[i]Originally posted by todd[/i]
Mike-
Thanks for taking the time this weekend with Nicole. I was hoping you were there afterwards to talk about her jumps with her. It is nice for athletes to hear things from someone other than there coach sometimes, but also someone the coach trusts.
No problem Todd and that's quite a complement coming from a coach of your expertise. Besides, that's what I was there for. I do however have to let you know that my assistant Will is still giving me crap for your "guru" comment.
Two questions.
1) May have talked about this before. The 1.8, 2.0 and 2.2 meter marks that were seen in Upshaw's long jump. I did not attend, but heard about Huntington's reference to 2.0m marks for penultimate for just about every jumper.
Can you expand on this concept a bit more? I am still unclear as to if every jumper is 2.0m or if it is a +/- situation for each athlete.
Also, is this more of a take off reference than a runway reference?
I spoke briefly with Randy about this 3 weeks ago and it was my impression that he thought the 2m recommendation was for everyone. The thinking is that despite differences in limb length, takeoff angle, and COM height everyone needs to be at this check mark to jump elite levels in the LJ. I'm not quite sure of his justification for this but I'd assume it's related to the velocities associated with being able to properly setup an elite level jump and the distance that traveling at those velocities will result in over the last 2 steps. I'll see Randy in about a week and I'll ask him to get the full rationale.
2) Thigh position on triple jump phase of the jumping leg. The parallel thigh/above hips.
Causes rotation b/c of torso pulled down? or parellel thigh is not working to maintain horizontal velocity?
Bringing the thigh up too high will cause the chest to rotate forward and have a negative effect on the subsequent ground contact. Also, it should be noted that after ground clearance has been made, swinging the free leg much higher than its position at the point of takeoff will not add anything to the distance of the jump. This is because once in flight the swinging action of the free leg cannot add any additional force to the ground (via the support leg) because the jumper has already broken contact with the ground. Because of this and the possible detrimental effect mentioned above, swinging the free leg too much should be avoided.
