If you haven’t read Chris Korfist’s articles on ankle rocker and vertical jump, then you are really missing out.
How to Gain 5 Inches of Vertical Jump in 3 Weeks
How to Improve Ankle Rocker Range of Motion
When someone has been around the information available to coaches long enough, they can easily see that Chris Korfist thinks outside the box, breaks holy grails, has a great system, and has the year after year success to back it all up. Chris has been on fire since his return to writing and sprint and performance coaches are all benefitting from it. I am excited to bring to you this second interview with Chris regarding his recent work on ankle rocker and its’ relationship to speed and vertical jump ability.
Just Fly Sports: There has been plenty of speculation as to why athletes with externally rotated feet seem to be so fast, things such as getting to the big toe faster, or better glute activation, or a combination of the two. I notice lots of the very good jumpers in your videos have this foot configuration. What are your thoughts on why this condition is present in explosive athletes? Can an athlete have this and still have a good ankle rocker at all?
One of Chris’s athletes with an outstanding vertical. Note the externally rotated feet.
Chris Korfist: I think it does allow athletes to get to more glute. I think you can find some that have feet out and don’t run or jump so well. It gets down to what is a competent chain. Meaning, if you have two athletes that are running with their foot turned out, one may have a leg where everything is rigid and one where there is a give somewhere in the chain. The rigid athlete with have contact and take off and nothing moves or gives in the leg. The less rigid athlete may have a collapse in the foot or a twist in the ankle. The one who is more rigid will be more explosive because there is not a leak in the chain.
I think some of these athletes are turned out because they don’t have good rocker and have found a successful compensation pattern to move down the track. I have had two really successful sprinters who had the scenario that I referenced above. Both were turned out and very powerful. One jumped 40 and one jumped 37. The 37” was much stronger in lifts than the 40”. And the 37” was faster than the forty. But the 37 never finished his career from a hamstring pull from what we figured was a spin in his right ankle which probably tugged at his hamstring until it gave out. The 40” had a rigid system and never had an injury problem. So, my point is that athletes have different styles of running. If they have a competent, rigid structure, they can be successful. Is it optimal? Not always. With the 40” athlete, the more ankle rocker we gave him, the faster he went.
Just Fly Sports: Would you actively try to correct the externally rotated feet position for the sake of injury prevention, or performance enhancement? Do you notice more injuries in this athletic population? (A quick story: A few years ago, I worked with a 26′ long jumper/53’ TJ who could barely break 11s in the 100m, and his ankles were stiff as a board…. no dorsi-flexion, super externally rotated feet and injury prone. He was also one of the strongest, freakiest athletes I knew.)
Chris: Again, I want to see if the leg is competent and rigid. I see more injuries to right hamstrings to athletes who have their feet turned out. When the sprinters make their left hand turn around the curve, the rotated foot with the leg extension outs a huge strain on that hamstring. If their torso is not rotated into the curve and the foot is turned out, the hamstring will go. It is a long stretch for that muscle chain. Your athlete may have had a ton of power but couldn’t transfer it to the track because his ankles couldn’t take the pounding so the neural system shut power down by creating a compensation pattern.
Just Fly Sports: What are your thoughts on ankle plantar-flexion mobility, and how far the athlete is able to extend their feet into plantar-flexion at the finish of the jump?
Chris: I think it plays a role. I have had athletes who don’t have any plantar flexion and it really hampers their jump. At the same time, I think a really explosive athlete has moved his center of mass too quickly to allow the plantar flexion to make a huge difference. I guess it is dependent on the athlete. Someone who doesn’t move as quickly may get more out of the flexion.
Just Fly Sports: Many coaches say that vertical jumping is more of a quadriceps oriented activity, while sprinting is more glutes and hamstrings. What is your take on the muscle contribution and engagement in these two activities?
Chris: I think they all work together. Hamstrings pull the body down to create the energy to push the body up. If the hamstrings are active in pulling down, it relaxes the quads so they can contract faster and become more explosive. The quads do extend the thigh and that is an important part of the jump but I am sure we have all seen someone who can squat a lot of weight but can’t jump, it is usually a case of the body not synchronized properly. There is a timing and alignment aspect of a vertical jump.
Just Fly Sports: How important is a proper ankle rocker for sprint ability vs. jump ability? Do athletes who are better at jumping vs. sprinting (such as track and field jumpers) favor more of a heavy toe-rocker in your experience?
Chris: I think it gets down to how effective is an athlete to get his center of mass over his plant leg with minimal lateral movement. An externally rotated athlete can roll through the foot without his hips swaying to the side, he will go fast. The most efficient way to move, whether run or jump is for the ankle to rock through its full range of motion through the forefoot rocker while balanced on a stable tripod of the foot.
Just Fly Sports: You say you do ankle rocker exercises in every track practice. Are there any “general” foot strength exercises that you find useful, or is it all specific biomechanical work?
Chris: We do a series of jumps that I mention in my freelapusa.com article. We start with just an ankle jump. Athlete has hands on hips and bends at the ankle and jumps. The next set we will add some hip and allow the hip to bend slightly. Both of these exercises will go down and hold for a 2 count and explode up. On the third set the athlete will do a counter-movement jump. They will go down as fast as possible and reverse the movement and jump.
Rocker ankle jumps with no torso bend
To add an exercise to that, have the athlete pull the toes off the floor and go through the movements. I use this for athletes who have flat feet. Some athletes may look like they have an arch but watch what happens to the foot when they jump. If the arch drops, it is not a competent foot and they need to lose the toes to strengthen the arch of the foot. (Joel’s note: This is the same mechanism/concept as the “short foot” exercise, often used in therapy and rehab settings) To add to that concept, try a single leg squat with toes off the ground is a great foot exercise.
Chris Korfist has been coaching track for 22 years in Illinois. He has coached at Hinsdale Central, Downers Grove North and York HS, producing 59 All-state track athletes, 3 individual state champions, 2 team state champions, 3 second place team finishes, and 2 3rd place finishes. He owns the Slow Guy Speed School which is a gym that focuses on running and athletic development from which other All-state athletes have trained. He used to run the Inno-sport website and wannagetfast.com with Dan Fichter. He also had the opportunity to work occasionally with some Olympic sprinters and other professional athletes.
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