Triple Jump technique

For the approach phase of the jump, the athlete sprints down a runway to a takeoff mark, from which the jump is measured. The takeoff mark is a board, commonly a piece of wood or similar material embedded in the runway, or a rectangle painted on the runway surface. In modern championships a strip of plasticine, tape, or modeling clay. is attached to the board to record athletes overstepping or "scratching" the mark, defined by the trailing edge of the board.

As in the long jump the approach consists of approximately 18 - 23 steps over 35 - 50 m. As opposed to the long jump the triple jumper attempts to increase the stride rate and decrease the stride length over the last 3 - 6 strides with the aim of achieving a relatively flat take-off for the hop.

There are then three phases of the jump itself: the "hop" phase, the "step" phase, and the "jump" phase. These three phases are executed in one continuous sequence.

 

The hop starts with the athlete jumping from the mark on his/her takeoff leg, and landing on the runway with the takeoff leg. The hop appears to be more of a "cycling" movement. The objective is to hop out as opposed to up. The take-off angle in the hop is considerably lower than in the long jump (12 -15° as opposed to 19 - 23°). The jumper must attempt to stem as little as possible in the take-off for all jumps, that means he must try to pull the take-off foot as close as possible under the body. This is known as an "active gripping" movement. Simultaneously the ground contact should be as short as possible (0.12 - 0.14 s). This depends upon high speed and a well developed jumping (reactive) strength. During the hop the athlete performs a leg change so that the take-off leg is in front again for the step.

 

In the step, the athlete jumps with the takeoff leg and lands on the runway with the opposite leg. This is the most difficult phase for the triple jumper. The body weight must be caught by the same leg and again accelerated with the least possible decrease in horizontal velocity. This take-off is consequently longer than that of the hop, the loss of velocity is greater, the partial distance less and the athlete flexes the jumping leg slightly more. After another flat take-off (12 - 14°) the jumper maintains his position, must remain balanced and performs a double arm swing. Neither the hop nor the step are jumped with maximal effort because a large effort in the hop will always decrease the step distance.

 

The step is followed by the jump, where the athlete jumps from that same non-takeoff leg and lands in a sand-filled pit. The jump phase is very similar to the long jump. Only the jump, among the three phases, is performed maximally and with a take-off angle similar to that of the long jump (approximately 20°). The contact time is again slightly longer and has values of between 0.16 - 0.19 s. In this jump segment which still reaches distances of over 6 m a tuck or hanging position is assumed to prepare for a successful landing.

The aim of the landing is to minimize the loss of distance. The jumper must attempt to place the feet as close as possible to the contact point of the parabola and then to "sit his backside" as close as possible to the heels. This is only possible with a correspondingly high forward torque (somersault torque).

A "foul", also known as a "scratch" or missed jump, occurs when a jumper oversteps the takeoff mark, misses the pit entirely, does not use the correct foot sequences throughout the phases, or does not perform the attempt in the allotted amount of time. When a jumper "scratches," the seated official will raise a red flag and the jumper who was "on deck," or up next, prepares to jump. To record a "scratch," a video camera is commonly used to avoid confusion and unfair calls.

Athletes such as basketball players and high jumpers often use the triple jump to help increase their vertical jumping ability. The triple jump is primarily focused on horizontal movement as opposed to vertical, as mentioned above, but it can also be used to strengthen the core muscles of the legs. This is an excellent cardiovascular exercise as well as a formidable strength building exercise.

 

Triple jump performance, i.e. the official distance jumped is measured in the approach direction from the front edge of the take-off board to the first identifiable mark made by the athlete in the sand during landing. The sum of the official distance and the distance "conceded" at the board gives the so-called "effective distance" which is a theoretical value describing how far the jumper really jumped independent of the official result. The official distance is usually smaller or at the most equal to the effectively jumped distance.

At the elite level the take-off boards are positioned 13m from the sand pit. The athlete is permitted to touch the ground with the swing leg during the individual jump segments although this seems to be of little benefit to correct jumping technique. The distances of the individual jump segments is one means of obtaining information concerning the quality of the jump. The measurements have been standardized to: hop tip of foot, step tip of foot and jump heel.

Further influencing factors in the triple jump are climatic conditions (wind, air resistance) and the construction of the approach track. Tail wind and low air resistance are beneficial to distance but must also be taken into account in the approach and consequently affect the approach precision.

The track construction can benefit jumping performance. The resistance to deformation of the substrate is an important criterion for a "slow or a "fast" track. The jumper can transfer forces more directly to the ground and thus produce forward propulsion if the substrate is harder. The ground is described through the thickness of the artificial surface, the substrate material (asphalt or concrete) and the density thereof. Fast but hard tracks have the disadvantage that the musculo-skeletal system is heavily loaded which often leads to overload injuries.