TrackandField:JumpsRoundtableDiscussion2016TheCoaches:TravisGeopfert:TravisGeopfertistheHorizontalJumpsCoachattheUniversityofArkansas. In his 13 seasons as coach, the team has had 10 NCAA NationalChampions (four long jump, two triple jump,onehigh jump,one combined-event,one 100-meters, and one 200-meters),67 First Team All-Americans, 121 NCAAnational qualifiers, 69 Conference champions, 132 All-Conference performances,threeOlympians,andthreeWorldChampionshipqualifiers.

Dan Pfaff: Coach Dan Pfaff tutored 49 Olympians, including nine medalists, 51World Championship competitors (also nine medalists), and five world-recordholders.Hedirectedathletesto57nationalrecordsacrossamultitudeofevents.

Dan served on five Olympic Games coaching staffs in five different countries andnine World Championships staffs for six different countries. He lectured in 27countries and is published inmore than 20 countries. During his NCAA coachingcareer,Dancoached29NCAAindividualnationalchampionsand150All-Americans,and was a lead staff member on teams that have won 17 NCAA National TeamChampionships—fifteenwomenandtwomen.

DanjoinedtheWorldAthleticsCenterasEducationDirectorandLeadJumpsCoachinMarch of 2013, after a successful three-year stint in LondonwithUKAthletics,wherehecoachedlongjumperGregRutherfordtoOlympicgold.

NicPetersen:NicPetersenisthecurrentHorizontalJumpsCoachattheUniversityof Florida. Nic’s complete resume from his previous eight seasons of coachingincludes a World Champion, five athletes who have made IAAF WorldChampionships teams, twoOlympians,a collegiate recordholder, sixathleteswhohave combined for 13 individual national titles, and two athletes who havecombined for three gold medals at United States Track and Field OutdoorChampionships.Petersen’stoppupiltodate,MarquisDendy,blossomedintooneofthemostprolificcombinationjumpersinNCAAhistory,becomingtheonlycollegianto finishhiscareeras27-foot long jumperand57-foot triple jumperboth indoorsandoutdoors.Jeremy Fischer: Jeremy Fischer is the Lead Coach and Director of the USATFresidence program in Chula Vista. He is the lead instructor for USATF CoachingEducationandrunscoach’seducationclinicsallover theworld.HealsoservesonstafffortheParalympicsandwasthecoachforRio2016,andworldchampionshipsin2013and2015.DavidKerin:DaveKerincurrentlyservesonUSATF'sHighPerformanceCommitteeintheroleofMen'sDevelopmentChairandasChairofMen's&Women'sHighJump.Heisperhapsbestknownforhispaper,"Whatisthemostdirectmeanstoachieve

strengthgainsspecifictothedemandsofjumpingevents?”Thepiecewasthefirsttoproposeanddefendtheprimacyofeccentricstrengthforthejumps.AlthoughDaveisnowretiredfromcollegiatecoaching,anathleteofhishasheldtheNCAAIndoor&OutdoorChampionshipsrecordsinHighJumpforthepast16years.Davecontinuesto be a coaching education instructor andmentor to coaches across the U.S. andinternationally.NickNewman:NickNewmaniscurrentlytheHorizontal/VerticalJumpsandMultisCoach at theUniversity of California, Berkeley.He is the author ofTheHorizontalJumps: Planning for LongTermDevelopment (2012). His standout success to datewasthedevelopmentofBlessingUfodiamatoamarkof14.06metersandtheTop2rankintheU.S.asatriplejumperin2011.Hegraduatedwithamaster’sdegreeinHuman Performance and Sport Psychology from California State UniversityFullerton,andisaformercollegiateandinternationallongjumperforEngland.Heiscertified as a Strength and Conditioning Coach, and Technical Coach through theUSTFCCCA.RandyHuntington:RandyHuntingtonisoneoftheworld’sforemosttrackandfieldcoaches.Duringhis 40-year career,Randy’s coaching andmotivational skills haveproducedworld-recordbreakers,Olympicmedalwinners,andchampionsinseveralcountries.He iscurrentlytheHeadCoachforChineseAthletics,wherehisathletesareamongthegreatesttrackandfieldcompetitorsfromAmerica,China,andSouthKorea. For instance, Soonok Jung broke South Korea’s longstanding long jumprecord and Tony Nai broke Taiwan’s long and triple jump records. At least oneathlete that he’s coached has competed in every Summer Olympic Games since1984.AhighpointofRandy’scareercameonAugust30,1991, inTokyo.Thatnight,hisprotégé,MikePowell,jumped29’4½”tobreaka23-yearrecordthatwasbelievedtobeunbreakable.AnothergreatmomentoccurredwhenWillieBanksbecamethefirstmantojumpover18metersatthe1988Olympictrials.

BrianBrillon:Inhis16yearsofexperience,CoachBrianBrillonhascoachedatthehigh school, Division 3 NCAA, and Division 1 NCAA levels. Brian is most notablyknown for coaching Michael Hartfield at The Ohio State University. While there,HartfieldbrokeJesseOwen’slegendary77-year-oldschoolrecordinthelongjumpandcapturedthirdplaceattheNCAANationalChampionships.Brian’sbackgroundin sports medicine and as a practicing massage therapist gives him amultidisciplinaryapproachtocoaching.

Question1:SimpliFaster: “Special exercises” are described as those that bridge the gapbetween traditional exercises and event-specific technical training. Anexample could be a single-leg hang power clean, which could be deemed amore-specific variation for single support disciplines such as the horizontalandvertical jumps.Canyoudescribeyourphilosophyonweight training forjumpers, including exercise selection, specific protocols you find beneficial,andyourviewon“specialexercises?”Travis Geopfert: For years, I have personally been fond of the effectiveness ofcombination/contrast or potentiation training (whichever you want to call it). Ipersonally believe that varying weights for varying reps, combined with aplyometricmovement,isthebestwaytomaximizepoweroutput.IfirstlearnedofthistrainingphilosophyingraduateschoolatCentralMissouriState.IwasaGAwithTuckerWoolseyatCMSUandlearnedfromhimandoneofhismentors,BradMears(aformerthrowerandprofessoratCMSU),theimportanceofthistrainingprinciple.Overtheyears,ourliftingprogramshaveevolvedandIbelievewearenowthemosteffective we’ve ever been, thanks to our current strength coach, Mat Clark. I amprivileged tohavecoachedMatat theUniversityofNorthern Iowaandnowworkwith him as a peer.He has taken our belief in this combination lifting to anotherlevel and he does a fantastic job of finding individual event-specific ways tomaximizethepoweroutputofallourathletes.HereisadirectquotethatMatwrotetomeinanemaillastyear,whichIthinkdoesagoodjobofexplainingourthoughtprocesswiththistypeoflifting:“Here'sthepercentagetemplateforthenextcycle.Themainchangesarethateachmain strength movement is in combination with a maximum power and speedmovement, somost exercises are groupings of three relatedmovements that areheavy and fast.The goal is to train maximal rate of force development and thestretchreflextogether.Percentagesforthemainstrengthmovementsaresimilartothelastcycle,butareusedasanRPE(rateofperceivedexertion)scale,meaningthatthefocuswillbeonmovingfastandefficiently,sotheexactnumbersassignedwillvary according tohow they feel thatday.The ‘No-Set’ addition to thehangpull +hang clean combo and hang clean + split jerk combomeans that they will movefluidly from one to the otherwithout the chance to reset. Thismeans that [they]have to be able to consistently exert maximum force from an incredibly stablecatching position.” ~ Mat Clark, University of Arkansas Track and Field StrengthCoachDanPfaff:IthinktheuseofweighttraininginjumpingeventsshouldbebasedonKPI factors for thatathlete, timeofyear,stageofdevelopment, injuryhistory,andload effect on compatible/complementary factors in the main programming. Itshouldbeanadjunctinmostcases,notadriverperse.Wesafeguardsprintingandjump-specificworkallyear long.Ibelieveinusingliftsthatutilizeaseriesof joint

actionsanddeeplyinvolvesynchronization,ratecoding,frequencyoffiringfactors,magnitudeoffiringindices,motorunitnumbers,etc.Iguardathleteenergyandtimeergonomicsclosely,sowedoasmallernumberofexercisesbutstriveforKPIthemeswitheachone.Absolutestrength,poweroutput,contextual foundations, and injurypreventionare someof themain influencesonexercise selection. We try to stay with ideas and concepts that have producedpositivetrendswithinourgroupforyearsorforthatathleteinpreviousseasons,ifpossible.Wedoexperimentwith ideasand concepts,butonlyafterdeep collaborationanddiscussion, and then only at specific times of the year—still safeguarding thegenerationaldesignofthedailyprogram.Istrugglewiththespecificityofmovementconcepts at times as I feel like the purpose of the exercisemay not lend itself tomovement specificity. If motor unit number is a factor then, in my experience,specificitydecreasesinimportance.NicPetersen:OurStrengthandConditioningCoach,MattDelancey,answeredthisquestion.Heworkswithallourjumpersanddoesanincrediblejob.

1. Squat/overheadsquatassessmenttofindmajordysfunction

Addressdysfunction–Dothispriortotrainingsotheathletecantrainwithbetteralignment. This also creates a situation where the athlete recovers faster fromtrainingbecauseoflesstissuedamageassociatedwithbetteralignment.

Keygeneralstrength/powerexercisesforjumpers:

• Snatch

• Clean

• Squat

• Verticalhamstring

Usevariationsoftheseexercisesthroughoutthetrainingyeartopreventplateaus.JumpsSpecificStrengthExercises(JSSE)1. Step-up variation progressions - Higher boxes to lower boxes. Moving heavyweightfastonallheights.Staytallthroughthehipsandkeepthecorelockedin.

2.EccentricworkisaJSSEinmythoughtprocess.Properpostureandalignmentisessential.Start froma :03/:03:01tempotoa :05/:05/:01tempowithbodyweightthen back to the :03/:03/:01 with weight once they've mastered the BW, thenprogressthetimewithweight.

Weightroomplyosaredebatableforme:

• Flyingstep-ups

• Cyclicturnoverdrillwithbackfootonbox

Themost importantaspect iswhatwebrieflydiscussedearlier:SimpleStuffDoneSavagelyWell!!!

JeremyFischer:Myphilosophyisthatweighttrainingvariesfromathletetoathleteanddependsongender,anthropometricmeasurements,andtrainingage,aswellasgeneralage.Ialsoanalyzetheathlete’shistoryoftrainingandhowlongtheyhavebeentrainingwithme.Ibelievethat,aswithanyformationofatrainingdesignyoudo with athletes, you need to have a baseline assessment of the athlete: theirstrengths,weaknesses,perceivedknowledge,technicalacquisition,andbackground.I’dliketosayIhaveageneralsystem,butIdon’t.Idofollowguidelinesforusingasound and proper technique, going through the progression of the lift, and goingfromgeneraltomorespecificor“special”exercisesastheseasonprogresses.I implement “special exercises” or strength-specific exercises and believe in theirvalue. I think the timing of implementation becomes one of the more importantfactors in including these exercises, and analyzing movement and speed ofmovementindeterminingtheircorrelationtothespecificmovementtheyaretryingtocomplement.David Kerin: I am under the assumption that we are talking about higher-levelathletes as opposed to beginners. Accepting that, much of what is prescribed forsuchindividualscanbetranslatedforappropriateusewithdevelopmentalathletes.Apivotalconceptneedstobeexplainedand ismore important thananythingelsethatfollowshere.Ajumpexecutedoffapriorapproachrunisnotbestviewedasajump. Jumping events aremore correctly described as deflections off the ground;thisbeingamoreuser-friendlyconceptthangettingintoforcevectors.In the U.S., we continually raise generations of “pushers.” Athletes grow tomisunderstand the mission as being one of pushing off the ground. Cartoons,sitcoms, themovie industry, school PE classes, well-intended but under-educatedcoaches, parents, and society in general all serve tomisinform athletes about themission.Astandingjumphasn’tappearedontheOlympicschedulein100years.Thereality is that a running jump results from a collision with the ground, and thenatureofthecollisiondictatestheresult.So,seekout“specialexercises”initiallytoamelioratethisflawedunderstandinganditsfaultymotorprograms.

