track and field horizontal jumps training

8/3/2019 Track and Field Horizontal Jumps Training

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www.CompleteTrackandField.com/jumpstraining/

Horizontal Jumps Q&A with Coach

Boo Schexnayder

Complete Track and Field

www.CompleteTrackandField.com
http://www.completetrackandfield.com/jumpstraining/http://www.completetrackandfield.com/jumpstraining/


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Question #1: How do you increase the distance of the second phase of the triple jump?

Coach Schexnayder: The second phase of the triple jump seems difficult to fix because

it is a collection point for all triple jump errors. Any mistake made at any point prior tothe second phase can destroy the second phase. The most common causes are high

takeoffs from the board, failing to move forward enough while the foot is on the board, or

cycling the hop leg through too soon and too aggressively. For this reason the takeofffrom the board and the hop (1st) phase are by far the most important phases of the event,

in spite of the frequency of second phase problems.

Question #2: What criteria do you use for determining the optimal approach distance for

the long jump and/or triple jump?

Coach Schexnayder: Generally for long jump I place beginners at 14 steps, most high

schoolers at 16 steps, and very high level high schoolers or collegiates at 18 steps. If yourjumper has an odd number of steps you can subtract one. (I count every step, I realize

some coaches count every other step). I generally subtract 1 or 2 steps to get the triple

jump approach length. These guidelines are pretty well fixed and you should be moreconcerned with the number of steps than the distance. As they get faster normally the

approach will lengthen by a few feet, but the number of steps should remain the same. To

get the initial approach distance, place a tape measure on the track (away from thedistraction of the board and pit) and have them run backwards beside it, counting steps

and noting the location of the takeoff step as consistency is developed. This distance is

then transferred to the runway. If you run back on the runway to establish an approach,then place the toe a few inches from the front of the board as a starting point. At meets,

this approach distance should be measured (not run backwards), and final adjustments

made during warmups.

Question #3: For long jump, is cycling after the take off (the hitchkick) the best technique

to use or does it depend on the type of athlete or their level of experience?

Coach Schexnayder: The hitchkick (cycling) technique in the long jump is very difficult

to teach and actually highly overrated as a way to position the body for landing. The free(drive) leg should straighten after the jumper leaves the ground, but after that dont spenda tremendous amount of coaching time on flight. Coaching time is much better spent on

the things that happen on the ground, the approach and takeoff.


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Question #4: How do you teach the penultimate stride or set up for the take off for long

jumpers of high school age?

Coach Schexnayder: The penultimate step is best taught as a rolling, heel to toe type of

contact against the surface. Advanced athletes can then be taught lowering techniques

once they become stronger, but the heel to toe rolling action is a great place to start forall. This is true for males and females.

Question #5: The landing is killing my athletes. I cant seem to get it right. Can you help

me out?

Coach Schexnayder: There is a simple way to find the cause of landing problems. Havethe jumper do a few standing long jump and check out the landing. If the landing in the

standing long jump is better than the landing used in the meet, then you know the

problem is actually forward rotation produced at takeoff that is preventing the jumperfrom landing correctly. The answer is to improve posture and mechanics at takeoff so that

the jumper can land effectively. If the standing long jump landing is poor, stress an

upright torso during flight and absorption at impact (flexing the knees and hips, and

moving the butt to the heels after impact)

Question #6: Is there something during the winter months which might help prevent

Jumpers Knee during the actual spring competition season.

Coach Schexnayder: Jumpers knee is a common problem. It results because thequadriceps muscle is not properly activated prior to the jump takeoff. This absence ofstiffening in the quadriceps makes it incapable of protecting the knee, so all of the forces

are transmitted to the patellar tendon, producing this injury. Poor weight room technique

can also be a cause. When battling this ailment it is very helpful for the jumper to switchfrom horizontal hops and bounds to vertical hops and bounds in the plyometric program.

Outside of the actual long and triple jump practices, keeping the majority of your

plyometric work vertical is also a good way to help prevent this ailment. The vertical

jumps give more time for the quadriceps to activate.

Question #7: If you had only one drill or exercise to use with your jumpers during the

pre-season or general prep phase what would it be?

Coach Schexnayder: The most important drill for any event is the event itself. Whiledrills have a place, the coach must eventually become good at coaching the event within

the context of the event. Even the best drills have relatively low rates of transfer into the

events, so actually practicing the event is critical, and its a common error to spend too


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much time on drills. Research shows time and time again that whole learning is more

effective than part learning, so fight the temptation to break the event into small parts.

That makes it difficult for the athlete to learn and feel the correct rhythms and flow.

Question #8: How should one approach training volume periodization (volume and

different modalities) for the high school jumper?

