James Thomas' Championship Jumps Coaching Series

with James Thomas,
University of Oklahoma Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach;
University of Georgia Associate Head Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2022 to 2023;
University of Georgia Assistant Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2021 to 2022;
Texas Tech Associate Head Coach from 2012 through 2021 - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events;
2019 NCAA Division I Champions - Men's Outdoor Track & Field;
at Texas Tech, was part of Five Big XII Team Championships, Eight Top 10 Team Finishes and Four Top 5 Team finishes;
USTFCCCA Masters Endorsement Instructor;
USATF Level II Certification- Jumps;
At Texas Tech, coached one Olympian, eight NCAA Champions, 91 All-Americans and 29 Individual Big XII Champions;
10x USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year

In this video featuring 2019 NCAA Championship Coach James Thomas, you'll learn his "unapologetically simplistic" approach to long jump training. Coach Thomas takes a complex event and is able to show you how to improve performance with his part-to-whole breakdown. The drills shown build on each other and can be taught to any level of athlete, which makes this video an important addition to any coach's video library.

Keys to a Successful Long Jump

Thomas starts at the beginning and breaks down the approach to the long jump. He shares a key to his methods when he explains why his athletes perform run-offs at the end of each drill. You'll learn:

• Why rhythm is often the most overlooked aspect of many jump training programs and how to train for it.
• Why the transfer of speed to power is key.
• How the skill of landing is heavily based on mental timing, plus how to teach it in parts that equal a successful whole!

Zone Drills

Finally, Coach Thomas' application of zone drills in jump training show a way to train for a maximum effort, high intensity event without the physical and mental stress of performing full approach jumps.

Coach Thomas gives you all you need to know about long jump training for the beginner or experienced athlete, and teaches it in a way that's easily understandable for the novice or veteran coach. His emphasis on simple basics in a progressive approach makes application of the techniques shown applicable to all. You'll be sure to find yourself watching this video course time and time again, mining it for the valuable insight into a national champion coach's programming for success.

40 Minutes. 2021.

with James Thomas,
University of Oklahoma Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach;
University of Georgia Associate Head Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2022 to 2023;
University of Georgia Assistant Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2021 to 2022;
Texas Tech Associate Head Coach from 2012 through 2021 - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events;
2019 NCAA Division I Champions - Men's Outdoor Track & Field;
at Texas Tech, was part of Five Big XII Team Championships, Eight Top 10 Team Finishes and Four Top 5 Team finishes;
USTFCCCA Masters Endorsement Instructor;
USATF Level II Certification- Jumps;
At Texas Tech, coached one Olympian, eight NCAA Champions, 91 All-Americans and 29 Individual Big XII Champions;
10x USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year

Oklahoma's head coach - James Thomas, part of the 2019 NCAA Champion Texas Tech Red Raiders, passes along his best methods for training the triple jump in this jam-packed video course. You'll learn the phases of the triple jump, how Coach Thomas teaches his athletes to develop rhythm in the event, and how to get your athletes to develop the most efficient "cadence" during their approach run.

Triple Jump Lead Up Drills

The triple jump is a high impact, technically demanding event. In the opening segment, Thomas uses his lead up series to help athletes develop and improve various technical components. These drills include progressive intensity exercises, such as rudiment style bounds, skips, and more intense alternate leg bounds. These drills can be done away from the runway to help athletes isolate and correct specific skills that they will later connect to the event.

Developing Effective Triple Jump Rhythm

The key to a great triple jump lies in creating a steady, consistent rhythm across each phase. To help athletes improve their timing and rhythm, Coach Thomas takes you through the 10-20-30 drill, using short approaches of two to four steps to complete a full triple jump from distances of 10 feet, 20 feet, and 30 feet. The goal of the drill is to maintain the same rhythm as the distance progresses, adding slightly more power each time to challenge the athlete's coordination.

Refining Runway Cadence

Coordination and cadence on the runway are critical to success in the horizontal jumps. In the triple jump, athletes must maintain posture and control at high speeds during their approach in order to excel. In this segment, Thomas demonstrates his triple jump specific version of the wicket drill. Using various spacing and run ins, Coach Thomas challenges his athletes to maintain proper posture and control as they sprint over mini hurdles. To make the drill as event specific as possible, he has his athletes execute a full take off and jump, to help them work on control under varying intensities.

Throughout this video, Coach Thomas shares his insights on how to develop elite triple jumpers, carefully breaking down various drills and skills that are important to success in the event. One of the best features of the video is when Thomas shares his philosophy on short approach jumping, which is an area that many coaches struggle with. He carefully explains why it is critical to success in the triple jump, and what specific improvements he looks for before moving an athlete back on the runway to create more speed.

This is a fantastic source of information for jumps coaches who want to improve their triple jumpers. With the help of Coach Thomas, your athletes will be poised for improved results and PRs in the seasons ahead!

40 Minutes. 2021.

with James Thomas,
University of Oklahoma Head Track & Field/Cross Country Coach;
University of Georgia Associate Head Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2022 to 2023;
University of Georgia Assistant Coach - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events from 2021 to 2022;
Texas Tech Associate Head Coach from 2012 through 2021 - Men's & Women's Jumps & Combined Events;
2019 NCAA Division I Champions - Men's Outdoor Track & Field;
at Texas Tech, was part of Five Big XII Team Championships, Eight Top 10 Team Finishes and Four Top 5 Team finishes;
USTFCCCA Masters Endorsement Instructor;
USATF Level II Certification- Jumps;
At Texas Tech, coached one Olympian, eight NCAA Champions, 91 All-Americans and 29 Individual Big XII Champions;
10x USTFCCCA Mountain Region Assistant Coach of the Year

Learn the training and drill progressions that will enable your jumpers to get the most out of their ability! James Thomas provides six specific areas of training for jumpers, showing you how to perform each drill sequence correctly so you can implement his methods with your own program. Coach Thomas also gives in-depth commentary of how to use his progressions over the course of a training year.

Acceleration and Speed

Coach Thomas offers a step-by-step presentation of how to train horizontal jumpers to accelerate on the runway to achieve maximum speed and jump performance. Using 10 various starting positions, Thomas shows how to drill your jumpers' mechanics on the runway. Additionally, he progresses to 10 plyometric exercises that put jumpers through simple to more complex movement patterns that develop power and jump-specific strength.

Speed on the runway is absolutely essential for high level performance in the horizontal jumps. Using two pieces of technology (electronic whistle and a speed timing device), Coach Thomas demonstrates how to test and develop speed in your jumpers. He discusses how to use testing to assist in the development of speed and acceleration. You'll learn how to address various methods to develop running rhythm and speed endurance for your jumpers.

Bounding, Resistance Running, Strength & Conditioning

Bounding will develop a jumper's specific strength, force production, and momentum. Thomas shows eight of his favorite bounding and depth jump exercises to help gain explosive power. He wraps up his presentation with a breakdown of how to keep resistance running and weight room strength and conditioning basic, simple, and event-specific.

This video will give any coach a concise, extensive, and usable training program to help their jumpers enhance their performance. Coach Thomas' methods are tried and true, and will undoubtedly enhance your coaching abilities!

48 Minutes. 2021.