“Special exercises” tomemean both non-traditional and event-specific. There are“specialexercises”todetrain“jumping”infavorofpre-recruitmentandstiffnessatdesired joint angles, and “special exercises” to detrain inhibitory factors that arepsychologicalandsensory-organellebased.Forexample:landingsascomparedto

rebound jumps; isometrics as opposed to more traditional weight room work;max/nearmaxstrengthworkasviewedagainstlowerloadandpowerwork.Isometricwork,alongwith tendontrainingandhealth,arecurrent interests.Theyare natural progressions from previous research establishing the primacy ofeccentricstrengthtoajump.IfyouthinkabouttheROMofahalftofullsquatversusthe ROM at the knee during run-up and at plant/takeoff, youmay seewhat I amgettingat.Iamnotsayingtothrowouttraditionalliftsorstretchreflex/plyowork,etc., but consider their timing, dosage, and contribution to themission, and thenconsidermydescriptionof“specialexercise.”

Myapologiesfornotthrowinginsomeuniquelytitled,proprietarysounding,specialsauceexerciseshere.There isnomagicbullet tomyview.Rather, Iencouragethereader to look at the bigger picture, starting with the demands of the event andwheretheathletefallsshort,andthenprescribefromthere.Nick Newman: My weight room philosophy blends the use of traditional, non-traditional, simple, complex, obvious, and not-so-obvious methods. Althoughprogramming is predominantly based around event-specific requirements,individual needs play a large role as well. Understanding where the athlete fallsalong the speed-strength or strength-speed continuum is critical for programdesign.Forme, fieldtestsplayacrucialrole.Forexample,boundingtests,shortapproachjumpdistances,andspecificsprintingtestswilldeterminewheretheweightroomemphasisshouldfall.Theabilitytosquatthehousebutachievemediocrebounding,orjumpshortapproachdistanceswillservelittlepurposefortheendgoal.Wemustlearnwhatweightroommarkersrelatetotheevent-specificperformanceforeachindividual.This leansmore towardstrengthprotocol thanexercisechoice.Forme, importantexercisesarethepowerclean,cleanpull,deep/parallel/quartersquat,andstepup.Iam quite basic here because I feel it is important that technique not be limitingduringmaximumstrengthorpowerdevelopment.Simpleanddirectexercisesservethe best purpose. Athleteswho perform these exerciseswell (whether it bewithhigh resistance or light/moderate resistance) tend to have the best event-specificperformances.My programming is progressive in design. I know where I want my athlete atcompetition time, but all paths to that goal are not always the same. Generallyspeaking, the ratio of work shifts from general strength/technique to maximumstrength to RFD and speed/strength to reactive strength over the course of thepreparation period. However, as previously discussed, the length of time spentfocusingonaparticularqualitydiffersfordifferentathletes.Regardlessofanathlete’sdominantquality,powerdevelopmentisalwaysapriority,

specifically the speed, effort, and efficiencyofmovement. I am luckynow tohaveregular access to the Keiser squat. This enables us to determine the optimalresistanceforpeakpoweroutputforeachathleteonadailybasis.Wecandeterminewhere on the power curvewewant to focus. This is a superb tool andwe use itmultipletimesperweek.Iincludetransference/“specialexercise”selectionallyearinprogressiveratios.Forthis,Iuseahostofsimpleandcomplexunilateralexercises.Theseprovideexcellentvariations in stimulus for developing specific neural adaptation related to thetakeoff mechanism. I also find that these are excellent psychological tools forjumpers.Iamalsoinstrongfavorofcomplextrainingandwilluseitwithmost,butnotall,athletes. I have specific progressions for complex training that I like to use. Forexample, during earlypreparation I like a deep squat coupledwith adeep-seatedbox jump.Complexesprogress fromsimple tocomplexand increase inmovementspecificitytowardcompetition.In a nutshell, my strength-training program is balanced; stresses variety, quality,and intensity; and emphasizes the athlete’s strengths while minimizing theirweaknesses.Iwantmyathletestohavehighlevelsofgeneralstrength,aswellasthehighestrelativepowerlevelspossible.RandyHuntington: Iwouldsay,afteryearsofdoingthis,thatIbelievetheweightroom has no “special exercises” that directly influence performance. Having saidthat, I stillusesomeexercises that,at thevery least, strengthenthosemovementsnecessary for settingupbetter sprintingand jumping.Mostofmyweight trainingconsists of what today is labelled “triads”: high force/low velocity with powercoming from the force component, followed by high velocity/med power withpower coming from the velocity side of equation, and then finishing with highforce/highvelocitywhereIblendthepowerbetweenforceandvelocity.Hereisapartiallist:

• Sanyevs• 90-degreestep-ups• Skippingwithbarbell• Singleleg20cmstep-ups• Keisersquat• Keiserrack10seconddoubleleghop• Pushjerkintostepup• 20-40cmboxdownupsw/barbell• Keisersinglelegpress• ShuttleMVP• KeiserFTandahostofsingleresponsehurdletakeoffsintopit,etc.

BrianBrillon:Ifeelthatweighttraining,byimplementingschemesofstrengthandpower, are important in the training component of jumping. Gains in the weightroomcanhavesomepositiveeffectsontheperformanceoftheathlete.Olympicliftsandtheirvariationsareimportantfortheexpressionofpowerandstrengththattheathletesmustpossesstosprintandjump.Ibelievethatstaticliftsnotonlyincreasethestrengthofthemuscle,butalsoprovidethejointsofthekineticchainwiththestabilitythatisneededwhilesprintingandjumping.Myphilosophyisthattheweightroomaidsintheconstructionofabetterenginefortheathlete.Havingsaidthat,theweightroommustbetheslaveandnotthemasterin the training of the jumps. An increase in the numbers in lifting must betransferabletothegainsthatmustoccuronthetrack.Thisisnottotakeawayfromwhathappens in theweight room,but I see someathleteswho think that, if theyonlyliftmore,thingswillbedramaticallydifferentonthetrack.Ibelievethemagicintheweightroomisaby-productofawell-designedmethodicalperiodizationplan.Commonalitiesbetweendesiredaccomplishmentson the trackandliftingshouldbeconsidered.Forinstance,ifitisamaxvelocitydayonthetrack,IwouldprescribeOlympicliftsthatwouldincorporateshortermovementstogiveaclearsignaltothenervoussystemastowhatwearetryingtoaccomplish.Theseliftswouldbeabovethefloorandeitherbeloworabovetheknee.Atrainingweekwouldtypicallyhavetwoorthreehighneurodays,withOlympicandstaticliftsprescribedonthesedays.Everycoachhassome“specialexercise”thatisbeneficialtotheirathletetohelpfindthemissingpiecestothepuzzle.Itendtothinkmoreasageneralist:Ibelieveinthesolidprinciplesofasoundconceptofcauseandeffect in track. Itwillonly leadtofrustrationifyoujustlookatthemomentoferrorwithouttakingintoconsiderationtheconceptthatprecededitandthentrytoplugina“specialexercise”tofixit.Question2:SimpliFaster: Technical training for jumpers can takeonmany formsand canbeeither overly complex or simple. What is your philosophy on technical training?How do you establish a technical model with individual athletes? What is thegeneralconstructofyourtechnicalsessions?Travis Geopfert: Overall, I believe our technical training is pretty simple.Ultimately,everythingwedo isa technicalsession.Weareconsistentlyremindingour athletes about the basics, whether that be in the warmup, interval training,specifictechnicalsessions,oreventhecooldown.IntrackandfieldtherearesomefundamentalrulesacrossalleventsthatIbelieveareimperativetosuccess.Thefirstandmostimportant,inmyopinion,isposturalintegrity.Keepingourbodyuprightandingoodpositiontoproducemaximumpoweroutputinallthejumpingand sprinting events is something that we are constantly working on. Hurdle

mobility,sprintdrills,accelerationdrills,flightphasesprintmechanics,circledrills,bounding sequences, box jumps, hurdle hops—you name it. Across the board, inevery session we do, we always want to have our torso upright and our hipsunderneathustostrikethegroundwithasmuchforceaspossible.Thatproperfootstrikeonthegroundissomethingthatwearealwayslookingatinalljumps.Whereourfootisinrelationtoourcenterofgravityissomethingthatweare always evaluating in every sprint contact and takeoff that we do. These twothings,alongwithastrongemphasisonrhythm,arethethree fundamentalsthat Ibelievemostofourtechnicalsessionsbreakdowntoo.In termsof individualizingpractice, everyathlete certainlyhasdifferent strengthsandweaknesses that need tobeunderstood and addressed.That, in a nutshell, isourphilosophy:Buildonourstrengthsandprogressivelyeliminateourweaknesses.However,everytechnicalmodelthatweworkoncomesdowntoonething,andthatis creatingconsistency. Ifwecanestablishstrongpatternsofqualityposture, footcontact,andrhythminallourjumps,thenwearegivingourselvesagoodchanceathavingsuccessfromatechnicalstandpoint.Then,aswecontinuetodevelopandaddspeedandpower,wehavethefoundationthatcanhandleandconvertiteffectively.DanPfaff: Ihavenothada lotofsuccesswithdrillsasexecutedbymany leadingjumpcoachesworldwide.Ifinditmuchmoreproductivetodosystematicteachingprogressions of the actual jump itself. I prefer to do real-time, real-task motoreducation work.We teach towards a biomechanically soundmodel based on thecommondenominatorsnotedinworld-classmenandwomenjumpers.We teach runway approach dynamics at all times, using acceleration, speed, andalacticsessionsasclassroomtimetoimplementtheshapesandcomponentsoftheapproach.We start actual runway construction by lateNovember andwork on itonce to twiceweeklyall season long.Wedemandsteeringand targetingaccuracyfrom Day 1, and hold athletes very accountable for this and the biomechanicallandmarkexecutions.For jump-specificwork,westartoutwith fourtosixstep jumpswithandwithoutlandings.Weteachuniqueposturesforeachstepoftheshortrunjumpanddemandsoundexecutionofpenultimateandtakeoffmechanisms.Ithinktoomanyathletesand coaches use short run jumpswith faulty postures, contact times, flight times,and poor acceleration curves. In turn, this can create serious viruses that aredifficulttoeradicatewhenonegoesbacktolongerapproachrunsandjumps.Asmasteryprogresses,stepnumbersincrease.Wedothebulkofourjump-specifictrainingfrom10-14stepsdependingonskilllevels,timeofyear,andhealthfactors.Wedotechnicaltrainingspecificstwiceaweek.Igotoyoungerathletesthreetimesaweek,because their resilience factorsarehigherand forcesgenerally cause lessstressonjointsandconnectivetissuesforthatagegroup.

