THERE ARE NUMEROUS SKILLS AND DRILLS THAT CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE ALL ASPECTS OF THE LONG JUMP. THE COACH MUST ENSURE THAT THE SKILLS HE IS USING ARE RELEVANT AND THAT THERE IS POSITIVE TRANSFER FROM THE LEARNING/COACHING SITUATION INTO THE EVENT ITSELF.

 

ALSO IMPORTANT IS THAT THE JUMPER UNDERSTANDS THE ‘BITS’ THAT MAKE UP THE WHOLE AND UNDERSTANDS THE BASIC MECHANICAL PRINCIPLES THAT UNDERPIN THE EVENT.

ONLY THEN CAN HE GIVE HIMSELF POSITIVE INTERNAL FEEDBACK FOR THOSE OCCASIONS THE COACH IS NOT IN ATTENDANCE AT COMPETITIONS.

 

A GREAT DEAL OF MY COACHING TIME IS SPENT ON APPROACH RUN, TO CONTACT TIME AND ACTUAL TAKE-OFF. THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THESE ASPECTS IS OF GREAT IMPORTANCE. THE FLIGHT PHASE AND LANDING IN MY OPINION ARE SECONDARY TO THESE VITAL COMPONENTS

IF A JUMPER ARRIVES AT THE BOARD IN AN EXCELLENT BODY POSITION WITHOUT ANY GREAT LOSS OF SPEED THEN FLIGHT PHASE AND LANDING JUST FOLLOW ON

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TAKE-OFF DRILLS

 

The Held Thigh Drill: The jumper comes from a short approach and takes-off – the moment he is airborne he ‘freezes’ the take-off shape and holds it for as long as possible. The head is kept up with an open necked position to hold back unwanted rotation. The free driving thigh is held in the parallel position and is only brought down when the jumper is coming out of the air. On landing in the sand the take-off leg which has been kept back behind the body is brought forward to effect a walkout up the pit.

POP-UPS

 

Although the current coaching trend is to sacrifice height with speed thus resulting in a lower parabola and a sometimes rushed flight phase I still use a pop-up as a major drill in my sessions.

Coming from 4 to 8 strides I encourage my jumpers to  drive UP into the air from the board. This encourages and reinforces the dynamic take-off that I look for. They can feel the take-off leg extension as they drive and lift from the board.

They can FEEL the free thigh driving up converting speed into lift. They can FEEL the arms assisting at take-off.

I tell them to neglect length just jump high. If they can do a leg chute as well – that’s a bonus. The end result will emphasise the fact that I want them to try to effect a pop-up from their FULL APPROACH RUN. Obviously they can’t get as high but the movement pattern has been worked on extensively and the end result will mean a slightly higher take-off.

 

The jumper has to work dynamically on the board, so many of my drills are done at very high speeds. Any jumper can look good by coming below maximal strength. In the initial, learning stage you have to build the skill gently so that the jumper feels the movement pattern BUT once this initial stage is over move quickly on to these movement patterns done at speed.

 

One drill I don’t use often is the placing of a hurdle just after the take-off board. Experience has taught me that young jumpers and sometimes the older jumper are  to aware of it and this causes them to place their head in the wrong position. Remember, the head is quite heavy and where the head goes other parts of the body tend to follow. The head is the body’s rudder so at take-off must be fixed. So the appearance of a hurdle or raised platform in my opinion does more harm than good.

 

DRILLS—they must be relevant and specific and have positive transfer to the whole. The jumper must understand why he/she is doing it.

I have countless drills to use. I have built them up over the years. Many I have simply ‘borrowed’ from observing other coaches. Many I have developed myself and adapted and evolved them to suit my specific purpose.

Having said this—I tend to use about 6-8 drills that really enhance the skill of long jumping. Many of these drills can be found on my new web site: www.longjumping.co.uk