Introduction

Long jump is a technical sport that have remained unchanged over the years. There are four
distinct phases in long jump: the approach, take-off, flight and the landing (Jaitner, Mendoza &
Schöllhorn, 2001). The basic premise behind a long jump consist of the athlete sprinting down
the lane and jumping off a platform to score points on the distance they achieve. The objective of
every long jump athlete is to reach the greatest jump distance. To produce the greatest jump
distance, the athlete must therefore incorporate the horizontal velocity produced in the approach
phase into impulse during the take-off phase (Jaitner et al., 2001; Linthorne, 2008; Muraki, Ae,
Koyama & Yokozawa, 2008). The take-off is especially crucial as it determines the athlete’s
flight trajectory and the posture for landing (Linthorne, Guzman & Bridgett, 2005).

The biomechanical principles that encompasses the athlete during the take-off is: the generation
of vertical impulse through their center of gravity (COG) to produce lift and the optimal
generation of force with note of the ground reaction force (GRF) to produce the greatest
acceleration and distance (Graham-Smith & Lees, 2005; Muraki et al., 2008). The critical
features of the take-off include the stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) which occurs due to the
eccentric and concentric contractions of the hip, knee and ankle joints (Malisoux, Francoux,
Nielens & Thiesen, 2005). With the usage of the extensor muscles, the placement of the take-
off foot, the posture of the torso and the position of the opposite arm and free leg on take-off
is critical in increasing the jump distance (Linthorne, 2008).

Critical features and principles of the take-off phase

In the take-off phase, the athlete must generate vertical impulse for lift (Linthorne et al., 2005).
This is achieved with the elastic energy stored in the extensor muscles of the take-off leg when
the hip, knee and the ankle joints flex which activates a SSC. However, it is at the moment of full
extension in the order of the hip, knee and ankle joint which quickly releases the energy for
vertical impulse (Graham-Smith & Lees, 2005; Malisoux et al., 2005). It is crucial to understand
that while 45° is thought to be the optimum knee angle for a greater take-off velocity, that is on
the basis that the horizontal and vertical velocities of the COG are similar (Linthorne, 2008;
Linthorne et al., 2005). However due to the run-up during the approach, the horizontal velocity is
typically higher than the produced vertical velocity, hence the necessary knee joint angle needed
for a greater take-off velocity is smaller. This is consistent with professional long jumping
athletes that recorded their take-off knee angles at 21° (Linthorne, 2008; Linthorne et al., 2005).

On the biomechanical principle of force, the athlete must aim for the greatest acceleration and
distance. This is achieved with the usage of all functioning joints. Critical features such as the
extension of the torso with the free leg and opposite arm aimed high and forward increases the
overall force produced by the athlete (Ashby and Delp, 2006; Linthorne, 2008; Muraki et al.,
2008). Due to the foot-to-ground contact during take-off, a GRF is similarly generated which
establishes a braking force before a forward propulsion. This ultimately reduces the horizontal
velocity and the vertical impulse (Linthorne, 2008; Seyfarth, Blickhan & Van Leeuwen, 2000) A
pawing movement of the take-off leg will assists in minimizing the reduction in horizontal velocity
produced by the GRF, thus ensuring maximum velocity of the athlete’s COG (Jaitner et al., 2001).

Pre-season program periodization

A good pre-season training program aims to condition the athlete to progress in applying the
critical features of the skill while minimizing the risk of injury and maximizing the athlete’s
performance for competition. The plyometrics training program involves vertical and horizontal
depth jumping starting at 20cm depth height. The design of the program increases the depth
height by 5cm each week for 2 weeks and decreasing it by 5cm in the week after. This training
program spans for 10 weeks to a maximum depth height of 40cm. By training 2 times a week
with 6 sets and 10 repetitions per session, the program has a high volume with a moderate to low
intensity design each session in the first 2 weeks of conditioning (Singh & Singh, 2012). This
method of periodization by conditioning the athlete with low intensity and high volume to high
intensity in the final weeks ultimately maximizes muscle recruitment. This enables the athlete to
optimize the usage of all muscles for a greater jump distance (Singh & Singh, 2012). The
increasing training intensity after the 2nd week works to improve anaerobic fast twitch extensor
muscle while simulating the horizontal velocity with the activation of the SSC which assists in
training the technique of impulse generation (Malisoux et al, 2005; Singh & Singh, 2012). Both
the principles and the anaerobic ability can be measured with the increase in take-off velocity
and the distance jumped. In the tenth week, the depth height returns to 35cm for recovery. The
program also consists of 15 second active rest between repetitions and a 1.5 – 2-minute slow jog
for recovery between sets which aims to minimize the risk of injury (Singh & Singh, 2012).
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