NicPetersen:Techniqueisveryimportant.Ibelievethatthemoretechnicalyouareat your event, the easier it is to compete at a high level. When you’re moretechnically proficient, it keeps you healthier through training and competitions. Ialso believe technique is an individual thing. Each person is different and eachpersonhas their own strengths andweaknesses. Therefore,weneed to tailor thetechnicalmodelaroundandtowardeveryindividual.IsayallthetimethatIcoachtheperson,nottheevent.Idon’twanttohaveatechnicalmodelthatdoesn’tfittheperson—tryingtojamasquarepegintoaroundhole,sotospeak.Fromthere I tryandkeepthe technicalmodelassimpleaspossible toensure theathletecanbeassuccessfulaspossible.Whilewetailorthatsimplemodeltoeachathlete’s individual strengths andweakness, Iwould saywe train strengthsmuchmorethanweaknesses.Don’tgetmewrong—wefixweaknesses—butIdon’twantto spend somuch time fixing somewhat that it takes away fromwhatmakes theathlete fly.Mytechnicalsessionsvarythroughouttheyearastowhatweareworkingon,butwe are always doing basic technical stuff year ’round.We start small, doing veryeasytechnicalcomponents.Wedodrillsthatmaymimicspecificpartsofjumpsbut,asarule,Iliketodomoretechnicaltrainingofthewholeversusthepart.Takethelong jump, for instance.Westartworkingonbasicpenultimatedrills inWeekOneandweprogresstoshortjumpsfromaveryshortrunandmovetherunback.Foratechniquesession,specifically,ifwehaveaspecificissueorthemewearetryingtowork,thenwetrainthattechnicalthemethroughoutthesession.JeremyFischer:Technicaltrainingshouldfollowthepatternofsimpletocomplex,and low intensity to high intensity, and always follow a movement pattern ofefficiencyandaccuracy.Astheseasonbegins,wedotechnicaltrainingthathaslowintensity and trains the kinematic chain and muscle recruitment patterns. Inessence,wepreparethebodytohandlegreaterforcesathighervelocities.Ibelievein training the reactive strength, pushing the capacities of the tendon-ligament-musclesensory(GTO,muscle/spindle,Paciniancorpuscles) farther,andcreatingamotorlearningpatternthatenablescoordinationofappendages.We again analyze the technical deficiencies of each athlete—there are basictechnicalmodelsweacceptasabaselineandeachathletechangesoradjuststheirmodelbasedonpotentialsuccessandefficiencyforthefuture.Ibelieveallcorrecttechnicalmodelsarefirstcreatedwithproperrunningpostureandform.Wedonotmoveontoanyadvancedtechnicalmodelsuntiltheathletecanruncorrectly.Oncewe’ve established a good runningmodel, then we can establish a set of drills orsequencingoftechnicaltrainingtomatchanytechnicaldeficiencies.David Kerin: What are the general and specific demands of the event? Jumpsrequirehorizontalvelocity;anoptimizedforcevectorviewedattheCOM’spositionprior to grounding of last foot through ground release. There are in-flight

considerations as well, but let’s leave that for now. They need to accelerateoptimallyandtoapplytheresultantkineticenergydevelopedoptimally.Yearsago,BrooksJohnsoncoinedtheterm,“theCriticalZone,”whenspeakingaboutracesandfieldevents.Theconceptisagoodoneinthattherewouldappeartobeapivotalmomentinanevent.Butthatmomentdoesnotoccurinavacuum.Rather,itis dependent on the moments that precede it. Honoring Newtonian realities, acompetitiveeffortisalinkedseriesofmoments,eachbuildingontheearlier.Hence,myphilosophyon technical training isoneof sequentialmasterybeginningat thestartofanattempt.

However,theathletesIworkwithand/oradvisemostoftenhaveapersonalcoach,somysupporttakestheformofpatchingholesasopposedtobuildingabetterdam.Ideally, Iwould like to seeoptimal approach initiation andeliminationof stylisticcomponents. Acceleration and postural integrity should be optimal as the athleteprogresses thru the run-up. In the event area, I spend the most time with (highjump),Icanusuallytracefailedattemptsbacktoflawedexecutionsintheearlyandor mid approach. While vaulters often clear high bars from less-than-optimaltakeoffs(insideor“under”atplant),theotherjumpingeventsdon’thaveapoletoamelioratethings.Asfarastechnicalsessions,Ifindmyselffavoringlessfull-approachworkinpracticeand,forthatmatter,short-approachorsocalled“part-whole”work.Takeawaythe99thpercentileathleteand thebeginners.With thepoolofathletes that’s left, thebiggest fish to fry are the earlier discussed misconceptions about jumping, andspecificstrength,posture,andathleticism.Whenyouspendalotoftimetryingtofixtechniquewithout first addressing these issues, the time ismisspent and injuriesoften happen. There needs to bework on technique, of course, but in the properglobalperspective.Thisisachallenge,givenourdevelopmentsystemhereintheU.S.ManynationslooklonginglyatNCAAprograms,ashavingnocostsforournationalteam.ButthereISacost.How many NCAA jumping event coaches are head coaches at their school? Notmany,sowearetalkingaboutassistantcoachesaccountabletoaheadcoach.Nowtakeahighlyrecruitedhighschoolathlete;onewhocomestocollegewithaPRthatis certain to score at the conference championships and perhaps at the NCAAChampionships. In your role, you determine that the individual is getting by ontalentandnotmastery.Becauseofthis,youknowthattheyhaveanincreasedriskforinjury.Itisyourbeliefthat,giventherightsetofcircumstances,theycouldseeinternationalsuccessintheireventinthefuture.Howmanyheadcoachesaregoingtobeagreeablewhenyoutellthemthatthisfull-ride kid, who has certain conference meet points and is a likely multiple AllAmerican,wouldbebestservedbypurposefulunder-performingornotperforming

forsix to18monthswhileyoudetrainthe faultyprogramtheycametoyouwith?And that’s before adding in the typical physical strength and athleticismdevelopmentneeds.Nothaving a collegiate affiliation, it’s easy forme to say this,whileacollegecoachneedstobalanceanumberofconcerns. Iamjustsuggestingthat you look at the facts and come upwith a plan that considers an individual’sathleticcareerandtheirfour-yearcollegecareer,alongwiththeseasonandoryearathand.

Manycoachestendtorushthroughdevelopmentalphases.Whenanathleteshowsaninitialadaptationto,orcorrectionof,atechnicalconcept,manycoachestakethatas the signal to move on to bigger and better things. True mastery requiresstabilization of technique. Another concern regarding technique instruction is thestatement,“Ican’tcoachwhatIcan’tsee.”Inthelaterpiece,“JumpsRoundtable:ApproachAccuracy,”Ispeaktoathleteswhoarechallengedbyvisuospatialskills.Heretheproblemisacoachlackinginthesameskillset.Goandsearchfor“mentalrotationstest”onGoogle.After takinga fewofthesetests,howdidyoudo?Iftheansweris“notsogood,”thenasaprofessionalitbehoovesyoutoseekoutthemeanstoimproveandoraccommodatethatstatus.I believe that the best coaches have three-dimensional vision/recall. The use ofvideo replay is oneway to level the playing field. I am a big fan of video use bycoaches,butnotbyathletesbecauseIhaveafundamentalconcernwithreinforcingafaultymotorprogrambyshowingsomeonetheirfaultymotorprogram.However,forcoachesit’sawaytopickuponthingsnotobservedinliveaction.NickNewman: I’lladdresstheuseoftechnicalmodelsfirst.Althougheachathletehas different physical qualities and anthropometric measurements, there areseveral technical consistencies among elite jumpers. I routinely use approach,takeoff,andlandingmodels,andhavenarroweditdowntothreetofourpereventthatIfindidealformostjumpers.Technical jump and approach sessions make up a large chunk of my jumpers’trainingprograms.Theyprovideanessentiallinkbetweenthetrainingcomponentsandevent-specificperformance.Technicalteachingandtransferhappenswithinalmosteveryaspectoftheprogramand,whilespecifictechnicalsessionsdon’talwaysinvolvejumpingintothepit,theyshouldremainspecifictotherequirementsoftheevent.Componentsoftheprogram,suchasaccelerationandspeeddevelopment,multi-jumpandmulti-throwtraining,weightlifting,temporunning,hurdlemobility,and,ofcourse,technicaljumpsessionscanallemphasizeimportantaspectsoftechnique.Thefollowingareexamplesofteachingemphasisandpossibletransfer:

• Approachrhythm/timing/posture• Approachspeed/top-speedmechanics• Penultimatestrideaction:roll,push,andextension• Takeoffplant:extend,fastpawdownandback,push,andextend• Free-legaction:parallelthighblock,lowerlegtuckedunder,hipsforward• Flight:tallandlongbodythroughout• Landing: hips and feet far forwardwith feet together. Dig heels down into

sandandpullwithhamstrings.Approach development is ofmajor importance, of course. I havewritten a lot onhowtoimproveapproachaccuracybothfromaskillandpsychologicalperspective.Webeginestablishingtheapproachearlyinpreparationandcontinuetoperfect itthroughoutthecompetitiveseason.Asnotwoapproacheswilleverbethesame,thekinestheticawarenessdevelopedthroughtrainingfaroutweighstheimportanceofcheckmarksandotheruniformmethods.Technicaldevelopment for the takeoff, flight, and landingmechanicsarepracticedearlyandoften.Althoughtherearemanyoptionsfordrillsandexercises,Igenerallykeep technical sessions very simple and specific. I personally do not find themajorityofdrillsusefulortransferable.I have a systematic approach to progressing short approach jumps. Generally,duringshortapproachsessions, theapproach length increasesduringpreparationandbeginstheblendwithfullapproachdevelopment.However,itisrarelysmoothsailing regarding progressions and if an athlete is not achieving the requiredpositioning,timing,andoutcome,thenadigressionwilltakeplace.Ideally,westarttechnicaljumpsatfourstepsandgraduallyprogresstofourtosixsteps shy of the full approach number. Full takeoffswithout landingswill alwaysoccur during full approach practice while on the runway. Gradually introducingmorespeedtotechnicaljumpswhileremainingintouchwithfullspeedapproachesis a great way of blending performance and technique and, over time, enableskinestheticdevelopmentawarenessqualities.A short approach technical session during early preparation may include thefollowing:

• Videoreviewoftechnicalmodelrelatedtothesessiongoals• PartTechnique–Breakingdown1-2aspectsoftechnique(15-20mins)

o Skipkneedriveso Takeoffsfromlowboxwithkneedriveholdandpostureemphasis

• WholeTechnique–Shortapproachjumps–(BoardAccuracyincluded)o 4strideapproach–Takeoffandholdposition–4xo 6strideapproach–Takeoffandland–4-6x

Randy Huntington: My technical models in jumps are an extension of propersprinting. Athletes learn to sprint first and then integrate the sprinting into theapproacheswithintegrationtoolssuchassleds,1080Sprint,weightedvests,ankleandwristweights.Of course, they also learn tobreak the approachdown into itspartsandreconstruct thewholeapproachover time. In the long jump,weaimforunderstanding visual control/steering and integrating it as quickly as we canthroughvariousdrills.Ourfocusisonposturepositionandactionattheappropriatedistance from theboard toexecuteaproper takeoff. In the triple jumpwedo thesamething,withtwoadditionalfactors:theposturedifferenceandboardpositionattakeoff.BrianBrillon:Technicaltrainingshouldbeviewedasthebodystrivingtomoveinafluid state with the least amount of deviation from Sir Isaac Newton’s laws. Thetechnicalmodel should start slow,with aprogressivemindset.Myathleteswouldtell you that I say, “If you can’tdo it at zeromiles anhour, you can’tdo it at100milesanhour.”Wewillbleedthetechnicalaspectsfasterwhentheathletebecomesproficientatsolidrepswithadistinctchangeintheirform.IstarttechnicaltrainingforthejumpsonDayOne.Ilookforfootpatternsattakeoffwith simple skippingdrills that lead toprogressivebounding skills. I then lookatpostureonthetrackandinflight. Ibelieveifpostureisnotcorrectthenthelimbswillnotmovewithefficiencyinflight.Thetechnicalmodelmustfittheneedsoftheathletetoachievehighlevelsinthesport.Technical training requires some form of mental training to the athlete. Over-thinkingtechniquecanbethedeathoftheathleticismforanathlete.Caremustbetaken to ensure that athletes don’t change technique too close to majorcompetitions.Itisimperativethattheyarestrong“underthelights”ofcompetition.Too often in technical sessions the athlete becomes paralyzedwith analysis. As acoach, youmust find simple cues for the athlete to perform complexmovements.Andthemorethatyoucangiveexternalcuesinsteadofinternalcues,themoreyoucanhelptheathleteperformagiventask.Forexample,ifanathleteisstrugglingtogettheirkneeupofftheboardintakeoff,trynottofocusonthebodypart,butwhatactionyouwant.Asamplecuecouldbe“explodefromtheground”or“acceleratetowardsthesky.”Sayingthiscouldgettheathlete to do the action necessary outside the body; to facilitate the body gettingnaturally into the correct position. A coach should have an idea ofwhat they arelookingforintheirtechnicalmodelandexplaintotheathletehowtoachievethis.Ifthealignmentofcoachandathleteisinsync,greatthingscanhappen.

