Part (II)-Hop

The hop is what really tells us if we can make a good jump or not. Why? It is our first contact with the ground and the triple jumper almost always lose the speed in his first fall, so to maintain the continuity from there to the end the athlete will  have to keep the speed between jumps. There are athletes who are able to correct this mistake by putting in balance the technique with the rhythm and in most cases they can finish with a good jump. To achieve this goal, the athlete must have worked 95% technique and the approach has to be 100%

There exists many exercises, but here I want to give you 3 simple example of what a triple jumper can do to develop the quality since the first fall,

Please Note: these exercises are for athletes with a high level, and I want to explain that these exercises don` t work for all athletes, it is best that you consult with your coach to find what you need to improve your jumps. These exercises you can work only in the first phase of the first cycle.

Example:

1-    50m, continuous bounding in the sand but with shoes (When we use the shoes, not only we are working on the reaction but also with the balance and stability in the athlete    In addition we are strengthening at the same time, knees and ankles). We usually work in the sand without shoes to strengthen your feet, ankle and knee, but my experience taught me that the athletes only get, 60% power of reaction, and that reaction is not good enough to make the jumps 100%

2-    50m continuous single leg hops in the sand with speed (shoes) (Here we also work on balance and stability but at the same time we are working on combination speed with the endurance). It is very important that the athlete starts to recognize when he is losing or wining speed between the jumps

3-    Perform these two exercises, between hurdles, to work the distance.  The hurdles must be more or less than 3.50/4m.  This distance also depends on the level of athlete.

For elite athletes, also they can work these two exercises with weights.

Never forget that working in the sands with shoes has a lot of risk, so it is very important that your coach is always watching every workout of this type that you perform in the sand.

Important: to perform these exercises very well, the athlete must have the core very strong.

The Hop in Triple Jump

The triple jump is a specialty which is divided into the approach, hop, step and the jump; today I want to talk about the hop. When an athlete performs the hop very high, usually the distance at the end of the jump is poor, and the same happens when the hop is very low.  Technically, to make a good hop, the jumper must jump horizontally.

However, it is not only the height of the hop which can impair the distance, there are also other technical elements such as incorrect co-ordination between the arms and legs, not being able to maintaining the pendulum (high knee) and the foot horizontal to the ground, and   most importantly in my opinion, not knowing how to lead the jump to the front.

There are many Coaches who think that when an athlete doesn`t cycle very well, this can affect the jumps completely. Theoretically, this is a problem but in practice, all depends on the coordination and the rhythm of the athlete and how he biomechanically can make the movements. Not all athletes have the same elasticity or the same ability to perform the exercises fluently. However even with this drawback, many can jump 17m +. The reason being that they can keep the speed in the second two phases and this is the most important and at the same time the most difficult thing in the triple jump.

What is the best way to train the hop? Many athletes train the hop combined with the long jump- the goal is to use the “walking on air” technique and land with one foot in the sand pit.  Bounding is also used in order to refine the hop, but it is often forgotten that everything in the triple jump is about balance. As I said earlier if you make the hop too high, usually on the landing you will break down and if you make it very low, you block the  landing. By this I mean you lose the momentum and the transition and this problem causes that the jumper loses the speed between jumps.

Therefore it is very important that an athlete not only works with the bounding or uses the long jump to improve the hop, but also works with plyometric jumps for action and reaction, and for uphill and downhill, together with many special jumping exercises with hurdles for triple jump. Also needed, are plyometric work with boxes in different positions, and especially the work of fiber. Fiber is what gives an athlete the reactive power of the jump, so it is very important that the coach applies exercises for each individual athlete according to their qualities to prevent injury.

If anyone has any questions or queries about the topics I cover in this blog, you are welcome to post them here and I will be happy to respond to them.

The Triple Jump- one of the hardest disciplines in athletics

For almost everybody triple jump is the most difficult and complicated discipline in track and field, and its athletes have to go through one of the most rigorous training programs.  If you, as an athlete decide to practice and get to the top,   the first thing you have to do is work unconditionally on the fundamental basis of the triple jump.  For example you have to learn the basic principles of coordination, work on obstacles to implement time and space, especially the sense of rhythm.  

