Elitetrack: Sport Training & Conditioning

I've been working on running off the board in the TJ to correct my hop phase, but right now at least, it's costing me distance. I feel like I'm not getting any power at all. Am I over-exaggerating this and taking away power by not dropping my hips enough prior to take-off, or do I just not have approach speed or enough power to get good distance? I guess what I'm really asking is should there be no dropping of the hips in the penultimate steps at all, or only just a little? Thanks.

I'm a real novice at jumping but one thing that one of my old coaches hammered in was COUNT YOUR STEPS. It takes a long time for your mucles to "remember" the steps needed to fully achieve maximum speed and accuracy. It took me 50+ trial runs a day for 2 weeks to get my steps down. I take 2 soft steps and 7 full strides(14 steps.) I usually get fatigued if I take more steps.

Any thoughts?

i would say u need to ;pick up ur appraoch speed ...i know when i think the cue 'running off the board' i tend to lose my momentum and dont exert any effort…

staying relaxed during the run/jump is more important

There should be some lowering of the hips but it should be minimal and I wouldn't worry about lowering the hips prior to takeoff. Try to feel the free-side hip move in front of the takeoff foot as much as possible. If height is the limiting factor in your jump I'd suggest focusing more on an agressive swing of the free leg than lowering at takeoff.