Question3:SimpliFaster: How do you assess the key physical qualities you are aiming todevelopfromyourprogram?Whatspecifictestingprotocoldoyouuseandwhendoyou implement it? In your experience, what testing and test result combinationsseemtoprovidethemostaccuratedepictionofevent-specificreadiness?Aretherespecifictestingnumbersthatyouuseasaguide?Ifyoudon’tuseaspecifictestingprotocol,canyoudiscusshowyouevaluateyourathletesandprogramthroughoutpreparationandcompetitiontime?Travis Geopfert: In the horizontal jumps, specifically, we periodically test ourstanding long jumpand10-meter fly.Althoughour jumpersdon’t fullyrealize it, Iam consistentlymonitoring their 10-meter fly almostweekly in conjunctionwithdifferent drills that we do. Additionally, we often test our triple jumpers in astandingtriplejumpand5boundtesttomeasurepoweroutput.Ilikethetestingprotocolofathree-stepverticalinthehighjumpand,admittedly,Ineedtomoreconsistentlytestthat.However,wedohave15yearsofSLJ,STJ,and5boundtestingtocomparetoandassessanathlete’sreadiness.Obviously,whenanathletehasabestornearbestinoneofthesethree,youknowtheirpoweroutputisthere.Ifanathleteisunderonesecond(10meters/second)inthe10-meterfly,theyarereadytodobigthings.Iknow it’skindofodd,but Ialsobelieve I cansee inmyheadwhenanathlete isready, based on their ground contact time even in the simplest movements. I’vewatchedguysdobasicwarm-upsprintdrillsintheirflatsnumeroustimesandsaidtomyself,“They’reready.”DanPfaff:Wefeellikeeverythingwehaveonthemenuaddressesphysicalqualitiesand needsmonitoring of some sort. Ifwe have selected the right KPI factors andrankedthemproperly,thedatapoolsshouldshowapositivetrendovertime,bothfor the entity in question and the overall competition effort. The density ofconsistencyshouldalsoshowapositivetrendinthesesubsetsandperformances.DeterminingtheKPIscomesfromexperience,inmyopinion,andshortexperience,andusingasystemfromatrustedmentororsetofmentorswillgiveyouasoundplatformtostudyfrom.Obviously,accelerationabilities,topendspeedparameters,andjump-specificmetricsaremaindriversforthisprocess.Weuseagenerationalgridfortrainingqualitiesandfirstgenerationalworkgetsthestrictestanalysisanddatacollectiontime.One overlooked andunder-analyzedphysical quality is athlete health over time. Iseethesameinjuriesandillnessfactorsoccurringwiththesameathletesandatthesametimeoftheseasonfartoooften.Itisnotbadluck.Itisafailuretomonitorandseeksolutions.

IusedtohavededicatedtestingblocksandtimeframeswhenIwasayoungercoach.Frustrationandpoorstatisticalpatternsledmeawayfromthisapproach.Wenowdomostofourtestingatcompsintheformoffilmanalysisandactualresults.Wetest training menu items during the cycle within the prescribed programmingformat and perform various medical tests daily; sometimes before training,sometimesduring training, andquiteoftenpost training.Weneverdoone-off, adhoctesting.Ifwecannottestitoftenandconsistently,thenitisnottested.TheNo.1testformeishowathletesexecuteduringcompetitions.Seeingapositivetrend on defined metrics is critical for readiness analysis. The same goes forconsistency of meet results both within the comp and over the season. We findapproachvelocitiesandaccuracyof approach readings tobe solidpredictors.Theability to consistently program shapes during the entire approach is also anotherKPIfactorbut,forsomereason,it’snotakeynoteformanyathletesorcoaches.

Wealsohaveformulasthatwillevolveovertimeforeachathletewiththevariousshort run jump parameters in training. Distance jumped on the SRJ is weightedagainstaccuracyandtechnical landmarkexecutiongrades.So,ahuge jumpwithafoulandpoorpostureduringthepenultimatestepwouldhavealowergradevalue.Agassed-up12-stepjumpwithpoorshapesbutahugedistancewouldlikewisebegradeddown.Accountability totheagreed-upondynamics iscriticalandnotoftenmanagedwell.

Wehave gridsweuse as the seasonplaysout that showhowearly seasonmeetsfeedmid-seasonresults,andhowthatleadstoculminatingresultsattheend.Wedonot chaseabsolute resultprogressions inour competitions.Wecan’t controlpoorfacilities,adverseweather,traveldisasters, lifestressorstiming,etc.Therefore,wedemandthatathleteskeeprecordsofheadwindPRs,coldweatherPRs,crosswindPRs, extremeheatPRs, fast runwayPRs, slow runwayPRs,1-meterboardPRs,3-meterboardPRs,timeofseasonPRs,sickasadogPRs,jetlaggedPRs,familychaosPRs,etc.NicPetersen:Weusea fewdifferenttests inourprogram.But, inallhonesty,wedon’ttestveryoftenandnotatallduringcompetitivecycles.

Ourmaintestsarethefollowing: StandingLongJump

• Men:3.20andbeyond • Women:2.70andbeyond

StandingTripleJump • Men:10misthegoal;11melite• Women:8misthegoal;9melite

Standing5Bounds • Weusethisasaguide.Whatanathletejumpsinthisisaboutwhat

theyarecapableoftriplejumping.

Fly30m • Men:sub2.85,goal2.80orbelow • Women:sub3.20,goal3.10orbelow

Fly100m • Men:sub9.90• Women:sub11

OverheadBackwards/UnderhandForwardsShotThrowWedosomeoftheQuadtestingandwescorethefourevents.WetrytoQuadtestthree times,especially in the fall:onceafter the firstsixweeks,onceafter12,andthenrightbeforeweleaveforChristmasbreak.However,onethingabouttestingisthatweonlyrestfortestingonce,andthat’safterthefirstsixweeks.Otherthanthat,wemaytestandnotbe fresh.Therefore,somepeoplemaynotbelievethis is truetesting.Wealsomeasuresomebasicshortjumps.Itestthe10-steplongjump,andwealsotest the four-step HOP HOP STEP JUMP (gator drill). We use these as mockcompetitions, so these getheated andpeoplewill get after it.We competeduringshort runsessionsonoccasionswherewemaynotmeasure things,but justmarkjumpsandseehowfarwecango.Itryandusecompetitionalot.I think testing is a good gauge for fitness and speed, but not everyone is a goodtester.Thethingabouttestingis,ifyoudon’tdothetestsalot,youneedtoteachthetests too. I would say some ofmy “tests” aremore about taking specific trainingtasksandcompletingthemthan“pure”testing.JeremyFischer:Iusetestingprotocolandanalysisallthetime.Ofcourse,thereisthe standard Max Jones test (30-meter standing long jump, standing three jump,overhead shot), with the addition of underhand shot and a 150-meter. We doanalysiswiththe30-meter fly, laseranalysisofrunwayspeed, five-metersegmentrunway analysis, weight room strength analysis, power analysis using Keiserequipment, forceplate testingof takeoff, forceplateanalysisofphase force,bloodanalysis,salivacortisolleveltesting,sleepanalysis,andFMS.Thedataallowsformetokeeptabsontrainingandtheprogressionoftraining,andalsomaintainacheckandbalanceontraining.Iknowwhentopushharderorbackoff training.As faraspreparednessofathletes formeets, that is themillion-dollarquestion.Istarttoseesomeregularitiesfromathletetoathlete,butforthemostpartit’swhattheyaredoinginpracticethatshowsmepreparationreadiness.Aretheyexecutingtheir technical positions andhow far or howhigh are they jumping? If an athletejumps far in practice, they jump far in themeet. If they run fast or bound far inpractice, then they jumpwell in themeet.And, finally, theymustbeashealthyaspossiblewhenthey’reonthestartlineorrunway.

David Kerin: Meet performance is the ultimate test. We need to eliminate thelearning curve to tests before their results can be valued. A competitiveenvironment provides greater value to testing’s results. The legendary LSU FallJumpsTestingisagoodexample.Theaccuracyofdatacollectedandaccuraterecordkeeping in the present, for the year, over an athlete career, and over a coachingcareerareallimportant.

Yes,overtheyearstherearebenchmarktestingnumbersthathavebeenshowntoequatetoeventperformancelevels,butlikethe“specialexercise”question,thereisnomagicbullet.Asstatedabove,meetperformancesaretheultimatetest.IfIhadtochooseafavoritetest,IlikeOHBsfortheirtraditionalvalue.ButIseefurthervalueinthatIcaninstructtothemedballorshotasbeingreflectiveofanathlete’sCOMandtheriseoftheimplementsimulatingtheriseoftheCOM.Morespecifically,IlikeOHBsforhighjumpersbecauseofthereflectionofin-flightpositionsduringmidtolatethrow.

Theoppositeofthisisalsofoundinhighjump.Everyyearorso(goingbacktothe’80sformeandMichaelCooperoftheLALakers),thereisanarticleabouthowtheNBA dunk champion would be a world-class high jumper. These erroneousstatementshaveroots in theirauthor’smisconceptionof themissionasdiscussedearlier. For a specific example, and to bring it back to testing and physicalassessment,considerDwightStones.HewasaholderoftheworldrecordforMHJatheightsthatwouldstillbecompetitivetoday.YethehasadmittedthathismeasuredSVJwasonlyaround30feet.NickNewman:ThekeyphysicalqualitiesIlookforincludetheabilitytoacceleratesmoothly and explosively, maximum speed capabilities, reactive strength andmaximumpoweroutputs,simpleandcomplexcoordination,andoverallfreedomofmovement.Itisessentialtomonitorthesequalitiesasoftenaspossiblethroughouttheyear.Bothsubjectiveandobjectiveassessmentsoccurdailyinsomeregard.Asfarasspecifictestingprotocols,IhavepreviouslyfallenvictimtothetemptationofsystematicallytestingeverythingIcouldthinkof.Collectingdataisfun,asarethetestingsessions themselves.However,over time I realizedmanyof the testswereredundantandcorrelationswithperformancewere inconsistent. I also found thattoo-frequentoroverlyrigoroustestingprotocolscantaketheedgeoffcompetitionintensityandfocus.As a result, I shifted toward a testing protocol that could occur during regulartrainingsessions.Asthetrainingemphasisprogressesthroughouttheyear,sodoesthe testing. The most important test, of course, is full-approach jumping duringcompetition.

