LOMPAT TINGGI

High jumpers generally employ a 10-step approach five steps in a straight line and five steps
along an arc that curves toward the bar. Generally, right-handed jumpers begin by standing
about ten strides back from the right standard, plus five strides to the right. The athlete will set
a checkmark at his/her starting point and make a second mark about five strides forward, at the
transition point from straight to curved approach. The marks, as well as the number of strides
in the approach, can be adjusted if necessary, but once you have your marks on the track its
important to always hit them precisely.

Replace the bar:
The first step in developing high jumpers is to make them comfortable landing on their backs.
The worst thing you can do, particularly with a young person whos come to you with a desire
to learn to high jump, is to turn him/her off to the sport with a rough beginning. Therefore, you
dont use a bar to train beginning jumpers. You dont want would-be high jumpers to knock the
bar over, land on it a couple times, then tell themselves they should find another sport where
you dont end up with a metal bar poking you in the back.
When you try these or other drills with new high jumpers, put a rope (a cord or a string will also
work) between the uprights. Put some type of weight on the rope, like a bag or sock full of
sand, to keep it in place. It doesnt have to be perfectly taut to do these beginning drills. And
when jumpers knock the rope out of place, it wont hurt if they land on it.
Drill - Back flips:
To start getting your jumpers comfortable with landing in the pit, have them stand with their
heels against the front of the pit, with the bar (rope, cord, etc.) low, and have them jump
over the rope and land on their backs. At this point, dont worry about getting their feet up in
the air.
When the jumpers are comfortable landing in the pit on their backs, tell them to repeat the
drill, but this time make sure they can see their hands and feet when theyre in the air. This will
begin teaching them to clear the bar in a correct position.
Drill - Scissors kick:
To continue getting your young athletes comfortable with high jumping, have them simply take
a step or two and scissor-kick over the bar, landing on their back. Make sure they push off with
the outside leg, and raise the inside leg, closest to the bar. Begin the drill without any type of
bar, then add your rope or cord. The jumpers can try this drill from both sides, to begin getting
a feel for which side theyre comfortable with.
When theyre comfortable with this drill, repeat it, but have the coach stand a few steps in
front of an upright, at a 45-degree angle to the center of the bar. As the jumpers clear, have
them turn their feet to point at the coach. Next, the coach will move in front of the bar - but
out of the jumpers paths, of course. The jumpers will again turn their feet toward the coach
while in flight. This teaches your jumpers how to turn in the air.
Determining the takeoff leg:
Beginning jumpers must determine which leg they with take off with. There are several ways to
figure this out. In the high jump, kids can simply try both sides and decide which is more
comfortable. Alternatively, you can put a ball on the ground have them kick it. Whichever foot
they kick the ball with is their inside foot for the high jump. Another method is to have them
stand up straight and tell them to fall forward as far as they can. One foot will naturally shoot
forward to break their fall. That is the inside leg. The other is the takeoff foot.
If the jumpers right foot is the inside foot, hell begin his approach from the right side, and vice
versa.
Setting up the approach run:
To set up the approach run - for a jumper starting from the right - have the jumper stand at the
side of the pit, with the standard at his/her back. The jumper walks five paces forward, then
turns around to be sure he/she is parallel to both standards (they should be lined up, from the
jumpers point of view). The jumper then turns 90 degrees, so his/her shoulders line up with
the standards, and runs forward 10 steps, with the coach marking the position of the fifth and
tenth steps. Try this at least three times to be certain the marks are consistent, then measure
the final marks for the fifth and tenth steps.
The tenth step is the jumpers takeoff point. The fifth step is where he/she will begin turning
toward the bar.