Coach Schexnayder: The high school jumper should begin the season with trainingvolumes that are near the highest of the year. To allow these volumes to be done safely,

the coach should make sure that the intensity of the work is low enough so that the high

school athlete can complete the work. Once the athlete has shown the ability to completethese high work volumes, the difficulty (intensity) of the work can increase, and volumes

decrease in compensation. Starting with high volumes might seem odd, but the brevity of

the high school season means you dont want to spend excessive amounts of time

building training volumes when increases in the intensity of training are what causeimprovements.

Question #9: What is your view on ratio of work between general (speed, strength) andspecific (actual jump mechanics) training, throughout a macrocycle? I, at some point in

the season, always become concerned that my athletes are getting too much CNS

stimulation, as most training elements are geared toward it. How can we add moremetabolic training (and reduce CNS) that wont inhibit speed and explosiveness, but

would still be worth adding to the training inventory?

Coach Schexnayder: A good way to insure balance in training between metabolic and

neural training is to assign a theme for each training session. Neural days should contain

acceleration and speed work, plyometrics, and all major weight training exercises.General days contain bodyweight exercises, medicine ball work, technique and drills,

circuits, and submaximal (tempo) running. These general day components are importantto achieving good training balance, and most good training programs alternate neural and

general days. Although there may be exceptions, neural days should begin (after warmup)

with acceleration and/or speed, followed by multijumps and plyometrics, followed byweight training. General days should begin (after warmup) with technique, then circuits

or endurance work.

Question #10: I have a girl and boy who are state placers in the triple and long jumps.

They both want to jump in college they both need about 2 feet to their long and about 5feet to their triple jumps. In your best guess what would be the number suggestion you

would make to me to help them the additional feet to their jumps?


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Coach Schexnayder: Every coach wants the magic bullet that will add feet to horizontal

jump performances. These types of gains are possible, but getting them never resultsfrom a single training adjustment. A certain drill or a new workout is never the answer.

These big gains come about because of a diverse, well organized and periodized training

plan, along with the best technical coaching and teaching, administered over long periods

of time.

Question #11: When coaching young children, would you agree that it is more important

to learn how to jump properly, before concentating on striking the board. For example Isee kids running twice the distance they need to, only to slow down as they look for the

take-off board.

Coach Schexnayder: With the exception of beginners, I advise against taking full

approach long and triple jumps in training. The high speeds and intensities make it tough

to teach skills. I suggest working on the approach in some sessions, while doing actualcomplete long and triple jumps from runs of 6-10 steps. This enables better learning and

more repetitions. The first full approach jumps should come in the early season, not-so-

important meets.

Question #12: I have several multi event athletes. I know that there are many similarities

between sprinting and jumping but how much specific jump training do athletes need to

work on specific technique?

Coach Schexnayder: Organizing the training for jumpers who sprint, hurdle, and domultievents should not be an overly difficult task. After all, speed and explosiveness are

essential to all of the events. My sprint, hurdle, jump and combined event athletes all

follow a training program that is very similar. I suggest setting up a base program for allthese events, and then making small adjustments from it for each rather than writing an

entirely different workout for each group. For example, if I have an acceleration day, thejumpers can be doing accelerations, the sprinters block starts, and the hurdlers work over

1,2 or 3 hurdles. On a speed day, the jumpers can do runway practice, the sprinters do fly

work, and hurdlers might work over 4-6 hurdles. These groups might come together to do

the same circuit, plyometric, and weight training

Question #13: What is the ratio of training in the pit with the technique of jump in

comparison to the amount of sprint training done to perfect the run up?!? One coach

where I live does 90% pit work and 10% on run up. I do about 70% on run up (sprint

training) and included in this 70% is a lot of conditioning work. What is best????


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Coach Schexnayder: The flight path and rotations of a jumper are predetermined at

takeoff and unchangeable after, so it is best to spend the vast majority of actual coachingtime addressing the elements of the jump that occur on the ground. The percentage of

time spend on the runway vs. the track is not as critical as the percentage of time spent

addressing the run and takeoff vs. flight and landings. It is critical though that the coach

actively works on running and jumping mechanics not only during jump practice, butduring all running and plyometric workouts. Cross country does not help, and can

actually harm sprint and jump performance, because speeds are too low and endurance

addressed too much in that type of work.

Irving Boo Schexnayder is regarded internationally as one

of the leading authorities in training design. He, as co-

founder of SAC brings 31 years of experience in the

coaching and consulting fields to the organization.

Most noted for the 12 years he spent as a member of the

Track and Field coaching staff at LSU. Schexnayder, who

coached collegiately at Louisiana-Lafayette and Blinn Junior

College prior to arriving at LSU, placed quite an imprint on

the collegiate track and field scene. Regarded as one of the

worlds premier field event coaches, he was the mastermind behind 19 NCAA

Champions during his collegiate coaching career. He was a part of 12 NCAAChampionship teams and a pair of Juco National titles, as well as developing a host

of conference champions and All-Americans.

To learn more about Coach Boo Schexnayder and his training methods,

check him out here:http://completetrackandfield.com/jumpstraining/

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