If your aim is, like I said before, reaching the elite, you have to be prepared to train at least 5 or 6 days a week in total 18 hours a week. Why?  The training programs to get to the elite are composed of a lot of jumps including plyometric jumps, speed, media resistance, strength, weight explosive, weights circuit for the triple jump, and technical work jumps with speed. One very important thing that you have to work on is the work “on fibers”, this is what gives you the possibility of reaction between jumps, I mean the ability to be as little as possible on the ground- and for a triple jumper, the less time you're on the ground, the farther you're going to jump the distance.

“Fiber work” is an area where the coach has to have a lot of experience and knowledge of how to implement the jumper's reaction in continuity with the speed and almost perfect technique.       If you as a coach make mistakes in the training program intended for  Fiber, the CONSEQUENCES for the athlete may be catastrophic, with injuries such as    

      

-        -   groin strain

-        -   Distension / rupture of the hamstring

-         -  Chronic inflammation of the patellar tendon (jumper's knee)

-         -  Injuries of the lateral ligaments of the ankle and others.

Fiber is an area of work that the coaches have to maintain in all seasons, as are many of the exercises that the athlete performs during the preparation phase. Many coaches change the training system, according to phase and cycles, but my experience as a professional coach, convinced me that many of the exercises that athletes have made ​​in the preparation phase are fundamental exercises for the triple jumper development. Like I said triple jump is not easy and people have no idea what an athlete must do to jump a centimeter.  Triple jump is a discipline with a 90% risk of injury, but the technical work reduces that risk to nearly 10%. if you have a good coach, working on the technical basis and the development of new exercises designed for each individual athlete and who works intensively the technique such as the coordination of arms and legs, the knees, feet and body position, also of course fiber work, you will develop the skills, between strength and power, and so, you will create a perfect balance as jumper.

Psychological factors, which are involved in the performance of an athlete

One of the traditional concerns of physical and sport educators has been how to instill in their students a love of training and competition.  We find from an early age some boys and girls who don` t waste  a chance to be present in the PE class and yet others for whom it is a real suffering to attend . Besides this, although physical education in many parts of Europe is part of the educational system, for the most part this is not done by true professionals in this field.

Although motivation is essential for success in all fields, many don` t understand very well what it is. The successful coach requires a deep understanding of motivation, including the factors that influence it, and methods for improvement ,both in individuals and in groups. In fact, on many occasions what separates the good coaches from the mediocre is not their technical knowledge of the sport but his ability to motivate his athletes. There are many psychological factors involved in the performance of Athletes, researched over many interviews with various coaches and athletes themselves, however here, I would like to list what , in my opinion, are the six psychological factors  that could be considered the basis of a good psychological functioning in the athlete.

- Motivation.

- Emotional control.

- Responsiveness (external feedback)

- Analytical (internal feedback)

- Concentration.

- Confidence.

But right now, I want to focus only on motivation;

 According to the Theory of Achievement Motivation by

Atkinson (1964) and McClelland (1961),( parents of the theory of achievement), achievement, as in sport, is motivated by both personality and situational factors.

Major personality factors  are: the motive to achieve success and the motive to avoid failure.

Situational factors that influence our achievement behaviors are: the likelihood of achieving success or failure, and the incentive value associated with the success/failure.

These two reasons are the result of early socialization experiences that teach subjects to avoid failure or seek success.

They are universal and independent, because a person may have a high need to avoid failure, but not achieving success.

According to the authors, these personal factors remain unchanged throughout life.  People oriented to the avoidance of failure continue to show avoidance responses but never achieve success.
It is my belief,however, with respect to the above theory, that we can change young people's motivation at an early age with good quality coaching in Physical Education,which can help produce the most positive psychological motivation factors  leading to success, and eliminate those negative factors which my block success in the future as an athlete.

Welcome to the Jump the Line, a blog with allows me to share my extensive experience and knowledge gained during my 21 years as a professional jumps coach to top international athletes around the world.  I`ll be commenting on the development of the technique of jumping, as in long jump and  triple jump, and  discussing other aspects of athletics in general.  I also want to share my experience in other sports such as gymnastics