A high jump approach follows a basic J-style turn, that uses centrifugal force to get around the
turn and get up and over the bar. Most high school athletes either run an 8-, 10- or 12-step
approach. Many beginning girls run eight steps, advanced girls run 10, boys run 10 or 12.
During the approach, jumpers should have long, boundy, active arms. When the gazelles run on
the National Geographic Channel, you know how they look? That is how your athletes should
look. Long, boundy, active arms. Shoulders back, hips up, up on their toes and bouncy, natural
running.
Determining the takeoff foot
Most of our jumpers jump off their left foot. Left and right handedness has nothing to do with
the takeoff foot. I have a good trick for testing kids in the beginning. Because you get a kid who
comes out, and you ask, What foot do you jump off of? Well, I hurdle off of this foot, but I
long jump off of this foot So, I dont tell them what were doing, I say, Close your eyes. They
close their eyes, then I have them fall forward. Every athletes going to catch themselves on a
particular foot, theyre not going to fall on their face. They catch themselves on a foot, and
thats the foot, neuromuscularly, your brain wants to go with. So that is the stronger of the
feet.
Importance of the approach
The approach is by far the most important part of the jump. The approach has got to be
perfect. Your athletes have got to run hundreds and hundreds of approaches during the season.
They dont want to do that. They dont want to run approaches. All they want to do is jump on
that pit. Constantly. So your trick as a coach is to teach them that youve got to run this perfect
approach. Youve got to tell them, whether its 80 degrees outside and beautiful, or if its
snowing and its 20 below, your approach should always be the exact same. Youre going to
have to modify it and change it a little bit, but you as an athlete should always feel confident.
Probably the number one thing your athletes come to you and say when theyre having
problems in a meet is, My approach is wrong. And you say, Did you measure it? So youve got
to teach these kids how to get a perfect approach. Because if they have the confidence in their
approach, they have confidence throughout the jump, throughout the whole thing. Remember,
high jump is a total mental event. How many people can jump 5-10 but they cant jump 6 feet?
Or 4-10 and cant jump 5? It is a total mental event. Its an event where, if athletes have
confidence in what theyre doing, theyre unstoppable. If they feel like they cant do it, its not
going to happen. High jump and pole vault are the only events in the whole world, of any sport,
that always end in defeat. If I break the world record today, Im supposed to keep going. It only
ends when I miss. If I jump 8 feet, somebodys expecting me to jump 8-1, for sure. So youve got
to instill confidence in these kids. And teaching them to run a good, solid approach, is one of
the main things you look for.
Common approach problems
The biggest problems in the high jump always occur during the approach, on the ground. They
never really occur up in the air, unless youre totally sitting over the bar. Once you leave the
ground your flight path is set. You can move yourself very little in the air. So usually, when
athletes make mistakes over the bar I dont look at what they did there, I look at what they did
during the approach.
The three biggest mistakes athletes make on this approach happen in what I call the transition
point. Im running, Im developing speed, Im coming out strong. Step four (in a 10-step
approach) is good, strong running. And then its time to start our curve. Steps five, six and
seven is where approach problems happen.
Problem number one, the majority we see: Most boy high jumpers have played basketball,
theyve played football wide receiver, running back theyre in a speed type position. Their
whole lives everyones been taught to run post patterns, flag patterns; they run down and they
cut. The biggest problem we see in the high jump is that transition step, especially the boys,
between steps five and six. They cut off the whole turn and run a direct, straight line at the pit.
Second biggest problem: The athletes get ready to start their approach and theyre going
through all of their stuff, whatever they do and whatever they do is fine, as long as they do
the same thing all the time then they start looking at the bar. So instead of running the first
five steps absolutely straight, they start to cut in, and eventually they takeoff at the middle of
the bar, which carries them over a higher point on the bar. Remember, the middle of the bar is
about an inch, inch and a half lower than the ends. Also, if you run straight, then you dont have
a turn to establish rotation in the air, and you cant get up and over the bar. Its a flat jump in
the air.
Third problem: Athletes, once again, are ready to start their approach and they start running
and they feel tight. So they swing all the way out to the right (or the left if they approach from
the left) and they come in, again, in a straight line. So now theres no turn at all. Theres no turn
to set up the rotation, so its a long jump-style jump.
Eyeline during the approach
My first five steps in a 10-step approach, I look straight ahead. And I count, one, two, three,
four, five. When I get to my transition point I now pick up the top of the far standard. Do I look
at the bar? No. I look at the top of the far standard. Im cutting in, Im in good body position
and as I get ready to takeoff and Im leaning back away from the bar, I raise my eyes and look at
the top of my head (rather than the bar), as hard as I can, as I drive up. This bar, as Im getting
ready to jump, is like a huge magnet. If I drop the front shoulder, everything goes. If I drop my
head, everything goes. I have to stay back away from this bar as long as I possibly can. So my
visualization points are, straight ahead for the first five steps or if youre running eight steps,
the first four and then the top of the far part of the standard.
The objective in the high jump is to bring all of this speed, and bring it down into these last few
steps. Our speed wants to really accelerate from here, we want to tell the athletes to
accelerate, but we dont want to use the words run faster. Because when you tell an athlete to
run faster they drop their shoulders. The key to the high jump is to learn to accelerate and go
through this turn, but keep everything back away from the bar as long as possible