ThetestsIuse,alongwiththecorrespondingelitestandards,areasfollows:

OUTSTANDINGMARKS(JUMPERS)

TEST MEN FEMALE

30mSprint(3pt) 3.70-3.85 4.05-4.20

10mFlySprint 0.85-0.93 1.00-1.05

150mSprint 15.60-16.00 16.70-17.10

Standing4B&J 17.00-18.00m 14.00-15.00m

Max4B&J 21.00-22.50m 18.00-19.00m

Standing4H&J 17.00-18.00m 14.00-15.00m

PowerClean 1.7xbw 1.5xbw

DeepSquat 2.2xbw 2xbw

10-stepLJ/TJ 7.50m/16.00m 6.50m/13.50m

Chart1:TheninetestsusedbyNickNewman,Horizontal/VerticalJumpsandMultisCoach at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. These tests have proven themostrelevant to athletic eventperformance.The chart also includeselite standards forbothmenandwomen.Aspreviouslymentioned, Ihaveusedmanytestsovertheyears. Ihavefoundthatthe ones in the chart are the most relevant and correlated best with eventperformance.

Speedtestingwiththe30-meterand10-meterflyblendstofull-approach11m-6m,and 6m-1m assessments closer to competition. Bounding tests gradually increaseentry running steps, as this coincides with my horizontal plyometric trainingprogressions.Short-approachjumptestinggraduallyincreasesinstridenumberandcanreachuptofourtofivestridesshyoftheathlete’sfullapproach.Duringcompetitionperiods,wemaintainmaxstrengthwheneverpossiblewithveryshort weight-testing sessions as we’ll assess speed, bounding, and power outputnumberswhenpossible.Randy Huntington: I use only a few testing protocols these days, although Imeasurealmosteverything.Istillusea30-meterflyforspeedanda5R5Lfromsixstepsdistanceforjumping.Ialsocontinuallymonitorthespeedofthelasttwofive-metersegmentsinapproachyear-round.I test Omegawave every morning with each athlete. Using this, along withobservationandlistening,Ithenchangetheworkoutsaccordingly.BrianBrillon:WhenIcoachjumps,Ilookfortheexpressionofspeedandpowerinthe athlete. We stress these components daily in training. I use a revolving fourmicrocycle,withthefourthweekasatestingweek.Wedropthevolumesthatweekandhavetheathletescompeteagainsttheirteammatesandtheirpersonalbestsinabatteryoftests.Ibelievecompetitioninpracticeisamustbeforeyougo"underthelights."Notonlydoesthisprovideopportunitiestoshowcaseexpressiveelementsoftheevent,butitalsogivesrisetomeetscenarios.Thatfourthweekseestestinginthestandinglongjump, standing triple jump, double-double, overhead back shot toss, between thelegs forward shot toss, 30-meter three-point stance, and 30-meter fly with a 20-meteracceleration.Whenwegetintothespecificprepandcompphase,wealsodoanintersquadshort-approachjumpcompetition.Ithinkallthetestsgivetheathletetheconfidencetoseetheprogressionprovidedbythetraining.ThespecifictestthatIseegiverisetothemostaccuratedepictionoftheeventistheshort-approachjump.Thetestjumpsarefrom12to13stridesoutbecauseIfindthatthejumpercanaddonafootandahalftotwofeetfromtheretowhat their full-approach jumpwouldbe. It gives theathleteaballpark figure thatgetsthemexcitedforthingstocome.For example, I had a freshman that wasn’t understanding the concept of acompetitive practice. I challenged him by saying what he would jump in testingwouldbe two feetoff fromwhata full approachwouldbe.Previously, theathletewas jumping 21 feet from 12 strides in practice. His full-approach jumps incompetitionwereafootandahalfmorethanhis12-stridemarks.AweekbeforeBigTens, theathlete jumped23 feet2 inches from12strides.HebecametheBigTenchampionaweeklater,withajumpof25feet2inches.

Question4:SimpliFaster: Specific coaching strategies and philosophies regarding approachaccuracyhavebeenwrittenaboutforsometime.Pleasedescribehowyoutackletheissueofapproachaccuracy inpracticeandcompetition.Discussyourviewsonthepsychologicalaspectsoffoulingandhowyouaddressthoseissues.TravisGeopfert:Thisissomethingthatweareconstantlyworkingonandneedtogetbetterat.DanPfafftoldmelastyearthat,ifyourathleteisfoulingmorethat30%oftheirjumps,thenasacoachyou’redoingsomethingwrong.JarrionLawsonspecificallyhasworkedveryhardonthisandisgettingbetter.Hisvisual steering coming in as a freshmanwas a little “off.” Therewere a couple oftimesduringhisfreshmenyearthathewouldfoulbywelloverafootandthinkhehadgottenitin.Tohiscredit,overtimehehasworkedveryhardtoimproveuponthat.Of course, there is the simple componentof goodkinesthetic awareness.Wehavedonenumerousdrillswherewepickedarbitrarypointstostartfromontherunwayand“steer”toa fair takeoffwithout fouling,stuttering,orbeingtoofarbehindtheboard.IlearnedfromRanaReideryearsagothatvisualsteeringstartsaminimumofsix steps out from the board. With that being said, we have worked hard to getourselvesintoagoodpositionthatallowsustosteerforapositiveoutcome.Attheendoftheday,aconsistentrhythmandstridepatternoutofthebackseemsthemost effective way to havemost of your jumps be fair.We use a checkmarksystemoutofthebackthatdiffersdependingoneachindividualathlete’sapproachdistance,andweworkhardinouraccelerationdevelopmentandrhythmpatternstomakesurethoseinitial“pushes”areconsistent.Dan Pfaff: This is a pet peeve of mine and I am often frustrated by how littleattentionanddiscussionthereisonthistopic.Somehow,themythofnotlookingattheboardbecameembeddedincoachingculturehereinNorthAmerica.Granted,Idon’twantapoorheadpositionoradeclinedvisualplanejustbeforetakeoff,butIfind it incredible that athletes are being taught not to steer or target for takeoffaccuracy.Deceleration at the takeoff is often blamed on visual landmarking. However, ourresearchwithhundredsofathletesandthousandsofjumpsshowsthisnotthecase.Researchalsoshowsitisimpossibletoprogramarepeatablerunwithnovarianceinsteplocationduringtheentiretyoftheapproach.Ifthisisfact,thenhowdothe“don’tlook”proponentssuggestmakingadjustmentwhileonthefly,sotospeak?Ithink research is needed on visual acuity skills, peripheral vision testing, etc., forthistopictobecomediscussedmoreintheliterature.

I have discussed these concepts at length with Dr. Alan Reichow, O.D., M.Ed.,professor emeritus at Pacific University. He is a pioneer in sport vision andstrategies. Dr. Reichow has done some very interesting work with NFL receiversthat has hugely influenced our practice and research. I first became interested inapproach accuracy back in the mid-1980s during a weekend symposium at theUniversityofIowahostedbyDr.JamesHayandtheUSATFelitejumpsproject.In my role as coach these past 40-plus years, I spent the bulk of my time withinherited athletes; meaning they sought my counsel at their current stage ofdevelopment.Morethan90%oftheseathletesreportedneverhavingbeenexposedtoHay’sworkor theconceptsheproposed.When Iquerypastcoaches,about thesamenumberrespondaccordingly.Iknowthisconceptisoutthereonthewebandpresentedinseveralcoachingschoolsworldwide,soI’mnotsurewhyitisn’tgettingmoretraction.Ihavealsointervieweddozensoftheworld’stopcoachesandtheirathletesoverthepast20yearsonthisissueand,despitethelandmarkworkofDr.JamesHaybackinthe1980s,folksoftenshortchangethisfactororblamefoulingonoutsidevariables.

A sidebar research project also shows that many coaches and athletes do notenforce legal jump strategies inpractice. It ismyopinion that accuracy strategiesareverycomplexskillsbasedonvisualacuities.Ifanathleteisnotheldaccountablefor accuracy during hundreds or thousands of practice jumps during the season,then how can we demand accuracy in the heat of battle without correspondingvisualstrategyexperiences?Our research alsonotes that pole vaulters and triple jumpers seem tohavemuchmorereliableapproachaccuraciesthanlongjumpers.Perhapstheramificationsofaccuracy for these events promote greater subconscious enhancement of visualstrategies by the athlete or greater coach awareness of shapes and strategies intheseevents?Dr. Hay studied thousands of athletes and approaches at all levels of the sport,includingmaster’s,youth,NCAA,highschool,andworld-class.Thepoolofsubjectswas global and gender inclusive. Dr. Hay proposed that there were “two maincomponents” to improving accuracy and consistency. He termed the first“programming,” and I teach this as the various sections, postures, rhythms, andkinematics for each step of the run. We call these the “shapes” of the approach.Accountability to these factors is critical. Emotional control, type of start utilized,uniformaccelerationefficiencies,andposturesateachspecificstepoftheapproachareKPIfactorsforrunreplication.ThesecondpartofHay’sproposalcamefromhisgraphingofsteplocationsforeachstep of the approach. An intra-athlete scattergram pattern was noted and, fromreamsofanalysis,Dr.Hayproposedthatathletesexhibitincreasedvarianceinsteplocationduringthefirsthalfoftheapproachandthen“steer”totheboardoverthelast six steps of the approach. The variance of step location increases with each

successive step of the approach up to this six-step location, at which point thevariance reducesuniformlyover these last strides. Skilledperformers exhibit lessvarianceineachstepthannovices.Thissteeringphenomenonisinfluencedbystepconsistencyandkinematicsoftheprecedingrunuptothissix-steplandmark.Wehavedoneadditionalstudiesandnotedthatvisualacuityandskillsetsofacuityarekey indicatorsofsuccess. Itseemsthatathletesusenotonlythetakeoffboardbut the landingpit itself, officials at theboard,markersat theboard, etc.We findmuchgreateraccuracywhenweusea1-meter to thepitboardasopposed to theinternational3-meterboard-to-pitdistance.Ithinkthisimpliesthattheathleteusesmultipleenvironmental landmarks todial inprecision.Lighting, speedof run,andcolorofsurfacealsoshowstatisticalsignificanceonaccuracy.Ioftenquestionnewathletestoourgroupabouttheirpreviousstrategytoaddressfouling.Formostofthem,itinvolvedmovingthestartmarkoftheapproachforthenextjump.Myfollow-upquestionisthen,“Howdidthatworkforyou?”Howmanytimesdoweseeathletesmovetheirmarkandfoulbytheexactsameamount?Thatshowsasteeringissue,inmyopinion.Wehavealsoevolved“steering” intoasubsetskill factorthatweterm“targeting.”Wehavedonethousandsofelitejumpanalysesandintra-athleteanalysesoftheseapproaches. At the world-class level, most athletes have consistent shapes andprogrammingstrategies,yetfoulsarestillahugeproblemworldwideandthefoulsareoftensimilarindistanceandlocation.Toaddressthistypeoferror,weproposethatanathletewiththisrecurringissueuseadoublelocistrategy.Bythatwemeanthattheathleteisawareoftheexactlocationofthetakeofffoot—theballofthefoot,for example—and the exact location on the board, such as the back edge of theboard. During various teaching progressions and approach work, we experimentwithstrategiesandthemonitoringoftheselocilocationsandutilization.Some of our fastest jumpers actually aim behind the board to obtain legal jumpswhen their runway speeds are optimal and/or presentedwith huge tailwinds. Acorrespondingfindingontargetstrategyisthatathletesoftenlifttheirheadoreyeplaneseveralstridesfromtakeoffinanticipationoftakeoff.Someathletesseemabletotakeasnapshotthreestridesoutandstilltargeteffectively.Othersseemtoneedperipheralvisualcontactupuntiltheplantaction.NicPetersen:Foulingandinaccuraciesduringtheapproacharesomeofthemostfrustratingthingswerunintoasacoach.Idobelievethataccuracyisaskillthatwecanbetaught.Butonasecondarynote,Ibelievethatsomeathletesarejustinnatelybetteratitthanothers.Therearepeoplewhohavenotroublenegotiatingtherightspotallthetime.Theeventitselfisnoteasy.It’snoteasytorunasfastasyoucanand hit an 8-inch board accurately, fast, and in a great position. Then add in thepressureofhavingtodoitallrightwhenitcounts,incompetition.

