The triple jump is a highly specialized discipline

 The triple jump is a highly specialized discipline that I have been dedicated to for over twenty years, focusing specifically on sprinting and jumping techniques.

In the past year, there have been significant advancements in this discipline. When you look at the world's top jumpers, you'll notice that they are all Cuban, even though they represent other nations.

This is because of their exceptional technique, especially in terms of rhythm, ground reaction, and superior bounding. This technique gives the athlete perfect coordination and creates the ideal time and space between each jump, allowing them to achieve great distances.

To develop this technique, an athlete needs to engage in extensive plyometric exercises tailored for triple jumpers. While some may argue that plyometrics are the same for everyone, I believe that they are unique to each athlete.

There are many online videos explaining how to perform specific exercises to improve your technique, but achieving distances of 17m+ for men and 14.50m+ for women requires more than just following generic exercise guides.

During each training session, the athlete needs to focus on improving their technique and work diligently on the basics of this discipline until he can master it, which is essential even for professional athletes.

Triple Jump In Scotland

 

Having attended multiple triple jump competitions in Scotland, I have observed that while there is a dedicated effort to improve this discipline, there is still much room for refinement in perfecting the technique. It can be disheartening to watch athletes put forth their best efforts to win the gold, only to fall short due to a lack of proper technique.

The triple jump demands a high level of coordination, balance, rhythm, and speed, making it a challenging sport that requires a unique blend of talent and skill. However, success in this discipline also hinges on the athlete's mastery of the technique involved.

To cultivate and elevate an athlete's skills in this field, it is essential to place emphasis on refining their technique on a daily basis. This not only mitigates the risk of injuries but also enhances the athlete's self-assurance, priming them both physically and mentally for optimal performance and competition.

I understand that athletics coaches in Scotland are working hard to develop and improve their discipline, despite it being a volunteer position. This can make it challenging for them to fully focus and achieve their desired results. It's disappointing for both coaches and athletes to be in this situation. To see improvement in this discipline, the Scottish Federation must find ways to enhance jump development throughout Scotland

             Develop a triple jumper to become a professional

I have already talked about this topic before but it seems to me that we must continue talking about something that has so many problems in developing triple jumpers

I have worked as a professional coach in this discipline in different countries and I have seen many great coaches, of course, each one of them with different opinions but in the end, they all have the same goal, (results).

By this, I mean that all coaches including myself have a common goal, but to achieve results, we have to work deeply and fundamentally on the specific basis of this discipline with the athletes.

In my opinion and according to my experience, as a coach, we have to take into consideration if the athlete has the talent and the conditions to be a triple jumper, for me it is the first thing we have to observe.

Why do I say this? In this discipline, the athlete has to possess specific qualities for the development of it and as the first quality, discipline.

The second thing is to have a strong mentality in training and the ability to listen and store every technical detail for his/her development.

Third and last, the athlete has to be punctual in each training session, I can imagine that other coaches have another point of view on this, but I have worked and continue to work this way and it has always worked perfectly for me.

I have other points in consideration but since each type of athlete is different, I use them individually for each one of them.

When we are sure that the athlete has the required qualities and he or she commits to becoming a triple jumper then the other part and responsibility belongs to us then from this moment the work begins.

I am going to put some examples here, remember each coach has his book and you do what you think works with your athlete.

To train a beginner, the first thing we have to do is work on the base of this discipline. that consists of the preparation of the athlete in different technical skills.

For instance, we have to teach them how a triple jumper should run; I can imagine that many wondered, (run!)

Jumpers have to know how to push off the track to gain speed and strength, sprinters do that too but differently.

There are specific speed exercises for triple jumpers, which can be developed with cones, hurdles and different types of obstacles to develop the skills of the sense of rhythm in the approach.

To avoid all kinds of injuries we have to work the base that consists of coordination, balance and rhythm exercises, and exercises for time and space. For this last one, I particularly work uphill and downhill.

Do not forget that these exercises have to be done under the supervision of the coach

It is worrying to see many girls and boys, without the proper technique, competing in different competitions. This discipline requires an almost perfect technique and the more we work with them to perfect the technique, the better jumpers we will have in the future. Please, let's avoid losing those talents just because we want to have immediate results and let's work on developing this discipline in the safest way possible.

Plyometrics for Triple Jump,

 

Every time that I have had a conversation with some triple jump coaches, I have always heard the same thing -that plyometrics should be used on all jumpers, with this I agree, but the question is- how it should be used?

When it comes to plyometrics, we have to consider that each human body reacts differently to any type of training.

Although Plyometric training must be included in every jumper training program even for beginners, the problem is, and here is my point of observation, for beginners, these exercises have to be specific for each athlete. Even professional athletes have to work with specific plyometric exercises that develop their technique and improve reaction, coordination, the sense of time and space and distance and also other technical qualities that will prevent to avoid any type of injury in the future.

