Saturday 20 March 2021

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.