By Russ Ebbets
This is Part I of a wide-ranging discussion of high jump technique, training and related issues.
The panel: PS—Paul Souza was the head coach at Wheaton College, 1995-2011. His women’s team won eight national championships. A Level 1 and 2 USATF certified coach, Souza has served as the national vertical jumps chair for men’s development. He still holds Penn State’s indoor HJ record at 7’4½”.
RN—Retired high jumper Rick Noji finished 8th at the 1991 World Championships. His personal best in the high jump is 2.31m (7’7”), achieved in 1992.
DS—Dwight Stones needs no introduction to track fans. He is a three-time world record holder in the high jump and won two bronze medals at the Olympic Games. Since retirement, he has been a lead announcer and color commentator on television, and still coaches young athletes.
MC—Marissa Chew is currently an assistant coach at TCU; she has also coached at IUPUI and Wabash. She is a Level 3 certified coach in the jumps.
DK—Dave Kerin coached at Middlebury College for 14 years. He still serves as the head of Men’s National Team Development. He is a Level 3 coach and a USATF master official.
Technique
We’ll start with the approach. How many steps do you recommend? Why that number? How fast is the approach and do you teach a gradual acceleration to the takeoff or to simply achieve an approach velocity by the fifth step?
PS — I recommend 6 steps for beginners and 8-10 steps for more advanced high jumpers. The less steps you run, the less things can go wrong. Therefore, for someone beginning the event, 6 steps will cut down on mistakes and allow the jumper to establish a rhythm and tempo that will allow him/her to experience success.
RN — 10 steps… I break the approach into two stages…run-up (straight – 5 steps), sets the jumper up for the curve/momentum phase (last five steps). For me 5 & 5 was easier for timing, rhythm and speed… How fast is the approach depends on the athlete. If a high school athlete can run a 10.7 100 meter time, he may only run at 50 to 60% of top speed in the approach. An athlete must find his own “maximum usable speed” (MUS). MUS is influenced by the strength of an athlete’s plant leg; the knee or other parts of the leg cannot buckle under the strain of the takeoff. I used, and teach a gradual acceleration takeoff. I feel this helps the athlete to get into a rhythm. The curve is the most critical part of the approach.
DS — For high schoolers I recommend a 6-step approach and no more than 8 steps. Speed kills for new jumpers because they must learn the harmony between upper and lower body movements from the penultimate step to the plant step and excess speed makes it difficult, if not impossible, to learn these skills with speed in the equation. Here’s my analogy on this, think of a gallon of liquid orange juice. Let’s call the water in the orange juice “speed.” We remove the “speed” from the equation in order to create concentrated orange juice that we can freeze and ship. The freezing and shipping is the learning of the individual components of the approach through takeoff. Once we find a speed where the jumper can perform those elements harmoniously, we slowly, deliberately, incrementally reintroduce the water/speed back into the equation until the jumper can perform them harmoniously. We focus on the jumper’s comfort with that speed and always try to increase by 5% at a time so we can obviously see if they’re capable of progressing to more velocity. Every field event is a gradual build-up of speed from the start to the end of the effort.
MC — I recommend 8-10 steps for the HJ approach; as training age grows and competency occurs, increasing the number of steps is considered. With the understanding that the first 3 steps are going to be “powerful/drive phase” there are 1-2 steps for transition and then into the turn and takeoff. With 8-10 steps, that is easily seen and mapped step-by-step. I don’t teach one versus the other for gradual acceleration or achieving a desirable velocity; I watch what the athlete does naturally and how the force gets produced and advise from there. With that said, they are not interchangeable.
DK — Optimally, no less than 10. Coach Lane has JuVaughn at 12 currently. 3- and 4-step curves create excessive torque detrimental to max performance and health. “How fast” is relative to competition level with velocity developed primarily, prior to curve initiation. Well executed 5-step curves will see nonlinear acceleration (angular momentum). If not creating centripetal force to aid bar rotation, why run a curve?
With the approach start – do you allow the athlete to make their own decision with a run, skip or jog to get going?
