Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

Does anybody know of any research done or have rough estimates of how much proper arm swing and the leg drive of the non-jumping leg affect the outcome of a triple jump?   Also, I have a rather large problem of jumping too high and not enough horizontal on my step and jump phases, causing me to lose a TON of speed. This happens even when I am just doing bounding exercises.  Does anybody know what drills or mental cues could help me overcome this problem?  I feel like I am not on the ground long enough, I am just popping right back into the air.  Is there such a thing as too much power, or is it just my horrible form? 

i would say horrible form, in my opinion there is no such thing as to much power, i can go 43 in the triple jump and i have no technique what so ever.  If i had technique i probaly could go 46+ my opponents coaches tell me i do so good considering my horrible technique. when i jump i just kick like crazy wasting energy and slowing myself down and some how i make it to the pit.  you know why becuase i have really strong legs.  your technique will make or brak you in this great event called the triple jump

I guess I should have given a little bit more info in my first post.  I am 22 years old, 6'1" 156 lbs.  I am in the military for a couple more months so I have no coach.  I will be going back to school and running track next year.  I triple jumped 4 years in high school and have dabbled in it a little since, but I have mostly worked on speed, which is now quite good (10.7 100m hand timed).  My form isn't horrible, my mechanics are decent (except for the problem ones I have described), but my jumps are nowhere near as far as they should be.  My hop is ~18 feet, my step is ~15, and my jump is ~15.  My hop is fine, I stay relatively low projecting my hips past my feet.  It looks how a decent jumper looks.  I am content with my hop for now.  My troubles start in the step phase, where I start with good knee height, I stretch it out slightly with the "pawing" motion, but instead of having my body move past my foot like on the hop phase, I am in the air before I can project any horizontal force, I'm just going up, using a braking action to accomplish this.  The same goes for the jump phase, all of my speed is gone and I just don't go anywhere, it feels horrible.  I can long jump over 20 feet from a 5 step approach, and I'm only going ~15 on my jump, there is definitely something that I am doing wrong.  What I'm looking for is a drill or exercise that will help me stay on the ground longer or get my body to tell my legs to drive out and not up, to get more horizontal force and maintain my speed.  As I stated in my first post, I have this problem when bounding at any speed.  Any help would be much appreciated, thanks. 

If your looking for an exercise to help with what you say your problem is… look no further than sled bounding.  This was used by Dick Booth at the University of Arkansas program a while back ago.  It most definitly will teach you to drive out.  The weight you use for sled bounding should be 1/4 of your body weight, for total bounds to be 4 times 40 yards. Boothe also recommends a rubber cord to help absorb shock.  This exercise should help you drive out and you will stay on the ground longer because your bounding dragging weight behind you .