Curriculum Guide to the High Jump

ISU Assistant Women's Track & Field Coach John Gartland has worked with world-class high jumpers, including three jumpers who have cleared 7' 5". In this curriculum guide to the high jump, Coach Garland provides detailed explanations and easy-to-follow drills to simplify one of track and field's most exciting events.

With on-site demonstrations from high jumpers Major Clay and Liz Evans, Coach Gartland breaks down the high jump into four basic lessons, demonstrating 12 drills to use with your athletes covering:

• approach
• penultimate and ultimate step
• take-off
• bar clearance

Breaking down the high jump into four distinct phases simplifies training. The DVD opens with four drills for the approach, including the Circle Drill, Straight Ahead and Run-By (U-Turn).

Next up is the penultimate and ultimate step. You'll get an overview on why these last two steps are the most important in successfully completing the jump. The Continuous Pop-Up drill shows you how to focus on good knee drive with a dorsi-flexed foot.

The third chapter focuses on the take-off. Coach Gartland delves deeply into the intricacies of this technically difficult point of the run up. Included are two drills he uses with his athletes.

The bar clearance portion of the DVD presentation starts with a lesson on what happens as the jumper leaves the ground. Coach Gartland then moves to the track and shows drills including the Back Over and Thigh Slapper. Finally, you see both athletes go through a series of complete jumps using slightly different 10-step approaches.

Coach Gartland's 12 essential drills provide a blueprint for a successful high jump. The drills are explained in a progressive manner so that the coach and athlete can learn the step-by-step approach behind a successful high jump in a sequential way. These drills lead to Coach Gartland's three main points behind a successful jump:

• perfect approach
• the last two steps
• getting a great take off

These drills cover every aspect of the high jump and can be used as a guide to teach beginner and advanced jumpers. Whether you're a coach or athlete, there's plenty to learn from this well produced and easy-to-follow video.

54 minutes. 2014.