MC — I do allow for the athlete’s preference after a certain point of understanding and consistency. When there is an understanding of force production and consistency of displacement, then we can graduate to a dynamic start. With that dynamic start, there has to be consistency, so that is rehearsed as well.
PS — I prefer a static start because it promotes consistency. However, a jog or run-in is good for building momentum as long as the jumper is consistent from the outset.
RN — No. I start all athletes from a standing position. I need to understand the strengths, weaknesses, and the cadence of how an athlete runs first, before I introduce a run, skip, or jog approach. If the athlete already is using a run, skip or jog approach, I will evaluate and discuss with the athlete the benefit of the type of approach start the athlete is using. The cadence of a jog or bounding approach may give the athlete the feeling of a powerful approach/momentum to jump, but the technique may create too much speed in the approach, causing the athlete not enough time to get set in the proper takeoff position.
DS — How the approach starts is very individual. I have no opinion/input with the athlete other than his being in the turn and/or transitioning to the turn with 5 steps remaining in the approach. I prefer a run-in type approach to a stationary one.
DK — Standing starts = less inconsistency. Stylistic components don’t contribute to jump but often detract. Do elite long jumpers take say 3 bounding strides at their run’s start? And a high jumper only has the first few steps prior to curve initiation to generate near 80% of velocity at plant. Anything other than acceleration mechanics overcoming inertia is “theatre performance” not athletic performance. Neural activation/pre-attempt potentiation can be done just prior to taking a stance at the start of the approach.
Could you define what are speed and power jumpers? Do you promote one over the other? Or do you coach the “style” of the individual athlete?
DK — Throw a ball at the plant’s location. Speed and angle of the throw, then resulting bounce, reflect force application and return. Specifically, the plant leg functions like a PV pole, employing muscle contraction to resist flexion at the knee. It’s not a piston/pushing, knee flexion/extension effort. Flight parabola is a byproduct. When you see where they land in the pit, you know how they entered the plant and then executed the takeoff. “Style” is almost always a bad word!
DS — I always believed that a “power” jumper was an equal utilization of strength and speed as I thought that was the actual definition of power. Therefore, I always considered myself a power jumper as that’s how I trained. Looking back, I guess I would have been considered a “speed” jumper and what I considered to be a “strength” jumper (Wszola, Dakov, Ukhov, etc,) is now considered a “power” jumper. Sotomayor, to me, is the ultimate “power” jumper as he approached at about 8m/sec. and was incredibly strong. I consider the body type and abilities in other events to determine what type of jumper I have.
PS — An athlete’s speed and strength levels will determine the type of jumper they are in terms of ‘speed’ or ‘power.’ Speed jumpers tend to have a quicker takeoff step while a power jumper will tend to have a slightly longer takeoff step. I teach penultimate and takoff the same and allow the athlete’s speed and strength attributes to determine how they execute it.
RN — Speed jumpers are usually quick/carry a lot of speed in their approach, fast to take off from the ground. Power jumpers usually are slower in their approach and spend more time over the plant foot, creating force into the ground. However, there are jumpers, and have been jumpers, who I feel fall into both categories; quick run-up and create tremendous force into the ground by spending time over their plant foot. During my jumping days Hollis Conway, Charles Austin, Tony Barton, Brian Brown and Troy Kemp fall into this category. I consider former athletes such as Brian Stanton, Dwight Stones and Javier Sotomayor as power jumpers… I coach to the style of the individual athlete…. but of course in my heart, I love the speed jumpers!
Words cue actions. Are there any cues you routinely use that you feel work particularly well (I’m thinking here of plant foot placement, hips, arm action, eye focus, etc.)
DS — “Plant Target” (foot placement at plant), “Back Corner” (direction of flight), “Fall Into The Turn” (starting the transition from straight to turn), “Sweep & Pull” (action of arms from penultimate step to plant).
MC — Cues that I find most effective are “push to position”—pushing the penultimate step through to block the quad at takeoff aiding the transition from horizontal to vertical. “Let the sciences do the work”—being in control of the body, posture and positions…not negating any natural movements that science will take care of.
