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So I was at practice yesterday and I preferred to stay inside. So, I made up a take-off drill...

It is very simple...

There is a dip/ledge in my school's ceiling in a particular area. It sinks down to about 8'6"-9'... The tiles in our hallway have a "convergence point" just beneath this lip, and since the tiles are exactly 1 square foot each, it was very easy to meausure from it. I found out my two step distance (18') and put a sweatshirt at 3' from the ledge. I ran from 21', jumped up with the knee driven and hands reaching up and hit the lip. Then I moved back a foot (pushing the sweatshirt back too). Eventually I was moving back in 6" increments... I got back to 8' successfully. (I had the girls try this on the top of lower door frames.)

My thoughts...

Benefits:
- Eyes tend to look UP (to see the ledge), but the sweatshirt makes the take-off spot important.
- Improves athleticism.
- Easy to turn into a competetive drill (worked out great as this).
- Makes the athlete strive for a quick, high, powerful take-off.
- Good for working on cadence (near the end I moved my run in and focused on quick steps and did better).
- Can be done inside!

Drawbacks:
- A possible tendency to lose the drive-knee.
- Landing on a hard floor with decent momentum and less than 100% control.
- Crowding/space/people is a potential issue, especially in school hallways.

Thoughts?

I have my athletes do the same thing with a basketball hoop or goal post (minus the sweatshirt). It's a good thing to do on day 1 of practice to see which foot kids prefer to jump off of, and a good thing to do in general. You can do it on the grass, just hang something from the end of a pole and hold it up as a target for someone else. You can do it like that for pole runs even.

Originally I didn't use the sweatshirt... But then I found myself striding out! I think that's perfect for helping to build that sense of "I will make it there with this take-off length". I made it a rule that if my foot hit the sweatshirt the jump didn't count if I did hit the ceiling.

Yep I have done the same with a basketball hoop,

the thing about using this drill too often is athletes tend to learn to put themselves into an awkward pre-jump body position more like long or triple, which is something i really don't like to see in the vault. So for the dynamics of explosion upon running it can be useful in early season, but if it is going to be done again and again, the use of a stubie or short pole would be beneficial, to better simulate the vault.

good morning,

while doing approach runs on the track... from my chart off course.. and planting the pole into a towel on the track.... for years i have placed a set of PV standards on the track and hung a towel from a cross bar...

you accomplish several things.. you still have your normal run, stride length and frequency, but you have a "target" that should be set forward and slightly up at the takeoff to create the proper angles... you attempt to "feel", touch, the towel with your top grip.. if you feel or hit the towel you have taken off, free, and at close to the correct angle.... and have planted the pole "down the middle" correctly..

dj

A couple years ago, I proposed a drill for this same purpose ... only more competitive. I think it's a good drill ... altho I have been very clear in saying that I've never tried it. In my version, you land in the pit ... so I think it's a safer drill than landing on the runway or a gym floor.

PP, why don't you give it a try!

Search for "bryde bungee jump drill".

Kirk

As a high school athlete, I can say that Kirk's drill is probably the best but powerplants/becca's is more practical in setting up. I usually like doing these kinds of drills on days where it is too cold or the weather doesn't let us set up the mats to do drills like these. Any ground work or indoor gym work is what high schoolers have the most opportunity to complete.

I'll start using these cause I need help in this area, either one I end up using I'm sure it will help

I've done it before with a high jump pit... I suppose that it wouldn't be too impractical to set up in a hallway? Maybe I could squeeze into the gym with the basketball team?

It's just a good inside drill... Very easy to do. Plus, the ceiling height is perfect.