Jumping and sprinting are two qualities that any team sport athlete would like to be proficient in. They typically go hand in hand….athletes that can jump high can also run fast. Look at any NFL combine and you will see the blazing 40yd times that accompany 40″+ standing vertical jumps. Running fast and jumping high are two activities that both require a good deal of explosive power. There are times, however, we will see an athlete who might have a great standing vertical, but is slow as dirt when it comes to the 100m dash. On the other hand, there are athletes who might have blazing speed, but just can’t get off the ground. This area of thinking has always been interesting to me, as I am an athlete who has been able to jump very high, but my speed through the years has been lacking. Fortunately, I have realized, and combated many of the things that have made me slow… the things that I can change at least.
I was never a speed demon when I was in high school or middle school. I got completely dusted in the 200m dash when I ran it in 7th grade, I don’t even want to know what my time was. On the other hand, I could jump pretty well, especially off of one leg… the way that I always practiced it. I could even touch the rim in 7th grade at the measly height of 5’7″. I was pretty obsessed about jumping back then, and practiced jumping on a regular basis. I realized though, that as far as power goes, my speed was never quite up to par. Over the years, I have discovered what some aspects are that can allow for big verticals, and yet “snails” on the track. Well first off, I’ll make a list of the most important things that go into having a big vertical jump.
- Explosive power
- High strength to bodyweight ratio
- Specific coordination of jumping
And…. that’s about it. It really isn’t all that complicated… be strong in relation to your bodyweight, and practice the jumping movement until you have mastered the skill and are coordinated at it. It helps to have good genetics regarding explosive power as well, but this can be developed through things like plyometrics and the like.
OK, now let’s talk about what goes into speed potential.
- Fast twitch muscle ratio (you can jump high without a lot of FT fibers, but running fast will be a different story due to the short contacts required in high speed sprinting)
- Long legs in relation to your body length (also helpful in jumping, but more important in sprinting)
- Mobility (knots, tightness, and imbalances will hurt you more in sprinting than jumping)
- Sprint coordination (this also happens to be more complex than jump coordination)
- Hip dominant movements (being quad dominant can help you jump high, but you won’t be fast)
- Explosive power specifically in glutes and hamstrings
- High strength to bodyweight ratio
So there you have it, reasons that you may be a good jumper but a poor sprinter. I feel that when it comes down to it, most peoples issues are the first two reasons I mentioned (FT ratio and long legs), which are unfortunately, ones that are genetic and cannot be changed. I know they are a big problem for me personally; I don’t have very long legs, and my ground contact times in jumping are fairly high, indicating that my body operates slightly more on the slow twitch side of things. I am also a pretty good distance runner… not to mention neither of my parents are explosive athletes… so I conclude that I am not of the blessed fast twitch camp. Despite all this, I managed to jump 2.14m in high jump, yet I could never beat 4.12s in the electronic 30m when I was in college. I tested my 10m fly in graduate school, and found it to be only 1.06 seconds. For the sake of speed, I wish I knew back then what I know now!
Fortunately for those of us who don’t have blazing speed, the final 5 reasons can be changed/fixed, and some of them to a big degree. Mobility can be improved through hurdle drills, coordination through sprint drills, hip dominant movements through strength exercises such as hip thrusts, explosive power through plyometrics, and strength to bodyweight ratio through the myriad of lifts that are available to athletes.
It is my goal to do some more writing on speed in the near future, and IÂ hope that this particular blog will give you some thoughts on what might be holding you back in your own speed based endeavors.
Until next time!
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