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Oliver Newport - Sussex Pb 7.78m
welcome
Welcome to the session! We pulled together these notes for review and to aid with your recollection. We know only too well that much is forgotten from workshops and seminars. Many thanks for taking the time to come along today, Regards, John & Tony Session aims 1.How to maximise warm-ups to develop strength, power and reactivity 2.Fundamental aspects of long and triple jump that you need to be working on from day 1 for the long & triple jump 3.Strength & conditioning options that can be used to develop jumping power and improve speed
Oliver Newport - Surrey Pb 7.78m Cover Elliot Safo 7.86m Euro Jnr Champion
How to maximise warm-ups to develop strength, power and reactivity Key points: You can do a lot more in a warm-up than just warm-up! You can identify athlete weaknesses i.e. postural and balance issues and even strength and technical issues. The warm-up is designed to ready the athlete mentally and physically and technically as well as avoid injury. We favour a block approach to the warm-up, with units of differently purposed drills as you’ll see today. These units can develop balance, proprioception (awareness and control of body in space); take-off technique; reactivity; acceleration; top speed running; injury prevention and more. Basic Unit The units you’ll see today will include a basic-unit – “basic” only in that its designed to focus on balance, body awareness and control. This should be done all year round in our opinion, but less will be needed as the season nears and the athlete has developed proficiency. Drills (hopefully!) seen More strength orientated basic drills Lunges with arm action – focus on a strong push off into each lunge Marching – focus on driving the dorsi-flexed (toe-up) foot to the floor Eccentric lunge – step forward push back quickly. An eccentric contraction is a muscle lengthening one. This happens when you position to take-off or on foot-strike when running. Balance and Body Awareness Drills Balance in sprint pose Balance in sprint pose with arm action – good for balance and looking at arm action Balance in sprint pose with pulsing of thigh (just adds another coordination aspect and will identify potential need for more hip-flexor development) Balance in sprint pose with eyes closed Balance in sprint pose with arm action with eyes closed (Tell the athlete to “scan” their movements and ‘think’ about their positions) Marching on the spot Running on the spot Running on spot with eyes closed (this can identify imbalances between leg strength and pelvis position i.e. a tipped forward pelvis will show in an athlete moving forwards). These are examples of some of the drills that we would do throughout the year. We’ve found that running after these drills can improve running technique as the jumper will be much more switched on to the technical aspects required for good running form. (Jumpers then perform some technical runs) Run-up Unit We break the structure of the run-up down into its four phases and work on these Acceleration (take feet away option) Acceleration + alignment Acceleration + alignment + attack Above + take-off (Jumpers will then do a couple of reps of each.)
It can be a good idea to perform some of the more 'basic drills' barefoot. Trainers prevent a lot of feel and also reduce the strength of our feet. Working regularly without shoes can create greater strength across the body Barefoot drills need to be introduced carefully and obviously on a 'safe' surface, Using a speed ladder to do some variations permits numerous forwards and backwards and sideways double leg and single leg movements to be performed in a controlled way. Some examples Triangle hop Purpose: develops ankle stability, strength and control How to: Stand on your right leg. Hop about 75cm forwards and then immediately straight across to the left, about the same distance. Then immediately on landing hop back to your starting position. Basically you’re hopping a right angle triangle pattern. Keep your torso relatively upright and make your landings on your forefeet Lateral shuffle Purpose: to develop ankle (and hip) movement control and agility. Stand with your feet just beyond shoulder-width and drop down into a squat. Lift your arms up so they are parallel to the ground. Initiate sideways movements by skipping from your forefeet taking reasonably long steps and generating some height.
Reactivity basically refers to the ability to move very quickly from absorption of force to production of force – as happens when running and jumping. It’s powered up in the main by plyometric type activities. Due to the breadth of athletes here today we will look at less intense options. But don’t think because they are less intense they are “less good”. Less intense in this context, means they place less stress on the body.
Reactive UNIT
Pippa Earley - Surrey - u17; UK record-holder long jump, hurdles indoors & out
Jonathan Ilori - Surrey - 16.06m TJ; 7.33m LJ
Drills (hopefully!) seen Ankle cycle Low leg cycle Bent knee scissor bounds Foot-strike Quick skips Straight leg bounds & their progression Straight leg hops Low drop jump off mats (here the athlete needs to focus and 'fire' their legs through their ankles to create the reaction. Look for speed of movement, not height) Reactive strength development will improve leg stiffness. Basically an athlete will run faster and jump longer if their legs are stiffer. Stiffer in terms of being able to absorb and return huge amounts of force quickly. Think of carbon-fibre legs versus marshmallow ones. Tendons return as much energy as muscles in fact over certain ranges of movement more and the Achilles tendon is crucial in this respect. There are a host of reactive developing exercises beyond the scope of this session.