DK — “Push, Push, Push” and “Big Swinging Arms” at start. “Tall by 4” fully upright before curve initiation. Don’t cue “Push” from the 3rd step on. Pushing in-curve leads to poor biomechanics. Rather, “Feel the Friction” or “Grip” matches with centripetal-inward lean generation and angular momentum in-curve. Contrary to many ‘parallel to bar’ plants observed, long axis of the foot should reflect attack angle at plant. More important than focal point is letting it go to avoid obstructing back-to-bar rotation.
RN — I concentrated on rhythm, foot placement, knee position and eye focus. Rhythm sets up the whole timing of the approach; good rhythm allowed me to hit my turn mark, run a nice curve, without stepping out of the curve on the second to last step, and allowed me time to hit a correct lead knee jump position at takeoff. My eye focus was on the first third of the bar. I always struggled to look further down the bar. I felt looking down the bar caused me to spend more time over the bar, which I did not prefer.
I always felt my arm action was pretty good. I started my track career as a sprinter; 100m, 4×100 relay, 200m (high school senior year) then the jumps; long jump and triple jump. High jump was the last jump I tried in high school. Stride pattern, arm action working in unison, hip position was taught when I was a sprinter. I feel all jumpers could benefit from a sprint workout, at least two times per week. More if the athlete can handle it and has time to work on their HJ technique and sprinting.
PS — To me, the approach is everything in the high jump. If you do things properly on the ground you are more than likely to do things right in the air. I cue the beginning of the approach with “PUSH, PUSH, PUSH!!” To me the first three steps set the tone for the approach. If the jumper pushes out properly they are more likely to establish a good rhythm and tempo for the approach. I also use “Inside Out” as the jumper runs the turn.
This means the inside foot or the foot closest to the standard should be across the body at the outside shoulder throughout the turn. If the turn is run correctly, “foot placement” at takeoff will take care of itself. I don’t believe in forcing things. Radical movements produce radical results.
Approach speed – I’ve read that a manageable approach speed is similar to a fast 400m pace as opposed to a sprint – any other recommendations?
RN — Who knows nowadays!! To me the 400m seems like a sprint! I always work with the athlete to find, what I call, his maximum usable speed (MUS). MUS varies from athlete to athlete. I find drills that allow the jumper to get in the correct position at takeoff are key. Box jumping, bounding/plyometric drills are helpful. I played with different speed variations by running my full approach on a football field (yes, not always possible nowadays). I used the goal post as the high jump bar. The goal was to see how high on the goal post bar I could touch. This gave me instant feedback; too fast and I blew by my takeoff position and could barely touch the bar. Similar, if I was too slow. When I found a good speed, it felt like my head could hit the bottom of the goal post.
MC — Great analogy!
DS — I use the running of the 400 a lot to describe the arm utilization and body position for a high jumper. It works well with an athlete who runs the 400m but not so well with those who haven’t.
PS — As far as approach speed is concerned, as long as the jumper is slower at the beginning and faster at the end while maintaining control, he should be successful. I liken it to a plane that is about to takeoff. I’ll ask the jumper, “Which plane do you want to be on? The one that goes faster, Faster, FASTER TAKEOFF or the one that goes faster, faster, slower takeoff? The answer is obvious.
DK — Higher jumps require higher velocities. Shorter jumpers even more so to overcome lower center of mass and shorter lever (leg). Dr. James Becker and I found 80% of velocity at plant comes from the early/straight run. Remainder comes from in-curve so twisting at step groundings and/or hops onto penultimate are limiting factors as well as injury sources. Three 2.40m jumpers we analyzed in 2015, averaged speed into plant equivalent to a 12.5 second 100m time. Note: The U.S. has had only two 2.40 jumpers, since 1991.
At takeoff, which arm action do you recommend? A double-arm block action or the sail technique using the inside arm to lead over the bar?
MC — I recommend going with whichever disrupts the rhythm of the jump/takeoff least. I’ve seen equal amounts of success with both. I have also seen CHAOS when a coach tries to implement one versus the other.
