By Tom Kaberna

Last post I discussed the beginning of the approach run.  Today I will discuss the last half of the run.  Before we go into the actual mechanics of the run I would like to talk about where I believe an athlete’s visual focus should be at this time.  When you are done pushing your eyes go from on the ground in front of you to being able to easily look far down the runway.  I tell my athletes that as soon as they are able to I want their visual focus on the board. 

I hear too many coaches tell their jumpers not to look at the board which I think is a mistake.  Any good jumper makes calculations in their head when they see the board and they can start to make changes in the middle of their run with their stride rather than at the end of the run where they will have to stutter and slow down to get on the board.   When they get close to the board I just want them to look at it with their peripheral vision and feel it while keeping their head up with good posture. 

I always use the comparison of trying to hit the bullseye on a dart board.  You wouldn’t look at anything but the bullseye.  We are asking kids to run as fast as they can and hit an eight inch board clean. Let them look! 

After the athletes initial pushes to gain momentum at the beginning of their run I look to make sure the athletes are getting in the proper maximum velocity mechanics.  The main things I look for during this time of the run are making sure their hips are up tall, they are exhibiting large ranges of motion with good displacement, their hips underneath them and they have some bounce to their run.  Without a nice bounce athletes need to stick out their foot or do something radical at the end of their run to get lift.  (Top of picture above)  If you have a nice bounce you can just continue that bounce a little lower and then a little higher to setup a smooth transition off of the board.  (Picture #2 Above)

In my previous post I mentioned that great jumpers are pretty good sprinters in their own right as well.  I focus a lot of my time dealing with maximum velocity mechanics.  Here are some of the things I focus on with my jumpers when working on upright running.

1. Dorsiflexion of toe to setup stiffness on ground contact.
2. Stepping over the opposite knee when sprinting upright to get knee up to deliver force into the ground. 
3. I tell my athletes their hips are like a bucket of water.  When up tall you don’t want to spill the water out the front.  This all means I want neutral hips.
4. A flat back should be seen as well.   If your athletes have an arch in their back more than likely their hips are pointing down in front of them and that could be trouble for hamstring pulls.
5. Another cue I use is to bounce on the track to help with stride length and to use elastic energy to make for an efficient run. 
6. I cue closed arms in the front and open arms in the back.  From the eye socket through the back pocket.  I hear a lot of coaches say to keep the arms at 90 degrees but I think the arms should mimic the legs which open and close fluidly.  So around 30-60 in the front and 120-150 when it opens up in the back.