Fundamental aspects of long and triple jump that you need to be working on from day 1 What are the fundamentals? Run-up; speed; strength; reactivity; power; running technique; acceleration; top-speed running; relaxation; take-off preparation; mid-air technique; landing We may need to focus a little more on the long jump due to the balance of those attending… The focus will be on take-off preparation. Everything else being equal if you don’t set the take-off up properly you’ll never jump as far as you should/could – no matter how fast you are. Using mats and steps/plyo platforms and breaking the movements down will be a valuable learning tool. Flat-flat and 'da-da' apply to the last steps (foot position and sound) What are the key components of a long jump take-off? Minimal lowering of centre or mass on penultimate step Running level through the last three steps Flat footed last two steps (but this is a coaching cue as invariably the heel will lead but you don’t want to see a strong heel lead either on the penultimate and the take-off step. Fast movement of swing (free leg) into and up into jump – this should be held for a split second once into air High chest position Blocked arm action Shoulders slightly forward of hips (no laying back, although that’s often a consequence of a poor take-off step or set-up) Lower limb of free leg should not be swung out but kept relatively close to bottom Extension of free leg off board Angle of take-off:18-22 degrees What are the key components of a triple jump take-off? What’s the big difference between the triple jump and the long jump take-off? It’s flatter and is not set-up, it’s much more about running through the board. Other than that in many ways it’s very similar, but there’s the arm action issue… Single Single push/quarter Push with arm cycle (Polish method I believe) Double-arm Initially we’d recommend working on the lower limb movements and seeing what the athlete naturally does. However, we favour double arm or quarter for men then double double for the step and jump.. Women often do single, single, single, this is beyond the scope of these notes, but most females will do this naturally through the step and jump, and as with all arm actions needs to be done optimally. optimally as possible.
Shola Olojo - Surrey - 15.27m TJ 7.20m LJ
take off drills
The videos in this booklet are featured on John's youtube coaching channel, together with many more. Click on image to go to channel.
These drills could make up a training unit. Step forwards onto a platform – driving the take-off leg low and fast into a forward position. Coordinate arms with legs. (Could be double arm for triple jump). Hip swing Swing the hip vigorously forwards to create movement – don’t jump off the standing leg (do on both sides). The hip needs to move forward as well as the swing leg. Coordinate arms We did foot-strike drills earlier in the reaction section but these could also be included here. One-stride take-off 'step-swing land step-swing' (do on both sides) One stride land on free leg – triple jumper could try double arm action can also be performed with 3 steps in between. Setting up the jump - long jump drills Stand off a low platform and step off lightly to land flat-footed Stand off low platform and step lightly to land flat-footed more quickly Stand of low platform and step lightly to land flat-footed and then add another flat foot short step for the take-off Stand off low platform and step lightly to land flat-footed and then add another flat-foot short step for the take-off, this time swinging into the take-off projecting the hip forward Add another mat Stand off low platform and step lightly to land flat-footed and then add another flat-foot short step for the take-off but this time make take-off from the mat. Increase speed Step off low platform and step lightly to land flat-footed and then add another flat-foot short step for the take-off but this time make the take off from the another paltform. Increase speed with an additional two steps – so five stride approach. Can be progressed to pit. The drills can be done on the track or to the pit and there are other variations, for example, adding the movement of the free leg in prep for a hang or hitch-kick.
Better Triple Jump - The Hop
Triple jump Hop to touch hurdle top drills (see top video for this drill) Mat placed three steps from take-off, which they run off Position a low-height gym mat on the third step out from the board and use a 9-10 stride approach. Tell the athlete to 'ignore' the mat and to run off it and flat into a hop into the pit. They must not lower their hips as they move through the take-off. Remove the mat and then do the same. Many of the long jump cues can be used for the triple jump take-off Tip: Don't not set the triple jump take-off as deliberately.
Strength & conditioning options that can be used to develop jumping power and improve speed You’ll have seen that many of the drills and practices performed are in a way strength and conditioning ones and this is a crucial consideration for a coach. S&C is not a separate entity it should integrate into the athlete's training. If you use what’s known as mixed periodisation as a coach in particular then it’s particularly likely that you will also be doing S&C. Basically S&C is part of all training sessions. If you do use an S&C coach then it's important to work closely with them, Mixed periodisation is a type of training planning where speed is always prevalent and there are no big build-up phases. Technique is always present also. Med ball exercises Squat and throw– develops concentric (start) power Step forward and throw– great for acceleration Sideways on catch and throw– great for stability and postural control Overhead throw– great for power Forwards throw– great for power
Thank you for coming along and we hope you found it informative. We are planning follow-up sessions, perhaps over the Christmas holidays, where we would look specifically at technique. Please contact us if you are interested at: JohnShepherdFitness@gmail.com This would probably be limited to 8-10 athletes and their coaches due to the need to be much more specific. Proposed dates:Thursday 28th/Friday 29th/Sat 30th. Time spot 12.30-2.30PM We also have ideas for mentoring and assisting coaches on an ad-hoc basis and also for running other workshops, on subjects such as sprint technique, hurdles, high jump and multi-events utilising other coaches and athletes. Let us know what you might want to find out more about!