RN — I used the sail technique. Although I believe it depends on the jumper. Some jumpers can use the double-arm action without disrupting the cadence of their approach. The double-arm action creates more upward momentum and downward force. I tried many times over the years to incorporate a double-arm action but was never successful. I was such a speed jumper that the double-arm technique was too disruptive to approach/takeoff.
PS — I think different arm actions work for different jumpers. And while I prefer a double=arm action, if it causes the jumper to slow down that is not optimal for successful jumping. As long as the jumper maintains speed and proper body position through the turn and takeoff, the arm action that best achieves this is the right one for that particular jumper.
DK — Double-arming usually detracts from posture and forces into plant. Stay in arm drive opposite legs. At plant, inside arm drives vertically and opposing arm races to catch up. When they sense lack of centripetal, jumpers throw arms towards the pit for rotation. This is due to flawed curve runs and poor curve initiation. Optimal jumps create both vertical height…and bar rotation. “Using the inside arm to lead over the bar” sees that arm move forward in a toe touch. This occurs on top of bar resulting in premature sitting out.
DS — I teach a double-arm block. I give them the options of teaching them the way I did it, which is difficult since I took my arms from my old straddle days, full double-arm from start to finish, though that eventually restricts speed, or the Derek Drouin method which is faster but tends to have the jumper come out of the turn at the exact wrong time. I think there’s value to the leading arm over the crossbar but I could never perfect it so I abandoned it early.
Typically accomplished high jumpers have a statuesque posture. Is that a point of emphasis in training or do you feel it develops more due to the “up, up, up” mentality and reality an accomplished high jumper develops?
DS — I really teach the idea of almost always being in a “vertical posture” throughout the approach. I’m okay with the first couple of steps being more forward because that’s how most of us get going anyway but I insist they be vertical as they start the transition to the turn. After all, the last two steps, the upper body is retrograde from vertical so we can’t be forward prior to that!
MC — I believe that the posture is a product of the emphasis in training. The demand to create forces to be utilized in a small window of execution demands for the body to be rigid to optimize the science.
PS — It is not a coincidence that the majority of successful high jumpers are either tall or have long legs. This means their center of gravity is higher. The higher your hips are at takeoff, the higher the result. So yes, I think “statuesque posture” is a positive and should be emphasized.
RN — For me, it was an emphasis in training from the beginning. My high school coach Don Bundy introduced me to box jumping, plyometrics and short approaches. These drills taught me the importance of good posture at takeoff. This really set the foundation thoughout my career.
Training
What type of weight training do you use? What about upper body development v. lower body development? As far as squatting, do you use more eccentric or concentric-type actions?
PS — Weight training is dependent on the jumper’s age and stage of development. Young jumpers should not be moving weights if they are not strong enough to manipulate their own body weight. For young jumpers starting out, I would recommend a steady diet of body weight exercises (push-ups, pull-ups, dips, etc…) before considering lifting weights. Once in the weight room, jumpers should be doing more explosive lifting than general strength lifting. Lifts such as cleans, push press and jump squats should highlight a high jumper’s weight lifting program.
MC — We utilize powerlifting, body-building exercises, and auxiliary exercises. We approach the exercises for development per the demands of the event group. There has to be focus on the upper body as it plays a role in the transfer of forces specific to the HJ. There isn’t a move to the eccentric vs concentric actions; we train both since they are needed for the jump.
DS — I believe in the “bread & butter” lifts that I learned in the 1970s. Cleans, jerks, and squats. I believe the “jerk” is the most relatable lift for high jumpers because the speed of getting the bar from your shoulders to “rack”, in harmony with the quick, simultaneous movement of the feet, should be done at the exact speed as the time from the penultimate step to the plant placement. That’s what I was always striving to do. When I lifted my PR weight for a “jerk” of 110kg., it wasn’t “at speed”, so I focused on jerks up to 105kg. which I was able to accomplish “at speed”. It’s the same with squats from my perspective. I did mostly “back squats” and I went to a depth that was twice the depth as I jumped from. We referred to it as a squat. The focus was a bit more deliberate eccentric movement and a very quick concentric movement. Though I could lift over 200kg at that depth, I couldn’t move it at the right speed so I maxed at 185kg. as that turned out to be the right weight for what I was trying to accomplish. I consider upper body lifts to be support lifts for the Big 3. For joint stability and injury prevention, I believe a jumper must be balanced and do the work that develops the smaller muscles around the large joints. I don’t want my kids getting hurt on my watch because they overemphasize squats over the other exercises.
