2011 SHSAA Symposium
Tuesday August 16th
kevin.cumming@spiritsd.ca
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Approach
Take Off
Flight
Landing
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Having a consistent approach is extremely
important
There are different ways to start an approach
Depending on the athlete, one method may
work better than another
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Crouch
Roll Over
“Cruise in”
“Skip in”
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It is critical that the athlete always starts the
approach the same way
◦ For this reason, a crouch or a roll-over can lead to a
more consistent approach compared to a “cruise in”
or a “skip in”
◦ When adjusting an athlete’s approach, make sure
that the athlete is starting consistently or the
adjustment may not work
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Length should be such that the athlete is at
full speed and not slowing down at the board
◦ 14 – 18 strides is pretty “normal” until athletes get
more experienced
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Things to look for in a good approach
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Consistent start – push out hard
Acceleration throughout the approach
Control at the board
A good body position
 At take off, the athlete should be “tall” – not bending
forward at the waist, not leaning back
◦ A penultimate step (second last step)
 This is a slightly shorter step that helps the athlete
lowers a bit that helps them “load” on their take off (we
will talk about this during the take off section)
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Drills
◦ Full approaches with take-off’s (not necessarily
landings)
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Video analysis
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Different types of starts
Driving out of the starting position
Body position
Penultimate step
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Actually consists of the last two steps
The penultimate (second last step) is critical
for a good take off
It should be slightly shorter and the hips
should lower a bit
To do this, the athlete should try to:
◦ Plant a FLAT foot
◦ Put their foot down a little quicker than normal
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They should NOT:
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The sound of the plant should not be “slappy”
◦ Try to lower by bending forward, it should be a
“lower”ing
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The penultimate step allows the athlete to
“load” their take off leg and PUSH off the
ground
The take off foot should be planted FLAT
◦ A “toe” plant can lead to shin pain and injury as well
as heel bruising (when the heel slams down)
◦ Too much of a “rolling” plant (heel – to – toe)
doesn’t allow the athlete to extend off the ground
and can also lead to heel bruising
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The take off plant should be slightly in front of
the body
◦ Too far in front can lead to a block and a loss of speed
◦ A plant too far underneath or behind the athlete results
in a “flat” jump
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Think of the plant as a “catch and push”
The athlete should also be extending off of the
plant after they catch and push
The focus should be on running off the board
It is NOT a bad thing to spend time on the board,
you can not push off the ground if you are not in
contact with it!!
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Drills
◦ High skips
 Full extension off the leg is necessary
 Low blocking of the free leg (knee below the hip)
 Foot out in front
◦ “One steppers”
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Take offs on the jumping foot each time
Blocking the knee drive as well
Land on the free leg
When putting down the free leg, it should cycle like
riding a bicycle (try to avoid a jerking “forward and
back” motion)
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“Three steppers”
◦ “Run run run jump” drill still focusing on the same
things as the one step drills
◦ At this point, athletes can also start working on
their penultimate step as well
◦ The arms are important as well, there should be an
arm drive and when the drive knee lowers, the
OTHER arm can cycle forward
 This arm circles with the elbow at about 90 degrees
◦ These drills can also be done over hurdles
 Vary the distance between and height of the hurdles
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2, 4, 6, 8 etc .... stride approaches.
◦ When starting practices, athletes should be able to
“master” the penultimate step and the extension
before moving further back
◦ 2 stride drills are critical to get the “lowering” of the
penultimate as opposed to bending forward for the
penultimate.
◦ The athlete will be able to feel the “loading” of the
jump with these lower speed drills and can really
focus on the “catch and push”
◦ The athlete should also be able to feel a stretch in
the hip of the take off leg, that will ensure full
extension.
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Video analysis
◦ High skips, one-steppers, three-steppers
◦ Penultimate step from short approach
◦ Penultimate step from full approach
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Shoulders
◦ Shoulders should always be above the hips, even
when getting into landing position
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Arms
◦ When arms move, legs move
 If an athlete is getting into the landing position too
soon, sometimes making an adjustment to the arms
can help (they are easier to control)
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Hang vs Hitch Kick
◦ In long jump, there is a great deal of forward
rotation created at take off
◦ Both a hang and a hitch kick (running in the air) can
help combat this forward rotation to help increase
distance
◦ Athletes that are more experienced and faster will
most likely do a hitch kick but for less experienced
athletes, a hang is more than adequate
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Video analysis
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Athletes should be focusing on bringing
knees and feet UP to land, not pushing them
into the sand
Hands are important, they should be high in
the air and then coming forward and down
past the feet
Heels hit the sand first, then the knees
collapse and feet clear up and out of the sand
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Landing drills (video)
1. Standing long jump
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Extend, drive hands up, bring knees UP, land in squat
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Same as above, but focus on heels coming up to butt
before knees come up and land in squat
2. Heels to butt
3. Hold extension, heels to butt
4. Full landing
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Heels hit, knees bend and clear feet up and out, NOT just
out.
