually the shortest of the three phases. Analysis of triple jumpers reveals that to achieve a well balanced jump the ratio between the three phases should be approximately:

Hop = 35% – Step = 30% – Jump = 35%

When teaching beginners it is best to focus on the young athlete meeting these ratios as much as possible.

Standing Triple Jumps

Place the coloured markers as above using the ratios and perform a standing jump. This can be done on the track, on dry grass or on an AstroTurf surface. Here are the distances at the end of each phase for 5m, 6m and 7m standing jumps:

5m: Hop – 1.75m, Step – 3.25m, Jump – 5.00m

6m: Hop – 2.10m, Step – 3.90m, Jump – 6.00m

7m: Hop – 2.45m, Step – 4.55m, Jump – 7.00m

Walking and Jogging Triple Jumps

The next progression is to move to ‘walk on’ and ‘jog on’ triple jumps on the run up with the final landing into the sand pit. Start with ‘walk on’ first using four steps and then move on to four to six ‘jog on’ approaches. Continue to use the coloured cones and 35:30:35 ratios to reinforce balanced jumps. During walking on and jogging approaches emphasise good posture as they approach the take off, keep the hips high, the chest up and the head in a neutral position. Get the athlete to feel that they are moving forwards off the Hop phase, keeping low and horizontal rather than ‘hopping’ high and up.

Here are some more ratios for slightly longer overall jumps:

7.50m: Hop – 2.63m, Step – 4.87m, Jump – 7.50m

8.00m: Hop – 2.80m, Step – 5.20m, Jump – 8.00m

Moving to a proper run up

When the young athlete is confident doing the Triple Jump using a ‘jogging’ approach it is then time to move on to a quicker one. Gradually progress from 4 strides to 6 and move on to 8 and 10 over several coaching sessions.

How far athletes take off from the pit is determined by the fact that they need to land safely in the sand. I have seen many young athletes in competitions taking off too far away from the pit causing themselves injuries by failing to reach the sand in the jump phase. A good rule of thumb as to how far back the take off mark should be is based on the overall distance the athlete can jump. If lead up activities are followed then the coach can reasonably predict how far the athlete will jump off a longer and quicker approach run. I usually insist on athletes safely landing in the sand pit by at least 1.50m. This means that if a beginner athlete can Jump 7.50m then it it is safe for them to take off from a mark 6 metres from the sand pit. A 7m take off line/board can be used when they can jump at least 8.50m; a 9m board when they reach 10.50m and so on.

Some more ratios:

8.50m: Hop – 2.97m, Step – 5.52m, Jump – 8.50m

9.00m: Hop – 3.15m, Step – 5.85m, Jump – 9.00m

9.50m: Hop – 3.32m, Step – 6.17m, Jump – 9.50m

10m: Hop – 3.50m, Step 6.50m, Jump – 10.00m

How long should the run up be?

In a previous blog I suggested as a guide that the run up for a young athlete beginning Triple Jump should be their age minus two strides. I prefer using even number steps in the approach run up so this would mean that a 14 year old athlete would use a maximum of 12 strides and a 16 year old would use a 14 stride approach. It is always better to have a shorter run when learning the event where the focus is on maintaining good ratios in each of the phases and good posture. Even at world elite level the run up for men and women is on average about two strides shorter than Long Jump approaches.

The run up – how long should it be for young athletes?

Introducing young athletes to Triple Jump competitions

When the young athlete can handle a fuller run up and has had a number of good practice sessions over three to six months, it is probably time then to enter them for their first competition. Being able to jump around 8.50m is probably a safe starting point for competitive jumping. The closest board to the pit in most standard tracks is 9 metres away from the sand pit. A few tracks have boards at 7 metres from the pit. The competition rules say that apart from international competitions the take off board or line shall be appropriate for the level of the competition. This means that young athletes can have a take off line put on the run up using white tape at a distance from the pit that will ensure they are safely landing in the pit. For the 8.50m jumpers a take off line can be put on the track at 7m from the sand pit if no official board is in place.

Finally …. My intention in writing this blog was to provide a basic insight on how to introduce Triple Jump to young athletes in a club environment. Clubs catering for young athletes should be encouraged to include Triple Jump as part of their foundation ‘run, jump, throw’ package and the general ‘lead up’ activities can be included in ‘warm up’ and conditioning parts of training sessions. A Triple Jump session every few weeks in the October to March period should be adequate to have a young athlete ready to have their first competitive outing in the early outdoor season.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Any questions please contact me.

Happy Leaping 🦘

Further resources for beginners:

Gerry Carr, Fundamentals of Track and Field, 2nd Edition, Chapter 9 – Triple Jump, 1999

Darren Wensor, Use colours to cue young triple jumpers: https://coachingyoungathletes.com/2015/06/27/use-colours-to-cue-young-triple-jumpers-2/

Darren Wensor, Triple Jump phase landings quick reference guide available to buy as an e booklet from: https://coachingyoungathletes.com/triple-jump-phase-landings-quick-reference-guide/

You Tube: Triple Jump Coaching Learn to Coach Triple Jump Parts 1 and 2, UK athletics.

The challenge of the run up

On the face of it the run up in the Long Jump and Triple Jump looks reasonably straightforward; in reality it is far from that especially when coaching young athletes.

Within the course of a season a young athletes run up can change several times as they go through growth spurts resulting in stride length increases and natural strength gains and generally becoming faster. Coaches at all levels grapple with this as their athletes develop and try to seek solutions to ensure the run up becomes consistent with less fouling.

There are also the added complications of differing run up surfaces and coping with environmental conditions like following winds and head winds at outdoor competitions.

