The longer I’ve been coaching, the more I’ve realized that the “answer” for better jump or sprint performance often doesn’t lie in a plyometric exercise, a strength exercise, or even a series of these exercises! (Probably not good for the tune of this series, I know).
When it comes down to building athletic ability on the highest level of what one is capable of, and with advanced and elite athletes in particular, it is important to look at versions of the “competitive exercise” that overload a particular portion of the movement, and allow the athlete to “self organize” a movement strategy to cope with this novelty in a way that promotes a better movement skill.
In layman’s terms, putting an athlete in a slightly different position and direction will cause a movement overload. For today’s case, jumping, we are overloading the length of the third to last step of the jump, the attack angle relative to the ground, and also the rhythmical aspects of the movement.
Improving coordination could be labeled the primary adaptation here, but, I suppose we can also say that it does make one “stronger” for the needs of their sport movement, in this case, jumping.
I will say that the exercise I am about to describe does actually make an athlete stronger, since the magnitude and direction of the plant is overloaded subtly.
So, with that being said, Plyometric of the Week #9 is “High Magnitude Approach Jumps”, specifically the standing long jump to vertical jump, and standing triple jump to vertical jump.
A two legged jump, in it’s simplest parts, is a long stride (or “jump) into an asymmetrical plant (one leg is the stiff leg, and one leg is the power leg).
Since all movement is variable… you could perform a double leg jump thousands of times and it would never be exactly the same (you would lead into the jump differently, the length of the third to last step would be different, you would stagger your legs to reverse the movement vertically different, etc.).
With this in mind, I find it both useful for the sake of building a better motor pattern (or feeding a different “schema” into the mix, although this theory seems to be outdated), to take this variable plant idea to its max, and throw in some “track and field”, or “combine” based movements into the jump itself. I showed a standing triple jump to plant above (this could also be done taking off one leg), and below, I’ll show you someone far more athletic than myself doing a standing broad jump to vertical jump (with some extra flair).
Finally, realize that in any jump, the rhythm of the approach (and subsequently the takeoff) is a huge and under-rated component of the movement. Athletes have found PR’s time and time again by simply adjusting the rhythm of their approach vector, or finding a way to achieve more momentum in the run up phase of say, a horizontal jump. Dan Pfaff’s teachings have been hugely influential in this regard of rhythm, and ever since I heard him talk about its importance, it is a new level of awareness I continually find myself observing, and looking to train, in athletes.
If you enjoy this series, and want to see how to put these exercises together in context of a complete program, check out our books and training groups, particularly “Vertical Ignition” and “Legendary Athleticism”. Be a part of the revolutionary training systems that are getting dozens of athletes to lifetime bests in speed, jumping and explosive power!
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