Firstthingsfirst:Idon’twantmyathletesafraidoftheboard.Itellthemthattheyare caged animals and the board is what sets them free. It is the reward of aproperly executed approach. They should be happy and excited about it; notworriedoverandscaredofit.Theyshouldneverhavethethought,“Oh,I’mgoingtofoulthisone,”ontheirmind.

All that being said,wedo a lot ofworkon accuracy.Wedo approaches a lot:Westart in the beginning of the year, running our approaches on the track, teachingmechanics, and fixing issues. Ido it thisway soathletes run their approach.Theylearnwhattheirrunisgoingtobelikebeforeweaddtheboardandtheadjustmentsthathappennaturallywithaboard.Then,aswebeingtopracticeapproacheswiththeboard,wedoitmultipleways.

TherearedayswhenwedoapproachesandIcoachtheapproachandwedon’teventalkabouttheboardorwheretheirfootwasatall.Thentherearedayswheretheonly thingweworkon is trying tohit a certain spot on theboard.Theymake anapproachwithtakeoffandeverything,andIaskthemwheretheywereandwasitfair.Wetalkaboutitfromthere;wetrytoteachthemtobeawareofwheretheyareandhowtomakeslightadjustments.Thentherearedayswedoallthree:workingonagreatapproach,greattakeoffmechanics,andhittingaspot.

Wedootherthingsthat involvesteeringaswell.Hurdletakeoffsandcertaindrillsthatinvolvesteering,wheretheyaresteeringforcertainspotswithouttheboard.Jeremy Fischer: First, postural integrity is very important. Flaws in posturalintegrity can lead to inaccurate proprioception. Anterior rotation of the hips cancause inaccurate segment alignment and placement of the distal appendage.Therefore, the athlete keeps fouling by a centimeter each time. Until the athletecorrectsthis,theyaregoingtohavetinytoefoulsallthetime.They’llalsohaveaninaccurateapproach,whichmaycausethemnottocreateenoughmomentum,whileachangeintheapproachrunningmechanicscanleadtoimpropersteering.I’vewatchedthousandsandthousandsofapproachesandalmosteverytime, fromfivestepsout(theplacewheresteeringoccurs),theathletewilloverstride,shortenstride,orstutterastheypreparefortakeoff.Approachrhythmandcheckpointsforthe athlete allow for greater accuracy (the more, the better). I may use anaccelerationmark,atransitionmark,andapenultimatestepmarkfortheathlete.Iwill also let the athlete get behind the board in practice, to take into account thegreater speed and intensity inmeet situations.More than a psychological effect, Iwanttheathletetobeabletounderstandandestablishtherhythmoftheapproachintheirheads.David Kerin:While it may sound silly at first read, do you knowwhich of yourathleteswearcontacts?Haveyoueverconsideredaskingthemif theyarewearingthembeforeyougetonthemforrunwayfaults?Asmentionedearlier,visuospatialskillsaresomething Ihavespent some timeresearching.Foranathlete lacking inthisarea,it’slikeahorseandjockeyrelationship.Nomatterhowbiganenginethey

have, if they can’t find the board correctly… Also, it is science’s assertion thatfemalesfacegreatervisuospatialchallengesonaveragethanmen.

As far as long jump, I wouldn’t say that PV and TJ athletes are somehow lesschallenged in theirapproaches.APVcoachcantellyouthatmanyvaultsoccurontakeoffsthatareinsideoftheoptimalmark.AmodalitythatIhaveusedtoaddressapproachissues isputtingtheathleteonasectionofthetrackdevoidofmarkingsandmakingthemrunwithoutthesteeringcuestheyhaveontherunway.Anotherway to do this, if youhave a roll-up runway, is to lay over the runwaymarkings.Theyaregoingtosteer,soyourjobistomakethembetterdrivers.Forhighjump,changingthelocationofthepitontheapronisagoodwaytochangeupthebackdropandthebenchmarksthattheathletemightbesettled into. Italsospreads the wear and tear of constant plants in the same general area. For thehorizontalsandvault,mostoutdoorfacilitieshaveaprevailingwind.Butisitintheathlete’sbestinteresttoalwaysjump/vaultwiththewind?

Myexperiencewithhorizontalshasledmetonotseekalastpre-meetrun-throughthatcatchesthewholeboard.Run-throughscan’treplicateacompetitionrun-uptothat level of precision.Generally, and specificallywith amulti-eventer at the longjump, I prefer a fair jump to open competition even at the expense of 3-6 inches.After observing the nature of that run and its relationship to the board andcheckmarks,Icanmakeabettercallforthefollowingattemptsthanifthefirstjumpis foul. If the first jump is a foul, any counsel you offer has yet to be provensuccessful.Ifitisn’tafoul,nowyouaredowntoathirdjumpandifitwasn’tinplayalready,psychologynowaddstothechallenge.

In all jumps, the athlete needs to have a backup system to relocate a previouslyplacedmark, see: Jeff Henderson/Beijing. I have seen purposeful “scuffing up” oftapemarksbycompetitorsandcoaches.Officialsoftenmistakenlyremovetapefromrunwaysandaprons. Ihaveseenastretchedtaped inadvertentlymovedso that itdisplacedamarker.Thereneeds tobe identificationof an immovablepoint like apainted line or odd variation to the track surface, so that the athlete can pace totheiroriginalmark location. Inthepast, IhaveadvisedpalmingaSharpietoputasmalldoton thesurface. Inapinch, Ihave literallyoffereda tinypieceofchewedgumforajumpertodosomethingsimilarwith.NickNewman:Accuracyofmovementandfreedomofmovementarecontradictoryterms.Youcanmaximizeeitherinisolation,buttogethertheoutcomewillalwaysberelative.Toachievehighaccuracyratesandmaximizethepotential forfreedomofmovement, theathletemustdevelopa subconsciousawarenessandconnection totheirapproachand itsspatialcontext. It isnotpossible toachieve100%certaintywith either outcome at the same time. It is achieved on occasion, but neverdeliberately.

Basically, you have to accept some kind of loss if you want consistency of legaljumps.Targetingtheboardwithgreat focuswillyieldhighaccuracyratesbutwillinevitablylimitperformance.Ultimately,thebest jumpersunderstandwhento“gofor it”andwhencautionandaccuracyareneeded.Itisallaboutreducingthegapbetweenfreedomandaccuracy.Thosewiththebestratiocanmaximizetheirownpotentialthemost.Developmentof the ability tomaximizeperformancewhileproducing legal jumpsrequires a systematic, not haphazard, approach. It startswith the acceptance thatthe athlete is in control of their outcome.Theymust be awareof theboard at alltimes.TheymustLOOKATTHEBOARDduringtheirapproachrun.Thismustoccurduringeveryapproachandeveryjumpinpracticeandincompetition.The discipline and focus required for this is challenging—to say the least—especiallyearly,whenperformancecansuffer.However,athleteslearnovertimetoadoptmoresubconscioushabits,allowingtheirlegalperformancetoincreaseonceagain.Ittakesownership,trust,andgreatpractice.Disciplinefromthecoachisjustasessentialasitisfromtheathlete.Ihavediscussedspecifictrainingstrategiesingreatdetailinseveralarticlesandwillbrieflyaddressthemhere.Oncetargetingandfocushavebeenestablished,theuseofvariablepracticemethodscanenhancetheskillofsteeringfurther.Optionsthatcan be used during practice include changing the approach step number, startpositions,andexacttargetingpositions,etc.Theoptionsareendlessdependingonhowmuchaddedstress,anddifficultlyyouwanttheathletepracticingunder.Randy Huntington: I never address fouling psychologically because we learnedyearsagothatfocusingonitasaproblemcreatesamuchbiggerproblem.LearningtoutilizeVCandmaintaining technicalabilities through the last6metersand lasttwostepsiskey.Testingtheeyesfortrackingabilitiesisthemostimportantitemforus.Thenthereisthesmalltechnical flawofpushingtothetakeoff. It isanathleticmoveandthecoachcan’tcontrolitduringcompetition.ThatiswhyIdon’tprogramtotheboardduringpracticeandwarmups,butinsteadprogramtopenultimatestepposition. I know through experience that, if you are at that critical zone, you cansuccessfullyjump.BrianBrillon:Ibelievethataccuracyontheboardisaskillthatneedstobetrained.Likea longdivisionproblem, if there is amistakeat anypoint in the solution theanswerwillbewrong.Theapproachisbrokendownbyknowingwheretheathleteshouldbeontherunway.Wehaveaneight-stridecheckmark,acoach’smarkfourstridesouttheboard,anda2-meterpenultimatestridemark.Knowingwhere the strides should land is only one part of the problem. I like toknowwhatvelocitiesarebeingproducedthroughtheboard.Notusingthecorrectvelocity can throw off the timing of the run and cause fouling as well. Correct

postures are also observed in the head, shoulders, and pelvis. Improper posturescanputthefeetaheadofwheretheyneedtolandandcangiverisetofouling.From a psychological standpoint, I try to create chaos in some practices. Forinstance, Iwill give the athlete a scenario inwhich they have fouled twice in theopeningroundsandneedtoget this jump in tomake it to the final. I feel thishashelpedintherealsituationsthatweseeatmeets.Myathleteswillalsohearmesay“control the runway” a lot in practice. I want them to feel that, if they have aheadwindortailwind,theywillalwaysbeontheboard.WhatIwillhavetheathletedoiseithermoveupashoeorbackashoefromtheirstartingpoint,andgettheirfooton theboard for takeoff.When theathletegetschaos inpractice,proper footpositionsontheboardcanbetaught.

