Flexibility & Core

 The old season is the phase when the athlete has to prepare strongly physically and mentally, and it is the stage which the training programs have to be perfectly organized for the athletes. In recent months I have been conducting an investigation on how to carry out a training program that develops a better result for the athlete. To achieve my goal I did an investigation in different countries and at the same time analyzed many training programmes of  some top, and ex top athletes in long and triple jump.

I found that each one of them has different training plans, but the exercises are the same, and most of them work with exercises such as these:

Hip stability,

Strength

Explosive power

Muscular and Cardio vascular endurance 

Explosive hip recruitment

Dynamic flexibility

Foot speed

Core

Now, when it comes to working flexibility, it surprised me that most of the athletes and also some coaches think that working flexibility removes explosiveness for jumps. I really don`t understand where that came from, because the effects of poor flexibility will cause a decrease in athletic performance. In order to perform optimally, the body must function correctly. Proper function begins with a comprehensive flexibility program. Flexibility training is beneficial for many reasons including:

Helping to correct muscle imbalances

-          Increasing the range of motion of joints

-          Decreasing excessive muscle tension caused by shortened muscles

-          Relieving stress placed on joints caused altered muscle length

-          Improving the health of the musculotendinous junction

-          Helping to maintain normal functional length of muscles

-          Improving the efficiency of the neuromuscular system

-          Improving overall bodily function

-           

Every Coach knows what an athlete has to have to be a good triple jumper, for example coordination, rhythm, balance, sense of time and space and explosive reaction.  When an athlete is flexible, it is even easier to work plyometrics exercises, but also do more fluently the special gymnastic exercises for triple jump.  

The other thing that surprised me, when have work on core stability, everyone does the same exercises and many of them think that Core is only to perform abdominal exercises and work with medicinal balls.

If we look at the posture which a triple jumper has to maintain during jumps, the position of the hip, the coordination that  he has to have between the arms and legs, and not forgetting the  impact that the legs have to absorb on each jump, it is crazy to think that just sit-ups, and work with medicine ball will develop the results of the jumper. There are many special Core exercises for triple jumpers, but it is a shame to see the lack of inventiveness of some coaches to create specific exercises for each of the athletes.

It is a pity to see many jumpers  training very hard, but with poor competition results, and  also to see how many times athletes try to copy exercises from other athletes, thinking that it is going to be perfect for them. When an athlete gets to the level that he has to look to strangers  for help ,this must  mean that there is something wrong between him and his coach. They should try to analyze with their coach what is going on, and try to find a solution which, instead of worsening the situation, bring progress in the results of the athlete

World Championships London 2017

The world championships are over, with a lot of surprises in almost all events, but I want to talk specifically about long jump and triple jump. In my opinion South Africa is going in a good direction in long jump- they brought two athletes and both won medals, gold and bronze.  Luvo Manyonga jumped 8.48m, but to me this guy can jump very easily over 8.60-8.70m. He still has to work to clean and improve his technique, but he is a talented athlete, hungry to jump as far as possible and I think that it is something that he can work on really easily. Triple jump was a great battle between Taylor and Claye, both good athletes, but I think Christian Taylor is pushing too much for the world record. He has the record under his foot and it is just a matter of time - the record will come when he least expects it.

All the athletes played a good role, they did everything possible to obtain a medal and that's something we have to be proud of in all of them. We also have to be proud of those athletes who tried to qualify for the world championships and for one reason or another they did not make it.

Triple jump is a difficult discipline for men and women, and apart from that, even having talent may not be enough to be a great athlete. You have to train hard and smart, but above all you have to have a good coach with sufficient knowledge about this discipline, someone who believes in you, understands you and who will be able, with patience to lead you to obtain great results.

I live in London and I was really disappointed when I did not see any British athletes in Long Jump (male) and just one athlete in Triple Jump that even did not make the qualification for the final. There were no British athletes in the Female Triple Jump either and although they had 3 female athletes in long jump, the results were not good, and not what they expected.  I wonder what is happening here in the UK with the jumps discipline- disappointingly low achievement levels from the country that has provided the world record of triple jump. You would imagine that here they would be able to produce greater jumpers, so what is going on? Could it be lack of investment, problems with the coaching system? If anyone can suggest reasons behind this situation, I’d welcome their ideas.

Although I am not her coach I would like to talk about a long jump athlete (Jazmin Sawyers).  I have seen her compete on more than three occasions. The last time I saw her jump was at the Olympics in Rio, but when I saw her again in London I was really surprised that after five years she still has the same technical problems.  I heard that she changed her coach, but for me when you take the decision to change coach, you do it to improve. Although many times, when changing to a new coach, it can be some time before seeing the results, but 5 years with the same problems, that is something that I cannot understand. She is a great talent, available to reach the 7+m if she improves her technique.

I think that in general, the team GB did a good job- they have a lot of young talented athletes ready for the new season, and prepared to compete with top of top from the world.  I look forward to seeing their future in athletics unfold.

