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.