DK — I like Dr. Mike Young’s suggestion that an eccentric contraction may be the result of a failed Isometric one. Not inconsistent with my description of plant leg being pole vault pole-like. Any running jump is a deflection off the ground. Horizontal velocity and path of the center of mass, brought to the plant is key. Then, strength to enable the conversion of that velocity into vertical velocity with the path of the COM being a parabola (the result of all that preceded takeoff).
RN — I learned the importance of weight training in college. Coach Shannon at the University of Washington was primarily a throws coach. Needless to say, he loved the weights. I remember the first weightlifting session with Coach Shannon. It was a killer! I think I weighed a buck 18 (118lbs!)! After the session I could hardly lift my arms! I had a heck of a time driving home. Overtime I learned weigh training was the foundation work for the whole season. I used to spend a fair amount of time in the weight room for what I was trying to accomplish. Before competition season (Sept-Dec) I started with circuit training; light weights with higher reps and increased the weight over a month. Then I moved way from circuit training. I then entered into a heavy weightlifting phase — to lower reps and higher weight. The closer it came to indoor season I would back off the heavy lifting and went back to circuit training. Depending on my competition schedule for the year I would repeat the weight cycle either two times or three times per year. One weightlifting exercise I did consistently was cleans; heavy off season, and lower quick during season. Great exercise when time and schedule was tight. I did cleans all year. Great explosive exercise… Core strength was key from the beginning and throughout my career. Over time I learned the importance of upper body strength (Thanks Coach Shannon). I think my personal best in the bench press was 215 lbs., while I weighed 135lbs. However, I still spent more time on my lower body… When it came to squatting, I used more of a concentric action; controlled down (1/4 to 1/3; never a full squat) and exploded up. Most of my lifting was concentric. I worked on explosion.
How much upper body lifting do you do? When is enough, enough?
RN — I only started lifting upper body when I was in college. I did more lower body lifting than upper body. I don’t know if know when enough is enough, except that darn first workout with Coach Shannon!! Now, that was enough, enough, enough. 37 years later that workout still haunts me!!
MC — We sprinkle in upper body exercises or exercises that hit that area indirectly. So it will get some love about two times a week within those training sessions. Enough is enough when the athlete is functionally strong enough to execute and utilize the forces produced. As well as, they cannot be “too big” so that the musculature is now in the way of movement.
DK — Does a jump benefit from overhead work? For me this isn’t much different than the reality that you can hold your breath and jump so what role does aerobic training play? I have long believed that the catch in a clean is not critical to the greater mission. There are athletes who can pull weights from the floor that they probably shouldn’t be catching let alone overhead pressing. Any non-essential addition to upper body mass is of concern.
DS — Lat pulls, tricep presses, curls, flys, etc. are those exercises that support the upper body movements in the actual execution of the technique as well as preparing the body to be better at cleans, jerks, and squats.
With plyometrics – what age do you recommend a jumper begin? And with what type of actions? Are the plyos done double- or single-leg support? How should the quality or quantity be measured? – through the speed of the drill series or do you focus on the number of ground contacts on a training day?
DS — Plyos probably shouldn’t be done before high school age. Let’s face it, plyos are reflexive weightlifting and I’m not crazy about jumpers under the age of 16 doing serious weight room weightlifting. I believe learning how to triple jump bound is the best way to be introduced to plyometrics. I stress the importance of the arm component in any type of plyo/bounding drill as I’m a huge arm guy. It made my career and my utilization of arms was one of my strengths when I was a straddle jumper. I focus on the amount of ground contacts and I’m strict about not exceeding a certain number whether it be hurdle hops, TJ bounds, box jumps, etc. This must be monitored especially with the younger athletes.