   

Why it is so difficult to improve on Triple jump distance in Europe?

People keep asking me the same question every time- why is it so difficult to improve distance in triple jump when they train 5 days a week and they train really hard?

I had been doing research in different European countries about why it is so difficult for a woman to jump even over 13.50 and the men 16 or 16.50m.

Triple jump is not an easy athletics discipline, therefore a good training program guided by a coach with extensive knowledge specialized in triple jump is fundamentally necessary.

Although in Europe there are good coaches specialized in this discipline, there is a lack of practical knowledge and experience amongst some of them.

When a coach selects an athlete to be a jumper, the first thing to do is start working with the special triple jump base. When I talk about the base, I am talking about to improving development and the quality of athlete through special exercises such as those shown in the examples below;

Here I want to give you an example of what you can do to work with your athletes. Remember as a coach you have to make your own training program for each athlete.

1-      To improve coordination, rhythm and explosiveness, exercises between high and low hurdle,

2-      To improve distance, series of jumps uphill, also exercises between hurdles and cones with different distances

3-      To improve time and space, series of jumps down hill

4-      To improve reaction time, box plyometric (statics)

5-      To improve the speed between the jumps, box plyometric exercises with speed. (plyometric speed has to be made also on the track so fast as you can but with rhythms)

There are so many exercises you can use but it is up to you to look for those that they are suitable for the athlete.         

 

I want to explain to you that before the athlete starts working with those exercises, to avoid injury the athlete has to work with different exercises to strengthen the ankles, knees and natural physical strength. This work should be performed in different types of surfaces like grass, sand, tarmac and pavement (exercise on pavement can only be done under an experienced coach)

It is also very important to work with gymnastic exercises to improve the posture of the athlete as well as the positions of the legs in each flight phase.

Something very important that has to be in every training program of each athlete, is the continuous work of core exercises with medicine balls and others equipment for strengthening the hips and body stability and a special weight circuit for triple jump, done in the weight room.

I hope this information has been of help, and if any of you have any questions, please let me know.

    

Why do we have so many injuries with triple jump?

Triple jump is a really hard discipline, and as with all another sport injuries it is inevitable but at the same time avoidable. I have travelled all over the world and it still surprises me how coaches select and train an athlete specifically for triple jump.

For me it is difficult to believe that coaches will continue to use the same training technique over a number of years with the same athlete, when it’s clear that the athlete is not making any progress, and something obviously has to be changed in their training programme. There is often a lack of knowledge about training systems and a lack of ability to improvise while working with individual athletes.

To avoid injuries and keep an athlete healthier, the first thing you have to do is work really well  specifically  on the base of triple jump.

 I know that for an athlete of 13 or 14 years, because his bone density is not sufficiently developed, it is dangerous to work with e.g. plyometric training of hard impact, and also excessive jumps over long distances can cause them severe injuries. This doesn’t mean, however, that you have to avoid working with plyometrics exercises with young athletes- the difference is that the exercises have to be made for each individual athlete according to their talent.  

Before you start to work with plyometrics exercises it is important first to develop his coordination, sense of rhythm, sense of time and space and run technique. All of this, the athlete has to develop during the special base for triple jump. If an athlete brings with him a good technique from the beginning, the chance to avoid an injury is greatly improved.

If you, as a coach want to take an athlete to the elite without injuries, it is very important to keep polishing the technique in all its stages, only in this way can you have the results that you want.    

I’d like to address the question of why it is so difficult to improve the distance in Triple Jump?

Everybody talks about Triple jump as the hardest discipline in Athletics. Why? - Because you have to jumps 3 times in a row and it makes this discipline unnatural.  

Research has shown that, at the landing between the hop and step phases, the force exerted by the athlete on the ground can be up to 22 times their body weight: imagine an athlete of 80kg briefly weighing 1.7 tons, and having to stand on one leg.

This is the highest measured force that a human limb is exposed to during any intentional activity.

For this reason, triple jumpers have stronger bones than normal people; in fact, their thigh and shin bones become thicker and denser in order to withstand the huge forces that they must undergo during the event.

In addition to being incredibly strong, triple jumpers must also be very fast; the fastest athletes in the men's and women's events will hit the takeoff board at around 10.5 and 9.5 metres per second respectively. The problem with the speed is that the athletes have to have  perfect coordination and control to accomplish a good jump.

We are strong, we have speed, coordination and rhythm and still we cannot jump far- what is going on? To develop an athlete, the coach needs to have patience and specific knowledge about triple jump. Being fast and strong doesn’t mean that you will jump far- the athlete needs to work hard and try improve their technique every day.

For example; most men have adopted 'double arm shift' to propel themselves farther, but to achieve good results using the double arm shift, the correct body position is extremely important,  something that athletes have to improve on every day during training, in order to maintain balance and fluidity.

What I am  trying  to say is that each element in Triple jump has to be in balance with the others; Regardless of  how strong or fast you are, if you are not capable of maintaining this balance, it is going to be difficult for you to achieve your goal.         