Can be done off of a box or bench as well to
work on “hang time”
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As everyone knows, there are three phases:
the hop, the step and the jump
An ineffective hop can have a negative effect
on both the step and the jump phases
Things to watch for in all three phases:
◦ Foot contact (should be flat and slightly in front)
◦ Shoulder position (should be over top of the hips)
◦ Hip angle (pelvis should not be tilted backward)
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Like in long jump, contact with the ground
should be “catch and push” as opposed to a
“pulling” motion
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Setting up for the hop off of the approach is very
important
The approach should be run with high knees and
the athlete should be encouraged to really
extend forward off of the board, not up as in
long jump
◦ There should be a stretch in the hip
◦ The athlete needs to feel their foot behind them before
they finish their take off
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There is NO penultimate step in a triple jump
approach so there should be no radical lowering
before the board
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The free leg (leg not in contact with the
ground) has a great deal to do with an
effective hop
A free leg that moves aggressively back and
forth can really change the angle of the hips
and thus have a detrimental effect on the end
of the hop
A free leg that CYCLES allows the hips to
“come through” the hop and allows the
second contact to be flat and slightly in front
which allows the athlete to “catch and push”
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The cycling motion is a result of the running
motion, thus, if the athlete runs well the free leg
cycle will come easier
The cycling motion helps control the rotation and
slow down the jumping leg allowing for the
athlete to get a longer hop
It is okay for athletes to spend some time on the
ground, especially during triple jump drills
Athletes that are “toey” have a much higher
chance of getting injured than an athlete that has
their foot dorsiflexed (toes pulled up)
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The second phase (the step) is probably the
phase that most young athletes have the
most trouble with
This is mostly due to the ending of the hop,
the athlete needs to feel what it is like to
JUMP off the end of the hop, not just end the
motion
In the step phase, the athlete should be
trying to produce a force downward, their
horizontal velocity will allow them to get
forward through the jump
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Any attempt to jump forward usually has a
negative effect on hip position and ends up in
a short step phase
The key is swing the free leg forward
(sometimes you can cue that the knee needs
to swing forward)
Then it is another catch and push
Again, focus on keeping balanced with the
shoulders above the hips will help with the
jump
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Again, the force should be applied down,
letting the forward momentum carry the
athlete into the pit
A hang is most effective, a hitch kick is
unnecessary
The same landing drills that we talked about
in long jump can also be used in triple jump
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Hopping Drills
◦ Should be done on both legs
◦ Free leg should be held slightly in front, but should be
relaxed
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 Eventually the free leg will cycle in a natural motion
Do not focus on jumping forward, focus on jumping up!
For inexperienced athletes only do 5-6 in a row
Flat footed contact with a push
Posture!! (shoulders and hips)
Extend off the ground
Can be done from a two footed start
Eventually the hops can get bigger but start with them
only a few feet long
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Step Drills
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Sometimes just called bounding
Focus on posture and the catch and push
Again, force should be directed downward
Swing the knee forward from step to step
 The foot should clear above the ankle when coming
forward
◦ Start from a two foot start to help promote power
generation and the pushing motion
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Transition Drills
◦ To help transition from hop to step
◦ Long skips
 To get extension on their take off
 Eventually these can become less rigid and “flow” into
a double-double drill
◦ Double double (RR LL RR LL etc)
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Hop – hop step drills
◦ For the athlete to get the feeling of jumping off the
end of the hop.
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Any of theses drills can be done with boxes as well,
either into the pit or from box to box
◦ These boxes should be relatively low though (2 – 4 inches)
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Knee height might be low during drills but that is
okay, a high knee is usually the result of the stretch
reflex in the hip and the horizontal speed that has
been generated in the approach
These drills should be done off of little speed to help
strengthen the legs and to help teach the pushing
motion but as the season (and athlete’s familiarity to
the drill) progresses, they can be done from 2,4,6
etc... strides
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Video analysis
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Long skips
Hop drills
Step drills
Full jumps
 Good free leg, bad free leg
 Swinging into step
 Take off for jump phase