Question5:SimpliFaster: Several key physical qualities determine success in the jumpingevents.However,itiscommonforjumpersofsimilarmeetperformancestopossessdifferentratiosofthesequalities.Howdoyou(orhowwouldyouinanidealworld)manipulate individual training programs based on your athlete’s strengths andweaknesses?TravisGeopfert:Wethinkit’simportantfromtheverybeginningtoassesswhereour athletes stand in termsofbasicmovementpatterns.Our athletic trainer, ColePeterson,doesafantasticjobofevaluatingthebasicmovementfunctionsofallourincomingjumpers.Ifthereisadeficiencyorweaknessinanyspecificarea,wecreateaplan tocorrect thatrightaway.Nobody isperfectandeverybodyhassomethingthattheycanworkonintermsof functionalmovement,mobility,andstrength.Aswepersonalizetheseplansandseeproficiency,itallowsustoaddspeedandpowerandthenwecanmoveonfromthere.For example, Clive Pullen and Jarrion Lawson are two very different but greatathleteswho,overtime,hadfunctionalimprovementinseveralbasicthings.Asbothprovedtheycouldhandle it,wewereable toaddsomekeytrainingelements thatallowedthemtosucceedatthehighestlevel.Ingeneralterms,theplanscapitalizedon Jarrion’s speed in the long jump and Clive’s power in the triple jump. TheirindividualtrainingplanswereVERYdifferent.However,Ibelievetheywerehighlyeffective specific to their individual strengths and weaknesses. Having said that,however, we first started with basic functional movement patterns and strengthlevelassessmentthatallowedustothenlayeronthetrainingtheyneededoverthecourseofthreetofouryears.DanPfaff:Thatistheartofcoaching.DeterminingtheKPIfactorsforeachathleteandthenorderingtheminahierarchyisanever-endingprojectforthecoach.TheKPIfactorscanchangeintypeandorderduringthecareeroreventheseason.They

differbasedonbiomotor factors, anthropometrics, traininghistory, etc.There aregeneralitiesforthis,butIthinkit’sdangeroustoreducetheseitemsintoaformula.Intruth,programmingisahypothesis.Youbuildoutaprogram,runit,monitor it,andthenformulateanewhypothesisbasedonevidencegained.Ithinkitisamajorerror to tilt the table towardsweaknesses.We like topolishstrengthsalwaysandoften,whileslowlyfillinginthegapsindeficienciesandvoids.Ihaveseenwaytoomanyathletesdestroyedonthe“wecan fix thisweaknessandthenyouwillsoar”train. If the athlete is healthy and enjoying the process, thenwe are on the rightpath. Disinterest and burnout are red flags that my ego has gotten in the way.Sometimesaweaknessisadefensemechanismandshouldnotbeattackeddirectly.Nic Petersen: Speed is always a cornerstone of everything we do. We trainacceleration all year and we are always trying to become mechanically andtechnicallybetterineverythingwedo.Thatbeingsaid,everyathleteisdifferentandmustbetreatedaccordingly.Noteveryonecanhandlelargetrainingloads,orlargedosesofspeedendurance.So,Ihaveatemplatefortheweek,month,year,etc.,andIplug and play different sessions and workouts based around the theme of theadaptationIamtryingtoelicit.

Anexamplewouldbeifwehaveamaxvelocityday.Oneathletemightdoafly30witha30-meterrun in,onemaydoa fly20witha30-meterrun in,andsomeoneelsemaydoa100-meterflywitha20-meterrunin.Thisisallbasedonwhatisbestforeachindividualathleteandtheirownstrengthsandweakness.

Wedothesameintechniqueaswell.Wemayhaveshortjumpsessioninlongjump.Oneathletemaygofrom12steps.Oneathletemaygofromeight.Onemightgooffabox.Andyet,everyoneisworkingonsomeofthesamethings.

In general, I would say that we train to our strengths much more than ourweaknesses.We addressweaknesses and try andmake them better, but I like tomakesurewedowhatpeopleliketodo,andwhatworksbestforthem.Someofmyathletesneedtojumpalottomaintainrhythmandjumpwell.Otherscanjumpverylittleandcompeteatahighlevel.Ascoaches,wemustfigureoutwhatworksbestforeveryathleteandusethoseskills.

JeremyFischer:Ithinkthatalltrainingplansare,andmustbe,malleable.Whilearigidstructureisgoodforyounger,less-advancedathletes,butthemoreadvanced,higher-level athletes need a solid foundationwith adaptation and flexibility to besuccessful.Youmighthavetwo17-metertriplejumpers,andoneisapowerathletewithgreatstrengthwhiletheotherisapowerathletewithmuchmoreelasticityandarelativeloweroverallstrengthcapacity.Itiseasytosay,“Makethepowerathletestrongerandthestrengthathletemoreelastic,”butit’snotaseasyasjustapplyingthis generalization. The art of implementation is making sure you address theweaknessbutnotatthecostoftheirstrengths.

DavidKerin:Aquickanswerwouldbethatit’snotunliketrainingamulti-eventer.Thismeans,lookatwhereyourtimeisbestspent.Inthemultievents,it’softenhowgoodyouareinyourweakereventsthatdeterminesthefinaloutcome.Highjumpisagreatjumps-specificexampletolookatthisquestion.Clearly,thereisadvantagetoahigherstandingCOMandlongerlevers.Yet,StefanHolmand,morerecently,InikaMcPherson have had success in an event that would appear to not favor theirmorphology.Staying with high jump, Dr. James Becker and I had the good fortune to capturethreedifferentjumpersmake2.40+jumpsin2014.WedidthiswhilefilmingthetopU.S.jumpersatthesamemeets.Under3-Danalysis,manythingsstoodout.Firstandforemost, thethreeathletes(MutazEssaBarshim,BohdanBondarenko,andDeredDrouin)allweretraveling8meterspersecondorbetterattheplant.Second,infullyanalyzed jumps, neither JesseWilliamsnorDusty Jonas ever breaks8meters persecondandErikKynardalmostneverdoes.Correspondingly,nonehavebrokenintothe 2.40 club. Regardless of a given athlete’s background and gifts, physics areuniversal.However, I just read a quote by an elite jumper’s coach, stating that his athlete’sapproach is purposefully slow. However,we have data that shows this is not thecase. You must understand “Job 1,” and know your athlete’s strengths andweaknessesfirstifyouwanttoeffectpositivechange.Thereareminimumdatapoints requiredatagivenperformance level.Horizontalvelocity,degreeofconversion,andorientationoftheCOMarebigonescommontoall jumps.Forahorizontal jumpsreference,whowasthefasterathlete,CarlLewisor Mike Powell? As we all know, maximum achievable velocity is not optimalvelocity in the jumps.What doesmatter is the velocity at themoment of the lastgrounding.IseeMikePowell’sexecutionofthepenultimateasthekeytohisworldrecordjump.Iwon’tgofurtherintoit,butpulluphisTokyojumponYouTubeandseewhatyouthink.Mypurpose inbringing itup is that I think it’soneof thebest examplesofaddressingstrengthsandweaknessesinthejumps.NickNewman:ItouchedonthistopicduringQuestionOneandcanelaboratehere.Overtime,itbecomesclearthatcertainfactorsdrivecertainathletes.Generally,youhavethreetypesofelite jumpers: tallandslimwith long limbsandlong tendons, shorter and slightly thicker with more muscular size and shortertendons,andthosethatfallsomewhereinthemiddle.Youcangroupyourjumpersintooneofthesecategoriesfairlyeasily.Again,thesearegeneralcategorizationsandeveryindividualisdifferent.However,you canmake solid expectationsonce youunderstand the typeof athlete you areworking with. Don’t kill yourself trying to develop your tall, slim, tendon-drivenjumper to 2x body weight deep squatting. Instead, focus on her elastic qualities,

strength, and specific ROM. Likewise, an athlete who doesn’t have tremendousadvantageswiththeirtendonstructurewouldperhapsbenefitfrommoremuscular-basedstrengthandpower.The general notion here is that, for the most part, focusing on an athlete’sweaknessesisamistake.Theirnaturaldevelopmentprocessesdrivetheirstrengths.Therefore,itmakesfarmoresensetocarefullynurturethoseaspectsthantopursueunnaturalpathways.Anunderstandingofwhatmakes the individual successful inthefirstplaceshouldheavilyinfluencetheirprogramdesign.Randy Huntington: This is the hardest question to answer and I’mnot sure anyscientificanswerwouldbeaccurate.IuseOmegawavetoseeifathletesareadaptingto training loads or not, and I listen and observe. Additionally,wedodeepwaterpoolrecoveryandmassageeverydaytoenhancerecovery.SportsmedicineinChinaisnotveryadvanced,sowedowhatwecan.BrianBrillon:Ibelieve8-meterjumpsarethestandardformalesatthecollegiatelevel. In my coaching experience, I have never seen a slow 8-meter jumper.Therefore, I focusmy training for the jumpers to travel at or over 10meters persecond. Iseemanygoodhighschool jumpers loadupontheirpenultimatesteptojumpfar.Youcangetawaywiththat inhighschool,butastheathleteprogresses,youmusthelptheathletegetfasterandfeelcomfortablewiththatspeed.My athletes have heard me say numerous times in training that you must getcomfortable getting uncomfortable. This new speed that they will apply to theirjumpingwillmake them feel like they aren’t achieving the height that theywereaccustomed to, but in time the added velocity off the board will produce betterdistances.Most of the time, I get the athlete to run faster through takeoff, but an importantfactor is the takeoff angle. Tomanipulate an athlete’s takeoff angle, I use shorterapproacheswith less horizontal velocity to trainmore of a vertical velocity.Withthese slower velocities used in short approaches, the athlete can produce forcelonger on the ground to achieve greater vertical forces to enhance takeoff angles.Wewillprogressivelyaddmorestepstobleedinmorehorizontalvelocity.Westriveto bleed in both horizontal and vertical velocities during the progression of theseason.

Question6:SimpliFaster: Can you describe the training setup that you use and who/whatwouldyousayinfluencedyourprogrammingstylethemost?Travis Geopfert: We set up training blocks that start from our biggestchampionship meet at the end of the year and work backwards. Ultimately, wespend 70% of our macro-cycle in a general preparation or special preparationphase.Althoughthisisoftendifficultforathletestounderstand,Idobelieveit’sabigreason forour success late in theyear.Our athleteshave thediscipline and focusrequired to trust in the process and know that they will be ready duringchampionshipseason.Throughout this training calendar we have specific training blocks that areanywhere from 7-21 days long, with intermittent “recovery” weeks periodicallybuilt in.Thetimeofyearandthephaseof trainingweare inaffectwhatwedo inthese individual micro-cycles. In very general terms, however, I would say ourtraining in amicro-cyclemostly pairs high-intensity speed and jumpingwith ourliftingdays.Thenouractiverecoveryandgeneralstrengthworkoppositetothat.Therehavebeennumerousstrong influencesonmypersonalprogramming.DougCaseand Iworkclosely togetherwithour jumpersandsprinters inprogrammingalmost the entire year. Other strong influences onme inmy early coaching dayswere Kip Janvrin and Cliff Rovelto. They both helped to give me a very goodunderstandingoftrainingcyclesandtheimportanceoflayingouta“masterplan.”TherearenumerousothercoachesthatI’vegainedvaluableinformationfromoverthe years. I’ve benefitted from personal conversations about jumps with RanaReider,CliffRovelto,BooSchexnayder,JeremyFischer,DanPfaff,RandyHuntington,DougCase,Kip Janvrin,MarkNapier,andSteveLynn, tonamea few.These,alongwithreadingliteratureandwatchingvideosfromTomTellezandmanyothers,havehelpedmeformulateourArkansasTrainingPhilosophy.Ibelieveit’sourresponsibilityascoachestoeducateourselvesanddecipherqualityinformation that can continue to help our athletes progress in the sport. I havelearned that having a plan is a necessity, from both the above-mentioned jumpscoaches, and numerous other coaches including Chris Bucknamhere at Arkansas.However,beingabletoadaptontheflyandmakeadjustmentsbasedonnumerousvariablesisequallyimportant.Ibelievethereisascientificandanartisticsideofcoaching.It’simportanttoknowyour stuff, but also to read your individual athletes and communicate the planeffectively. It’s our job as coaches to “think” and communicate in such away thatenablesourathletestotrusttheprocessandjustgo“do.”