TRANSITION BETWEEN THE JUMPS.

I as said before, I have received many emails with the question about the transition between the jumps, especially the transition from the hop in to the step. I have to say that almost 80% of triple jumpers have problem with that. For example, if you look at the American Triple jumper, the hop distance is +- between (6,50m - 6.70m) but the step distance is (+- 5.00m or 5.50m) and the final jump is almost (7 or 7m +)  - this one is the powerful jump. If you look at the Cuban jump between the hop and the step, their jump almost every time is 12m, i.e.  6m hop and 6m step, but the final jump is between (+- 5.00 or 5.50m).

I want to clarify that I take those countries as example because they are the most consistent for the last 10 years.  

I know that many coaches train athletes to make every jump equally, but according to my experience when you train in this way, the chance to achieve your gold is not realistic. There are many exercises’ to improve that problem, and of course it won`t be easy but as I said before each centimetre in Triple jump takes time and perseverance.

The problem with transition is that a lot of jumpers, especially young jumpers, make the hop too high instead of  jumping horizontally, so when they land to make the transition to the step, most of the time they breakdown and they start to lose  speed, and this causes the step falls short.  As a result, to end the final jump, they have to pass the 7m long jump to be able to make a jump between 15 or 16m, for men and between 12 or 13m for women. (Of course women don`t need to jump 7m)   

           

If an athlete has a transition problem especially from the hop to the step, the first thing that you have to do is work with coordination and rhythm exercises. The second is work with speed exercises to maintain the speed between the jumps. Third, work with plyometric exercises to improve the reaction time on the ground, and also work with exercises to improve time and space between the jumps. There is one more thing- The Approach. I've heard of many, even professional jumpers, that they only train with short approach even before the competition period ,and they use full approach just in competitions. Every coach has a different opinion about that ,and also respects that, but my opinion is that this is completely wrong.

When you train with short approach, of course it is easy to manage the exercises with control ,but the problem is when you want to jump over 14 or 15m women or 16.90 or 17.30m men, you will need a full competition approach. I know that everybody trains with short approach to improve technique, but you have to train regularly the full approach to be prepared for major competitions.

A lot of people asked me to put exercises in my blog to be able to use in training's. I want to clarify that each exercise is done for each individual athlete. There are athletes who are able to develop their technique with simple exercises. In the meantime if you use those same exercises with another athlete, many times instead of improving what it does with the athlete is to decrease the technique. By this I mean that if you have a good coach, he will always go to find the solution through the invention of new exercises to improve your development. If you as an athlete train with a coach for more than three years and you do not see any kind of improvement in your techniques and results, the first thing you have to do is talk to your coach and together make a deep analysis about the training program and what can be done to improve the situation.

I do not recommend to athletes to change coaches, as in triple jump that can bring bad consequences, but if after having analysed with your coach the problems, and  the problems are still there I think, it is better that you look for a new coach who has a lot of experience and knowledge of triple jump.

  

REFLECTIONS

 I was watching the different Athletics National Trials in different countries, and it surprised me that the qualities of the techniques of the triple jumpers are really poor. I know that out there, there are so many good coaches that they work really hard to have results, but I still think that we are more focused on having results too quickly, and we forget that in this discipline, the athlete needs time to prepare for any competition.

I am speaking here for the two groups both men and women.

I still see athletes with a fast approach, and they attack the board really well, but the transition to the step is poor, so when they have to make the final jump, they don`t make a good distance. Also they have no rhythm, and without the rhythm it is impossible to have time and space between the jumps. When you have time and space, that means that the reaction on the ground is good, and if your technique is good you have to be available to jump well. 

  

Another thing, if you are a young talented athlete, and according to you, you train really hard, it is not possible that you for three consecutive years still jump the same distance or less. In Triple jump you have to train hard to achieve any centimeter but it does not mean that you cannot improve your PB every year. Professional athletes try to stay consistent, when the jump over 17m it’s just a matter of keeping the rhythm to improve the distance.   If you are a young athlete and you still jump the same distance for 2 or 3 years, you need to talk with your coach and try to find out what is the problem.

If you as a young athlete want to be a professional athlete, the first thing that you have to do is work to improve your technique, be patient and be smart. 

A good technique gives you the ability and agility to improve your jumps and the ability to avoid injury. It also gives you the power to practice for longer in this discipline ,and helps to keep you in good  health.

In the next Blog entry, in response to so many people asking me about the subject, I will be discussing the transition between hop and step.

     

CLEAN YEAR

2016 was a really bad year for athletics.  The doping scandal brought much damage to our sport with bad consequences for many athletes.  As a coach I feel really sorry for those athletes that did not have anything to do with it, but have had to suffer because of politician reasons.

I hope that this year of 2017 we can have a good beginning and a clean year for athletics, and that all athletes will be available to compete without any problem. I wish to all jumpers all the best for this year, and also I wish that you can complete your goals and the achievement that you all wish for.

Happy New Year Jumpers!