How to make a Triple jumper from zero.

 There are different paths to form a Triple Jumper, but everything has to do with whether the athlete is willing to become a professional jumper.

The other thing is, the coach has to have the knowledge to recognize a talent based on the physical constitutions of the athlete. For example, athlete’s height, coordination, sense of rhythm, posture and the athlete's ability to perform all kinds of plyometric exercises with hurdles or other equipment.

Apart from all the knowledge that the coach must have about the athlete, for a young person to achieve their goals in this discipline, there must be a joint effort between the athlete and the coach.  There must also be mutual trust in order for the athlete  to be able to perfectly comply with the training plans.

A young athlete almost always does different disciplines and within this discipline, they do Long Jump, High Jump and sometimes Pole Vault. Also, they often do sprint and throw or long distance. Even a talent with all this training is not prepared to became a Triple jumper.

To form a triple jumper, the first thing to do is work on the athlete's development base with specific exercises of rhythm and coordination. These exercises have to be done for each individual athlete, in a specific order through the preparation phase, to be able to accurately examine the athlete's progress.

When the athlete is very young and chooses to become a triple jumper, it is very important to work very carefully on the natural strength of the athlete, in combination with speed. We can also use light weights in plyometric exercises, depending on the athlete's ability.

Triple jump, as everyone knows, is a really hard discipline, and the athlete must realize a lot of jumps to improve his techniques, but a young athlete has to be carefully guided when doing all kinds of jumps, (plyometric jumps or specific technical jumps) combined with running on the track.

 

 

IMPORTANT TRIPLE JUMP- LONG JUMP

 There are many qualities you need to be a good triple jumper, for example Speed, Power and Quickness (the ability to quickly take off as soon as you hit the ground between the phases). Also, we cannot forget rhythm, coordination and balance.

When an athlete has those qualities, he has to put it all together to create a perfect balance for the jump.

The approach is one of the most important parts of an athlete's jump and this will be my first topic.

Speed during the approach is essential for Triple jump. The problem here however, is that most jumpers don`t know how to run, and this problem can be found even in professional athletes.  I know that this comment will bring controversy out there, but this is the reality.

Let me explain; as a Coach the first thing that you have to teach your athlete is how run to the board, but also how to control the approach from the beginning, to the take-off moment.

The athlete has to learnt how to push the track during the runway. It feels like grabbing the track with your spike and then passing it under the hip and pushing it back, leaving the track behind you. This push will give the jumper strength and speed.

When an athlete is able to push the track through the approach at the time of the take-off, it is even easier to put the board under the hip, achieving a good and controlled horizontal hop and especially a good distance.

Next, we cannot forget arm coordination; good arm coordination prepares the jumper for the moment of the take-off, in this case the hop.

It doesn’t matter how fast you run- if the athlete is not able to push the track and is not able to control the speed of approach, and top of that does not have good arm coordination, - this will cause instability in the first jump (hop). In most cases, this will cause the body to collapse throughout all the phases, reducing the distance, and possibly leading to injuries of the ankle or the Achilles tendon.

There are many exercises out there to teach the athlete how to really run, but remember that each athlete has their own individual qualities, and therefore any exercise programme should be tailored to meet their specific needs in order to best develop their technical qualities.

After the athlete masters how to run, he has to move on to the next stage, of learning how to bounce, a subject I'll talk about that in my next Blog.

Triple Jump and Long Jump Dutch Championships

 

I have been watching all the national championships in Europe especially the Triple jump and Long jump competitions. As I worked in the Netherlands for many years with various junior and senior athletes, this weekend I watched the Dutch National Championship and I was surprise with the result both by men and women.

I would like to talk about distance, but first I would like to talk about the technique. When I saw the technique, immediately I realized why the distance was so poor. With all respect for all the athletes that competed in the national and their coaches, the lack of technique was alarming, that is why the risk of injury over there is so common especially in triple jumpers.

Holland is a country full of talents with the quality to be one the best in the world in this discipline, but the problem is that until now they haven`t managed to create a culture of jumpers.

When I heard that Fabian Florant is living there, I thought that something would change, but that was not the case. 

