featuring demonstrations by Jesse Williams, 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials High Jump Champ (7'7"); and Allen Simms, 6th place at the '08 Olympic Trials in the Triple Jump

Coach Pullins shares his successful teaching tactics and tips in this DVD on coaching the horizontal jumps. Approach runs are a must for all jumpers and will allow the athlete to have jumping success. Pullins believes 16 to 20 steps is the aim early in the season for approach runs. He teaches to drive out on the first four steps to build speed on the approach. To develop a good approach, Pullins demonstrates a "push, pull, plant" technique that incorporates hurdles on the jump runway. First and second phase run off, standing landing drill, box step, small hop & big step, standing 4-step and the first & second phase long jump are all good drills for pre-season workouts. Each drill is slightly different and has a special skill focus. Advanced drills for experienced jumpers include single leg projection hops, step drill, straight line paw repeat, paw read push drill, alternating step, single leg hop and the strong/weak drills. Rhythm is crucial to the jump events and improvement comes from the rhythm run off drill. The walking extension drill uses hurdles and enhances flexibility, posture and a straight line push. As a bonus, Pullins demonstrates 22 additional drills using med balls, resistance bands, jump pads, boxes and hurdles to create the desired effect. The emphasis is on addressing conditioning, flexibility and proper posturing.

69 minutes. 2007.

Coach Nobles utilizes two former All-American athletes to demonstrate the finer points of the long jump. Nobles states that the long jump must be seen as a sprint event, and sprinting is a major part of an athlete's success. Thrust/weight ratio is another major part of the engineering of long jumpers. This means the athlete has a strong upper body with little excess weight. Distance is determined by velocity, angle and center of gravity at take off. Nobles points out the inverse relationship between velocity and angle as it pertains to the long jump. Topics such as starting point, depth perception, rhythm and the run are main parts of Nobles teaching. At the board, the importance of angle becomes second to velocity. The goal is to increase angle without slowing down. The hitch kick is a three-phase process for advanced jumpers. The heel and knee, switch and jump/switch/close feet are the three parts of this crucial long jumping skill. Nobles finishes in the weight room demonstrating the key lifts for long jump athletes. The warm-up and stretching activities are stressed by Nobles are essential parts of the entire long jump routine for success.

57 minutes. 2007.

Coach Derks begins with thoughts on assessing horizontal jump talent including physical attributes as well as intelligence, desire, composure and work ethic. Derks believes that this is a 'blue collar' event that takes tremendous skill and mental toughness. He provides a physical assessment test that includes standing triple and long jump, vertical jump, 3-step vertical and flying 30's. His long jump mechanics include an emphasis on speed, which is the most important attribute in this event. The main objective in the long jump is to convert horizontal velocity to vertical height at takeoff. Sprint mechanics (the secret to gaining maximum horizontal velocity), good arm action, posture and full extension into the pit are all taught by Derks. The hop, step and jump phases are well covered also. A key for all successful jumpers is a proper training program. Also included are over 60 drills and exercises to incorporate into your training regimen in several areas, including; general team warm-up, approach, bounding, plyometrics, Olympic lifts, core exercises, hurdle mobility, sand pit exercises, hill work and med ball routine.

75 minutes. 2007.

Speed and power are key elements of any successful jump. In this video, Coach Schexnayder explains how these elements work to add distance to the horizontal jumps, and gives you several drills to help develop them in your athletes. These exercises focus on every aspect of the body, covering plyometrics, weight training, hurdle drills, med ball exercises, resistance training and a jump series designed to develop explosive strength in your jumpers. This video will help you add the dynamic speed and power necessary for your athletes to jump farther!

42 minutes. 2006.

After a basic overview of how to identify the best long jumpers for your team, Freeman offers a sequential in-depth technical breakdown of the long jump: Approach, Penultimate Stride Mechanics, Take off Mechanics, In-air Mechanics and the Landing. Freeman offers ideas for correcting technique errors and how to spot faults that the long jumper may be experiencing. In the next segment, Freeman details the training essentials for the long jumper and offers detailed routines for training each of these essentials; complete with exercises, suggested repetitions, appropriate drills, intervals and frequency. Freeman shares a detailed 12-15 Week "Macrocycle" (Seasonal training plan), breaking the season into 4 to 5 week training segments - each with a primary focus. He then offers a daily training plan and shows how to plug in the routines into each day of the week, complete with specific examples and a minute-by-minute workout-planning model. Enhancing this presentation is a film analysis of meet footage for the long jump!

76 minutes. 2006.