As I explained before, each athlete reacts differently to each exercise, e.g., if we train 2 athletes, we have to take into account that a reaction exercise (dynamic or static), for one, can be good, but for the other, it can cause injuries.

So here, our role as a coach is to try to find or invent an exercise specifically for the other jumper and this exercise has to have the same objective, which in this case is a reaction exercise.

 

To become a good triple jumper, you must never forget to work on the technical foundation of this discipline, and plyometrics, no matter what must be included in your training programme.

A good foundation will guide the athlete to a great result.  There are different types of plyometric exercises, such as hard impact exercises, reaction exercises from the static or dynamic position, etc, and because of the risk attached to these exercises, they should definitely be done under the supervision of an experienced coach to avoid any type of injury.

The result of the lack of the technical foundation of this discipline (in this case speaking of plyometrics) is that unfortunately, you will see many young talented jumpers with bad techniques, and at the end of the day, most of them will never achieve the results they are dreaming of.

Triple jump is one of the most complicated technical disciplines in athletics, and therefore it is necessary to have a good coach who has the experience and knowledge capable of developing a jumper and taking them to reach their full potential.

 

 

                         

Youth Jumps specialisation

Youth Jumps specialisation is a topic that I am passionate about. I am asked about it a lot in my role as a professional jump coach. The most common question is:

When should a young athlete specialise in Long or Triple jump?

When it comes to track & field, specialisation refers to an athlete preparing and practising for only one event (e.g., triple jump, long jump, high jump, shot put, sprinting, etc) or event group (e.g., jumps, throws, distance running, etc).

If I am asked when a young athlete should begin to specialise in a particular event for instance Triple jump, my response is:

I firmly believe that a young athlete should be treated as a multi-event athlete, until at least 15-16 years of age.

This means that they prepare and practice for, and participate in, a wide range of events available to their particular age group. They run, jump, throw and walk

The Problems of Early Specialisation

Earlier specialisation in the triple jump can result in several problems:

A narrow development of muscles and systems

Early specialisation can result in a restricted exposure to a variety of movements and exercises, leading to a narrow skill-set. For long-term athletics and sporting involvement, and particularly if an athlete has a goal to participate in a higher level or even high-performance sport, they will need to have a wide base of movement experiences on which to call. Early specialisation just does not allow for this. 

Having said that, Where I come from (Cuba), we train talented young athletes for triple jumps, and even as a coach, I have had athletes who with 15 years are already jumping over 15m.

We never have to stop listening to scientists, but I strongly believe that everything depends on the knowledge of the coach. if you have the necessary knowledge to guide a young athlete to specialize in a triple jump or long jump, just do it.

To get results like this below, we need to use our own experience and knowledge.

                                          (Pedro Pichardo 17.98m Olympics Tokyo)

I also believe that inexperience and lack of knowledge are more likely to result in an athlete suffering sports-related injuries. Too much repetition of a particular movement or set of skills can be stressful on an immature body structure.

Also, it is my experience that kids who are specialising are often prescribed inappropriate training content for their stage of development. Too much of the wrong training too soon will almost certainly result in stress injuries.

A jumper needs to work very well on rhythm, balance, time and space, speed, coordination, plyometrics and especially in gymnastic exercises to improve the technique in the transition between the jumps. Of course, the work is of a greater range than what I am saying, that is why the importance of developing the coach's knowledge in this discipline

 

 

 

 

Athletes display the Olympic uniforms for Russian athletes in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, April 14, 2021. Russia presents its Olympic kit for the Tokyo Games, which shouldn't depict any symbols of the country. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

MONACO -- World Athletics has declared 23 Russian track and field athletes eligible to compete under a neutral flag ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

With their national federation under a doping suspension, Russians must apply for individual exemptions to gain "authorized neutral athlete" status after their drug-testing records have been vetted.

High jumper Mikhail Akimenko and race walker Vasiliy Mizinov -- both silver medalists from the 2019 world championships -- were among the names on the list released Saturday by track's governing body.                                                                             

A total of 27 Russian athletes have so far been declared eligible to compete internationally in 2021 as neutrals.

The other four include three-time world champion high jumper Mariya Lasitskene and world champion pole vaulter Anzhelika Sidorova. 

No more than 10 Russian athletes, however, will be granted eligibility to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, under rules approved by the World Athletics council when it recently revived the authorized neutral athlete or "ANA" scheme.

Two applications for ANA status have so far been rejected by the World Athletics doping review board. Saturday's announcement did not identify them. 

The Russian track federation, known as RusAF, has been suspended since 2015 after investigations revealed doping was rife among elite Russian athletes.