Reproduced below is part of an interview with Nick Newman, Horizontal Jumps Coach at University of California. Nick is a highly regarded Jumps coach and although this snippet of a longer article is focused more on older athletes, much of what he is saying applies to younger athletes as well.

Other causes appear at the opposite end of the run, with inconsistencies during the first six to eight strides. I feel the majority of jumpers do an excellent job of auto adjusting these early errors, but struggle during the final six strides when their focus shifts towards jumping far.
It is difficult to manage athletes around this issue. They must take ownership of their approach and buy in to their technical model. Understanding that most athletes revert to habits and knowing their competition tendencies can help a coach manage their approach marks.
Moving back a certain distance can certainly help, but without focus and awareness, the athlete will likely foul again. Having said that, listen to your athletes. Their belief may be different than yours, but remember: Ownership and buy-in often trumps all.
A good example here is with my triple jumper Ashley Anderson at the recent NCAA West Regional Championship. All signs entering this week suggested she was in PR shape and she believed it 100%.
During the meet, Ashley fouled her first two jumps. They were technically beautiful jumps and were far. She remained calm and met me at the back of the runway. She told me what she wanted to do. I gave my advice and we compromised in the middle. We had complete trust in each other. Her final jump was a PR and put her through to Nationals.
In short, know your athlete’s tendencies, give them ownership, listen to them, and coach them accordingly’.

The challenge of the run up

On the face of it the run up in the Long Jump and Triple Jump looks reasonably straightforward; in reality it is far from that especially when coaching young athletes. Within the course of a season a young athletes run up can change several times as they go through growth spurts resulting in stride length increases and natural strength gains and generally becoming faster. Coaches at all levels grapple with this as their athletes develop and try to seek solutions to ensure the run up becomes consistent with less fouling. There are also the added complications of differing run up surfaces and coping with environmental conditions like following winds and head winds at outdoor competitions.

‘In an ideal world, my athletes wouldn’t compete until they were “ready.” However, performing in competitions is a vital part of becoming ready. You can’t really have one without the other.
Experience gained from struggling in competitions or from fouling your first two jumps, for example, is essential for becoming a confident and consistent competitor and not just a good jumper. Using such experiences as a positive is a skill, and the psychology component of competition shouldn’t be overlooked.
Consistent fouling is a layered issue: part psychological and part technical. The psychological aspect lends itself to several areas, with desire, focus, spatial and kinesthetic awareness, and arousal management being some important ones.

The technical aspect of fouling is very important, especially in the long jump. Fouling percentages in the triple jump are considerably lower than in the long jump. This is due to the technical requirements of the takeoff. Running off the board, with minimal emphasis on vertical lift, keeps posture constant throughout the final two to three strides and the athlete’s feet underneath them. This eliminates small changes in hip position and foot strike that are common during the long jump takeoff.

A common mistake during the long jump takeoff is an excessive lowering and push from the penultimate step into the takeoff, causing the takeoff plant to be too far in front of the hip. This is a huge reason why 1-3-inch fouls are so common. “Over trying” is a related issue. Athletes who always feel they can “give more” to the takeoff will have many technical inconsistencies.

Welcome to Leapers

Welcome to Leapers – a blog dedicated to Horizontal Jumps, which will hopefully be of interest to athletes, coaches, parents and anyone else involved in Long and Triple Jump.

I’ve been involved in athletics for a very long time as an athlete, coach and administrator. I was fortunate enough to compete internationally both for the Republic of Ireland and N. Ireland in both events and on the way claimed several national titles at Schools, Youth, Junior U20 and Senior level.

I hope to write Blogs periodically and any feedback would be greatly received.

ATB

Joe

The run up – how long should it be for young athletes?

The aim of the run up is to reach maximum controllable speed at take off. There will always be a slight slowing down of speed in the last two strides as the athlete prepares to take off, however, longer jumps are usually obtained by athletes who slow down least and can convert their Horizontal force on the run up into vertical force at take off.

The run up in Triple Jump is more controlled at take off because the athlete is aiming to maintain horizontal speed by running off the board into the hop phase and not generating too much vertical lift.

The run up length in the Long Jump is usually longer than that used in the Triple Jump. Senior male long jumpers usually run between 20 and 24 strides; females 18 to 22. Triple Jump run ups are usually in the 18 to 22 for men and 16 to 20 for women. Younger athletes don’t need to run as far as senior athletes and a general rule of thumb is that their run up should roughly correspond to their age.

So for Long Jump this would be:

Under 11 – 10 to 12 strides
Under 13 – 12 to 14 strides
Under 15 – 14 to 16 strides
Under 17 – 16 to 18 strides
Under 20 – 18 to 20 strides

For Triple Jump which athletes in England can do from Under 15 upwards, you would shorten the above distances by 2 strides once they have mastered the basics and can jump safely.

The run up in Triple Jump is more controlled at take off because the athlete is aiming to maintain horizontal speed by running off the board into the hop phase and not generating too much vertical lift.

So for Long Jump this would be:

Under 11 – 10 to 12 strides Under 13 – 12 to 14 strides Under 15 – 14 to 16 strides Under 17 – 16 to 18 strides Under 20 – 18 to 20 strides

For Triple Jump which athletes in England can do from Under 15 upwards, you would shorten the above distances by 2 strides once they have mastered the basics and can jump safely.

Under 11 – 10 to 12 strides
Under 13 – 12 to 14 strides
Under 15 – 14 to 16 strides
Under 17 – 16 to 18 strides
Under 20 – 18 to 20 strides