PS — Once again, plyometrics depend upon a jumper’s age and stage of development.
Although, exercises such as jumping rope and hopscotch can be used with young jumpers at an earlier age. The most important thing about plyometrics is that they should be periodized from simpler, less strenuous exercises to complex, more intense exercises. This will minimize injuries and increase the chances for success. If a jumper cannot perform a simple plyometric exercise, such as ankle pops or line hops, then they have no business jumping up and down off of boxes.
RN — It depends on the athlete’s body development and whether one can handle the stress of plyometrics. With that said, I believe some level of plyometrics should be introduced in high school. Plyometrics is a foundational drill. One that will benefit an athlete throughout his/her career… Bounding, skipping, box jumping, step-ups, squat lunge, etc. … I believe in both double and single….Quality?… This depends on the athlete. Some athletes may be able to do a set of 12, and some may only be able to handle 5. I prefer quality over quantity.
MC — I believe that athletes can start doing plyos whenever they begin being active. The movements don’t have to be specific to an exercise; they can be playing hop-scotch, leap frog, or “Jump the River”. A lot of the childhood games we play are simplistic examples of plyos, so why not exploit the games, have fun and develop functional strength simultaneously. In the sport of track & field, there is A LOT of single-support action, so that has to be trained as well. The amplitude and altitude of said jumps need to be adjusted for appropriateness to the athlete’s training age and ability. With plyos it is always quality over quantity for me, once there is a breakdown in posture or execution, we are done and moving on. I have a target or limit of contacts to be made in a day (which is a part of an overall number considered for the week). There definitely is a limit but not a minimum at the same time.
DK — Plyometrics begin long before a coach becomes involved. Running and playground games are plyometric by nature. Double-leg contacts are less specific than singles. Remember, sprinting is plyometric. Charting contacts is good. Better is visual monitoring, watching for quality and similarly, decline in quality. Plyos done to fatigue are contrary to the mission. I’d rather have an athlete who’s 100% healthy and 80% trained than one that’s 80% healthy and 100% trained.
Do you feel that the number of ground contacts must continually increase over the course of a season (or a career)? And if not how do you determine when a number has been reached that encourages results without the risk of injury or overtraining?
MC — I feel that the number of contacts doesn’t have to increase if the intensity of the jumps does. I listen to the athlete, while making observations as to when do they start to have a rhythm in the jump? When do they lose that rhythm? There is a point that we do have to toe the line in training to see where the line stands but it should be a calculated risk.
DS — As an athlete becomes more proficient at plyometrics and stronger in the weight room, their number of ground contacts can be increased as there isn’t as much abuse to the joints going on when they become better at the technique. It took me awhile to get back into plyo volume early in my training period so I was very aware and focused on my bounding technique becoming better so I wasn’t doing something that was likely to injure me.
RN — No, this was season dependent. Early season: during foundation building for the season, I would concentrate on number of ground contacts. During season I would concentrate on speed and quality… This depends on good communication between coach and athlete. I always prefer quality over quantity.
How do your training recommendations differ for a combined events high jumper? Any injury prevention suggestions?
DS — Since multi-eventers can only spend so much time on each event, I definitely feel that the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) method be incorporated as part of their technique training. Six steps is plenty for a multi-eventer as it controls the speed component a lot and focuses the athlete on performing the actual elements of the technique while minimizing the amount of jumps they take in a competition prior to having to run the 400m or 200m later the same day.
MC — The level of mastery is lower for a CE high jumper. The drills will cover a larger spectrum until it needs to be narrowed. We may not spend as much time drilling versus jumping with the CE so that the reps get taken versus waiting for the mastery piece of drilling.
RN — I say it would depend on the schedule of training on the other events; it must be synergetic with the other events. If push comes to shove, the athlete, at minimum should concentrate on their approach work; good rhythm, feeling comfortable and confident in their approach will produce positive results for the athlete.