DanPfaff:Iwashugelyinfluencedbymyfirstmajormentor,TomTellez,soalotofmy fundamental programming concepts came from the way he trainedsprinter/jumper combo athletes. During the first 10-15 years of my career, Icollectedandreverse-engineeredtrainingsystemsfromaroundtheworlddeliveredbyguysinmyevolvingnetwork.Thebulkofthisresearchwasinthelate’70sandallofthe’80s,sopharmacyfactorswerehugeatthetimeandtheyheavilyinfluencedthedesigns,volumes,intensities,anddensitypatternsusedinthosesystems.Tosurfthat issue, a concerted effort was made to study junior and youth-levelprogramming from those countries to establish fundamental curves of load andprogression.Ihavealwaysworkedwithmultipleeventdisciplines,largenumbers,smallsupportstaffs, etc., so I had to evolve systems that addressed these variables. Access tofacilities, liability issues, and the cooperation of support staff also influenced theevolution. Time, wisdom, experiences, great athletes, injuries, failed hypotheses,network information, research, and divine intervention have all led me to ourcurrent formats.Westill tweakandexperiment,butnotasmuchaswhen Iwasayounger,cluelesscoach.In general, we do no GPP-type phases and start outwithwhat folkswouldmostlikely call SPP. We use two-week load cycles with the third week an unload ondensitypattern.Weshifttooneweekon,oneweekoffduringtheindoorseasonandthen move to a three-day rollover cycle for the outdoor competitive season. Weidentify KPIs during the preseason inductionmeetings, rank them in a hierarchy,developstrategiesformonitoringandadjustmentofthesegenerationalfactors,andthengo towork. It is fluidandathlete-driven. It isdeeply tied to sportsmedicinefindingsatalltimes.Theweeklyformatisfairlycommonthroughouttheyear.Wedoaccelerationwork,power conversion exercises, and a moderate weight room scheme on Mondays.Tuesdaysfindusdoingjump-specificwork,variousplyometricexercises,andthenashift to parasympathetic work with circuits and special strength exercises.Wednesday is a speed or running technique day, followed by power conversionexercises or plyometrics, and finished offwith ourmost demandingweight roomsessionoftheweek.Thursdayisoftenanactiverest,therapy-drivenday,althoughearlyintheyearmanyathleteswilldodesignedrecoverytraining.Fridayisajumptechnique day, followed by throwing power exercises, and then amonitor-drivenweightroomsession.Saturdayisanalactic/runtechniquedayforus,withextensiveworkcapacityexercisesdonepostrunning.WetakeSundaysoff.NicPetersen:Typically,Mondayisanaccelerationdayconsistingofanywherefrom10mto40m,butwemaygooutfurtherdependingontheathleteandtimeofyear.Thisisfollowedbyeitheramedballthrowseriesorasimpleplyometricexercise.Tuesday is amix of technique and speed.We typically do some type of approachdevelopmentonTuesdays, followedbyashortruntechniquesession.Thismaybe

shortrunlongjump,etc.Thenwefinishwithafewabsolutespeedruns;maybefly30morsomethingsimilar.Wednesday is a recovery day. We do an easy jog and strides, most the time inapproachrhythm.Andwedosomerestorativeworkhere:yoga,balance,andtriggerpointtherapy.OnThursday,wecomebackanddoanothercombinationday,withapproachworkandatechniquesessionfollowedbysomespeed.Thistendstobeabitlonger,butitdependsonwhatwedidMondayandTuesday.Fridayistypicallyourtempoday.Wedothisongrass.Alotoftimeswedocircuitsasrest.JeremyFischer:Mysetupfortrainingisveryathlete-specific.OneathletemayhavemoreoraEuropeansetup, andanothermayhaveamore typicalAmerican setup.USATF coaching educationwas an early influenceonmy coaching.Theywere thefirst ones to show me that there were different training styles than my collegesystem.Theygavemethescienceandanswerstowhyandhowwedidthings.Thesenames include Boo Schexnayder, Dan Pfaff, Vince Anderson, Dennis Shaver, VernGambetta,GaryWinkler,andCliffRovelto.BookinfluenceswereBompa,Gambetta,Freeman,andMcFarlane.AsIgrewasacoach,Iwantedtoknowmoreandlearndifferentthoughtprocesses.Istartedtalkingtoforeigncoachesandvisitingtheirtrainingfacilitiesandwatchingtheirpractices.IwatchedtheCubanstraininPuertoRicoforthreedays,spentafewdayswithWolfgangRitzdorfattheCologneSportsInstitute,haddinnerwithFranzBosch,andtalkedwithandspent timewithNelioMauro.Thisgavemeadifferentperspective and I saw how training can vary with the art of coaching—thevariabilityoftrainingweusefromathletetoathleteandyeartoyear.DavidKerin: IamacontinuingedstudentattheTellez/Pfaff/SchexnayderSchoolofJumps.Fromthatbase,Ithenapplymyexperience.Myviewsontrainingaremosttraditional inthefall.Astheyearprogresses, Ishiftawayfromstrictadherencetomorecommonlyacceptedworkandphasingduringindoorandearlyoutdoors.Iliketo see athletes do just enough traditional work in the weight room to maintainstrengthlevelsgainedtothatpoint.Testingisimportantheretodeterminewhetheragivenstrengthlevelhasdroppedoff.LikeDanP’s“ThreeDayRollovers,”Ibelieveyoucanmaintainlevelswithminimalliftingaslongasit’sspecific.Betweenindoorandoutdoor,withtimingdependentonthelengthandgoalsoftheoutdoor season, I like to remediate to bring strength back up when decline isobserved.Backtoindoors—Iamnotafanofthecollegiate,almost-every-weekendcompetitioncycle,anditseffectontrainingandhealth.Ibelieveinaslateastarttoindoor competition as possible, and as little indoor competition as possible. Thenatureandqualityoftrainingandadaptationisfarbetter.Iwillleavemorespecific

periodizationandsessiondescriptionstomymoredistinguishedfellowRoundtableparticipants.Myobservationisthat,oncethecompetitionschedulebegins,technicalcomponentsintheathletes’jumpingbecomehardertoadjust.

Fullapproachjumpingisimpactful,andcompetitionjumpingisevenmoreso.Oncecompetition begins, training setup should take this into account, particularly inspring and summer. More specifically, think about recovery time. In the U.S., wehavebeenverygoodatmakingpeople tired;wehaveonly recently started togetbetteratbuildingthembackup.AsforthecomparisonofU.S.vs.Europeantrainingmodels,Ibelievebothhavetheirmerits.Rather than thinking thatyoumustreside inonlyonecamp,consider thateithercouldbeasoundoptionforindividualathletesatanygiventime.Thiscouldalso be viewed as a response to either method by gender, and further, that thedeciding factors are health, recovery to maintain it, and travel/competitiondemands. Between the twomodels, I generally favor keeping high intensityworkbundledbydayasopposedtodistributedacrossaweek.However,thereismerittothe ideaofplayingwith itsdistribution,particularlywhentemperinga jumper foranOlympictrialorinternationalcompetition’sQroundandfinalsonseparatedays.Nick Newman: Dan Pfaff and Boo Schnexnayder have influenced my trainingphilosophy the most. I have spent time with and/or conversed with many othercoachinggreatsoverthepast10orsoyearsaswell.ThelikesofRandyHuntington,Tudor Bompa, John Crotty, Jeremy Fischer, Pete Stanley, Gary Bourne, and NelioMouramustbementioned,astheyhaveallpersonallysharedtheirknowledgewithme.Earlyinmyathleticcareer,Ispentagreatdealoftimedissectingandexperimentingwiththetrainingprogramsofmanycoaches.Althoughthislikelyhurtmycareerasajumper, it helped my coaching career tremendously. This, along with endlessreadingandobservingofgreatcoachesandathletes,hasservedasthebasisofmyphilosophyonallaspectsofprogrammingandcoaching.Overtheyears,mybeliefsevolvedintothetrainingsystemthatIusetoday.Generally,Iuseahighdoseofspecifictrainingallyear,witheachcomponentoftheprogramcarefullyprogressedfromspecifictoultra-specific.Iusethree-steploadingpatternsthroughoutthepreparationperiod.Thefirstphaseoftrainingisfourweeksinlength,usingforwardsteploadingwithadrop-inloadduringthefourthweek.Asspecificityincreases,weremainwithforwardsteploadingbutswitchtothree-weekphases with a drop-in load occurring every third week. During ultra-specific orspecialized trainingphases,weusea four-weekphasewithareversestep-loadingpatternanddecreasingloadsfromweekstwothroughfour.Throughout the preparation mesocycle, the weekly setup stays fairly consistent.Mondays are inertia days with accelerations, bounding, and moderate to heavyweights. Tuesday is a technical jumps, drills, and circuit day.Wednesday is speed

and power development. Thursday is technical or pool recovery work. Friday isresistedorassistedspeed,assisted jumps,andspecialweight training.Saturday isextensive and intensive tempo, or speed endurance, endurance bounding, andcircuits.Sundayisrest.Competition phases see extremely flexible and individual-based programming.Generallyspeaking,competitionweekswillseeaneuromuscularheavyhitterday,acoupleofgeneralrecoverydays,andatechnicalfocusday.RandyHuntington:a.m./p.m.M Acc–MaxST Speed–UbSW Speedendurance(ASSEorGSSE)ortemp–RestTh AsMonday,withsmallvariations–RestF Jumpsday–PowerSa Longspeedendurance(SE)S RestBrian Brillon: I use alternating neuro days followed by a general themed day oftraining.IwouldsaythatIhavebeenmoreinfluencedinthetrainingpedagogybyBooSchexnayder,DanPfaff,MikeYoung,andVernGambetta.Ihavefoundthatthistype of training works best with the goals that need to be met in the collegiatesetting.Thereareoccasionsthatwehavehadtobendtherulesduetoschedules,butifyoucan foresee theseconflicts, it is important tobudgetyourweekcorrectly intraining.Forinstance,inatypicalweek,Mondaywillbeneurofollowedbyageneralday.Wewould typically see accelerationmodalities done onMonday, with technique andgeneral themes set for Tuesday. If I do runways on a Tuesday, I will budget myMondaypracticewithvolumetocomplementtherunwaysonTuesday.Itrytothinkofthe“traintodaysothatyoucantraintomorrow”mantrawhenwritingsessions.Thefirstweekinthefour-weekcyclewouldseeatechnical-themedweek,followedby a speed week, then an endurance/work capacity week, and ending with arest/testweek.IhavefoundthatthisrotationalsystemworkedwellatallthelevelsIhavecoached.Itkeepstheathleteabletoexpressthepoweroutputsimportantfortheevent,withoutmanyovertraining symptoms. Iwant theathlete toalways feelthatthebaseoftheirtrainingisspeedandpower.I follow a short-to-long philosophy with the training of speed. Before I coachedthem, someofmy athletes had coacheswhoused the long-to-short philosophy intheirtrainingofspeed,andtheyneverfeltliketheygainedspeed.Someathletesfeltitwasjustagrindtoseehowmanyrepsandsetstheycoulddo.Whentheybecame

aware of their speed capabilities earlier in the year, these athletes felt that theyachievedmorebeneficialtrainingandsawgreatersuccesses.