COACHES CORNER

 “The Long Jump Take- Off”

Coach Jason Edwards IAAF and USTFCCCA certified jumps Coach 

It would be bizarre for me to address take-off mechanics of the long jump without mentioning the importance of the run approach. If you watch a side view of most good/ elite sprinters in slow motion you tend to see bounciness to their run, a vertical displacement with each push off looks like a wave. This wave is important for few reasons: it increases the elastic energy generated in the ex tensor muscles of the leg during support, also stride length increases due to high push off angles, in other words your able to cover more ground which each stride in essence you don’t have to be the quickest to be the fastest.

Compromising or decreasing the vertical displacement in the run prior to preparation or penultimate step diminishes elastic responses needed in take- off resulting in poor performance. The take- off is a modification of the run with an exaggerated low point on the penultimate and a high point when leaving the board. Maintaining this sinusoidal wave during the last few steps is very critical to executing an efficient take-off. Chopping your strides decreases your wave amplitude and makes it very difficult for you to spread them out again to produce a decent performance. Long strides give you a chance for a long jump (not exaggerated reaching strides). I tend to cue to my jumpers to “keep it open” in other words keep the run open so they can preserve vertical displacement in the run which in result maintains stride length.

Most faulty jumps are associated with premature lowering and rising in the penultimate and take off. Learning how to lower on to your penultimate is crucial but the location is even more important. The biggest misconceptions coaches have about the take- off, you often hear them tell their athletes “be tall at the board, hit the board tall”. That’s all fine and dandy but how do you expect to elicit elastic the response needed to displace off the board for an efficient take –off. The key is that lowering should occur in your penultimate step, its lowest point with hips moving forward should be achieved over the board and the rise should occur in front of the take- off board, after the hips move forward you should see the rising of the hips in front of the board not before the board or over the board. If this rise occurs too early it results in poor jump performance. So athletes should feel tall when they are leaving the board during take-off not on the board or the stride before. If you pause a video of most elite jumpers at take-off you should see great displacement, you should see the hips rise in front of the board with take-off foot still in contact with take-off board until full extension is reached. Getting your jumper to understand this is the answer to performing an efficient long jump take off.

Track Side Bahamas © 2013