RN — All areas can benefit from a good stretching routine, strength building, warm up and cool down regiment, tension band workout, massages and yoga. Proper running and jumping technique and form will also help minimize injury.
PS — For injury prevention, I recommend early season barefoot walks and running on grass or beach sand to strengthen the arches of the feet and the lower legs. This will cut down on shin splints and stress fractures. Also, a comprehensive joint mobility sequence as part of the jumper’s warm-up along with active stretching.
The knee and patellar tendonitis
MC — lower leg strengthening, stability exercises, sand work, VMO strengthening
DS — Don’t go lower than parallel with the upper thigh when squatting. Minimize ground contacts with plyometrics until the athlete becomes more proficient. Learn proper running technique so your mechanics don’t have you striking your foot with most of your body behind that foot.
DK — Misalignment of joints is easily identified. In video of injuries, excessive torque is found. Both these moments occur on same leg, extreme torque two steps before, misalignment over the same leg tenths of a second later at plant. The athlete always gets past the extreme torque moment then blows up at plant. But no one looks back at the nature of the next to last grounding of the plant foot/leg. I first noticed this in 2005 and it’s become prevalent since. Similarly concerning is where some jumpers are now grounding their penultimate parallel to the crossbar.
Foot problems
DS — Ankle/foot/Achilles tendon stretching was always the first thing I did. If your feet aren’t right, you better be prepared to have training downtime. Get a referral to a good podiatrist, chiropractor, and acupuncturist.
MC — proprioception work (walks, hops, balance beam work), barefoot activities
Hyperflexion of the neck
MC — Head rotations (up and down, right to left), ear to shoulders…all to increase/maintain mobility in the neck & shoulders.
DS — Again, stretching and strengthening are the key here. Again, get a good sports medicine chiropractor.
Heel protection
RN — Proper drill technique, proper shoes for the event, good body awareness drills.
DS — I never ran anything at speed in flats. Sprint/interval shoes are designed to get you onto your toes and that alleviates heel problems before they begin.
MC — Stay in flats for as much training as possible.
Do you use much circuit training for pre-season or in-season conditioning or both? What number of stations do you use? What exercises?
DS — I’m much more of a circuit trainer now than I ever was as an active athlete. I took my time in the weight room more for safety than anything else as I usually trained alone. I think circuit training has merit and my formula is 2-3 upper body exercises to a lower body exercise. I time and count everything because I’m OCD but I also want to be able to compare one workout to another and be able to know when it’s time to increase weight. If I just wait until I feel like it, there’s no consistency and no genuine ability to compare. Most people at a gym just go when they’ve completely recovered. When I’m waiting for a piece of equipment and trying to maintain a certain pulse level, that drives me crazy and forces me out of my routine and over to a different exercise. I literally time EVERYTHING!!!! I have a bad attitude at a gym!
RN — I used some form of circuit training all year round. September — lower weights higher reps. November to mid-December – lower reps higher weights. December-January—lower weights moderate rep count. Really depended on my competition schedule. Mid to end of career, Coach Ken Matsuda (former USC assistant coach) had us working out in the pool at least three times per week with leg and arm resistant equipment. Workouts were low impact to the joints. He also had us working out with resistant bands (whole body). The bands were great to travel with. It allowed us to work out in our rooms by simple connecting the bands to closed door… What number of stations do you use? September—10 stations + 60 crunches at the end of workout. What exercises? I found a bunch of workouts from post college years. I modified workouts depending on how my body was responding to the workouts.
PS — Early season, I used to use circuit training on what we deemed our general days, incorporating lots of body weight drills and core exercises.
MC — Circuit training is a must for us in the pre-season training sessions, and present in the in-season maintenance/recovery sessions. Whether it is station work or rotating through exercises, there are generally eight exercises and they will vary from lunges, a variation of hops, push-ups, single-leg balances or movements, movements across different planes, etc.
What is your off-season fitness plan? Would it be different for high school and college? Is it different for men and women?
MC — For HJ, my off-season plan is to stay mobile and do different activities/movements than jumping “high”. It would vary according to the athlete, training age, and level of engagement over the break—that is where the variation would be rather than dependent on HS or College. It doesn’t necessarily vary for gender.
