Championship Productions Blog

Refine Your Take-Off Mechanics to Maximize Your Distance!

For long and triple jumpers, early season can be a challenge, as weather may limit the number of days they can actually jump outdoors. Texas A & M jumps Coach Jim VanHootegem, introduces a take-off drill that would be appropriate both in and outdoors for working on take-off mechanics. Called “The Rocking Chair Walk,” this drill works specifically on the mechanics of the foot on the take-off.

Main coaching points would be to ensure ankle stability throughout the movement. This allows the center of gravity to settle. As the foot rolls over onto the ball of the foot, the athlete drives upward with the foot and fully extends it out. As the drill progresses in difficulty, you can add a skipping motion into it, and eventually move to a high skip off the drill. Be sure to emphasize that the foot stays low as the hips move high. As you move to the high skip drill, you should feel a complete extension of the leg at take-off.

View an additional clip from Texas A&M Track & Field Series – Drills and Progressions for Championship Horizontal Jumps.  See what other Long Jump DVDs and Triple Jump DVDs we have in our world class Track & Field DVD collection!