I want to say something from my own experience- to be a triple jump coach in the Netherlands is very difficult, and above all when they have to work to achieve results. The Dutch federation does not support this discipline as it does with other disciplines.

In The Netherlands, they don`t have a development program in place to raise this discipline to the second level, and that does not allow coaches to reach the level they require to take athletes to the international level

Observe the biotype of the Dutch athletes -  for example men with a height between 1.85m -2m and women between 1.80-1.90m and by nature they are very strong.  Despite having the perfect qualities to be a good athlete however, the lack of technique makes it very difficult to develop an athlete to the next level.

 I am not saying that all the coaches do not know what they are doing, that is not what I am trying to say here, because I have to acknowledge that Holland has very good coaches. I refer to the knowledge and experience of training athletes at high levels

If you train an athlete to jump over 14.50m female and over 17m male, of course your experience is completely different than when you just train athletes for 13m female and 14m male.

Sometimes you have a big talent, but you ask yourself why he or she does not make progress. You know that they are strong and have the perfect hight and the quality to become a top triple or long jumper, but still he or she doesn’t get the result you are looking for. In order to achieve the result, you will need to have the knowledge, experience and the ability to create training programs for each individual athlete.

Not all athletes can assimilate the same training system, because most of the time what works for one athlete does not work for another athlete, which is why it is so important to have the knowledge to carry out individual specific training programs.

For example, in Holland there are coaches who have no idea how to work with the triple jump base and the worst thing is those who know and have the experience,but they do not know how to implement it during all the preparation phases. The other thing is, they think that the preparation phase should only be used during the first phase, but this is a mistake; The preparation phase should be used in all phases.

To reach 16m by the man or 14m by the women, you will need to train at least 5 days a week for at least 2 hours. This is to allow the athlete to develop a perfect technique and to avoid all types of injuries and achieve satisfactory results every month. That`s why if as an athlete you want to be a professional in triple jump, you will have to train, eat and think like a professional and be able to put aside some of the things that can disturb your career as an athlete.

 I'm not talking about leaving school to became top athletes, because for me education is most important for your future, but you can combine one with the other without any problem.

 There is a way to develop this discipline, and at the same time develop the coaches. Coaches have to organize monthly meetings and talk about technique and how to develop athletes to the next step. It is really important that everyone has to contribute what they know and try to create a healthy jumper culture. You have to put pride aside and create development bases to attract jumpers across the country with the help of the federation or not. That is a good way to lift up this discipline in Holland ,a discipline which at the moment is in the doldrums.

Isinbayeva's appeal to Putin and the IOC to help save Russian athletics

The double Olympic champion warned that the clean athletes of her country will not be able to compete, if on July 1^st the 4.5 million euros fine imposed by the World Athletics is not paid.

Russian athletics is "on the brink of disaster." In this crude and heart-breaking way, former athlete Yelena Isinbayeva has appealed directly to President Putin to resolve the situation which may prevent Clean Russian athletes from competing at any international event. This disaster may happen within a few hours of the July 1 deadline, if the Russian Athletics Federation don’t pay half of the 9 million euro fine imposed by the World Athletics (IAAF). The financial penalty was imposed in January 2020 after the Russian Athletics Federation cover-up, demonstrated in the case of doping controls for high jumper Danil Lysenko. At the time of writing this article, we have no information on the resolution of this situation.

The double Olympic pole-vaulting champion signed a letter to Putin, together with other "clean" Russian athletes, warning him of the seriousness of the situation.  Given the urgency of the payment that was due last Wednesday, July 1^st ,Isinbayeva has also launched an SOS through another letter to World Athletics President Sebastian Coe and the IOC, Thomas Bach, in which she draws the attention of Both organizations, warning that being out of competitions would be "a gross violation of sporting principles and the rights of clean athletes."

In both letters she warned that if the corresponding payment is not made, the Authorized Neutral Athlete (ANA) process will be suspended, which allows certain Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag. "The international federation has no right to deny the opportunity to Russian Clean athletes who pass a strict selection through the most serious controls, to participate in international competitions, at least, under neutral status. In our opinion, stripping ourselves of these rights is a gross violation of sporting principles and athletes' rights clean, "she concludes.