DS — I start my jumpers on technique training the first Saturday in November as we have meets starting in early January. They’re now going back to school in mid-August so I tell them to train three days/week starting in September. (a lifting day, a day off, a sprint/interval day, a day off, and a plyo day). I add a day/week in October. One week do an additional lifting workout, the next week, do an additional sprint/interval workout. I want them training five days/week by November. It doesn’t matter boys to girls for me as I work, almost exclusively with high school jumpers.
RN — During college – it was mostly weights, bounding and plyometrics, some mileage, sprint work. After college — mileage work – 1-3 miles, maybe 5 if body felt good; bounding and plyometrics – worked on quantity; teardown. Heavy in the weight room 2-3 x per week. Would it be different for high school and college? Absolutely! More of everything in college. The high school season is so condensed you don’t have an opportunity to put in much of a base foundation, unless you are a multi-sport athlete in high school. Is it different for men and women? I don’t think so. Vicky Borsheim, UW women’s high jumper and elite athlete, and I had both were coached by Ken Shannon. As far as I can remember we pretty much had the same fitness plan.
PS — In the off-season, I want my jumpers to maintain an acceptable level of fitness. Bike riding, swimming, yoga/pilates, etc… will take the place of running and jumping and any other weight-bearing exercises to allow bodies to recover from the work of the previous season.
Plateauing— how do you get an athlete to break through a plateau?
RN — In September Coach Shannon and I would sit down and map-out my competition schedule for the year. We would target key meets such as the Pac10 championships, NCAA’s, U.S. Nationals, Europe schedule, etc. From there we would backfill in running workouts (sprint or endurance), weightlifting schedules (heavy, light, explosive), and technique days (full approach workouts, box jumps, 2-5 step approaches, etc.). During season I cut down on bounding and plyometric workouts.
Depending on the athlete, I pretty much stay with the above philosophy.
DK — “A high tide raises all ships”. When average performance goes up, one can expect a new PR to follow. Yes, there are adrenal moments, but the logic still applies. On adrenaline, it’s important to remember the managing of elation upon a PR. The adrenaline passes and now they are staring at an even higher bar… If you can command it, the adrenal moment can bridge to the next bar. If not, consider not attempting the following bar.
DS — My Interactive Coaching Program (ICP) is designed to periodize training and have jumpers peaking when they choose to do so. I don’t have much trouble with “plateauing.”
How many ground contacts do you routinely do in practice? And does this vary on your “jump” days during the week or is it a situation that you go for a set number per week? Could you compare how this would be different between high school and college, men and women.
DS — I’m only concerned with ground contacts when it comes to plyometrics. I have my jumpers do 20 run-bys three days/week as part of their warm-up. That’s 60 approach simulations/week without jumping once. I’m huge on repetition. You know the saying isn’t “Practice Makes Perfect.” The saying is “Practice Makes Permanent…..Only Perfect Practice Makes Perfect.” I teach my jumpers to execute as close to perfect as they’re capable and then they become their own judge of what’s perfect for them.
RN — I’m not sure I understand this question. However, on specific jump days I concentrated on 8-12 good, quick ground contacts. It varied depending on jump days, and the time of season. Closer to big meets I would only shoot for 8-12 good quality contacts. In high school the number of contacts was less. As I got stronger, I could handle more quantity of contacts.
DK — A sprint coach growing in popularity these days says: “Don’t burn the Steak…”
How many jumping days do you do in a week?
MC — Generally two and a comp day; with the second jump day being negotiable.
DS — I don’t advocate more than two days/week jumping during the non-competitive season and once/week when the kids are in season. It’s too much jumping otherwise.
RN — Two in training, three including meets
PS — I move from two to one jumping day a week during the season. To me it is important for the jumpers to stay hungry during the competitive season. I will substitute a day of drills for jumping so that when the weekend arrives, my jumpers are chomping at the bit. It is important not to burn out jumpers with too many jump days especially before the more important competitions.