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.

The importance of learning a good technique to become a triple jumper.

 

The physical forces involved in triple jump can be particularly damaging to young developing athletes if correct technique is not maintained, However, the balance and co-ordination required to perform the three phases, benefits the long-term development and skill advancement of the athletes involved.

That is why it is so important that the coaches possess a high-quality knowledge, for example, about biomechanical, the kinematics and kinetics of jump for distance, with particular reference to the long and triple jump, and above all extensive knowledge of plyometrics, gymnastics, and coordination exercises, to improve the development of the athletes. There are other factors which I could add here, but I am just listing a few examples.

According to my experience as a professional jump coach, particularly in triple jump, experience plays a big role here. Training athletes for 14m or 15m male or 12m-13m female, is a different matter to training elite athletes for 17m+ male or 14m-14.90m female and I am talking here from my own experience as a coach, having trained athletes for the World and European Championship, for the Commonwealth and Olympics.

I have to say that, even with 25 years of experience, I think that being a triple jump coach is like being a doctor - you never stop learning to improve and develop your own techniques as a coach.  

 

A magnificent result

Yaroslava MAHUCHIKH 2.06 METRES High Jump Banskobystrická latka 2021

I have been following this athlete since 2018 when she competed in the RomeDiamond League. At that time what impressed me the most was the suppleness in with which she overpassed the bar, and the most important thing, the strength of her take off.

Another quality is the technique that she has from the approach to the end of the jump. I think that if there is someone at the moment capable of breaking the record of Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) 2.09 m, it is this young athlete of Ukraine.