Changes in long jump take-off technique with increasingrun-up speed

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of run-up speed on take-off technique in the long jump. Seventy-one jumps by an elite male long jumper were recorded in the sagittal plane by a high-speed video camera. A wide range of run-up speeds was obtained using direct intervention to set the length of the athlete's run-up. As the athlete's run-up speed increased, the jump distance and take-off speed increased, the leg angle at touchdown remained almost unchanged, and the take-off angle and take-off duration steadily decreased. The predictions of two previously published mathematical models of the long jump take-off are in reasonable agreement with the experimental data.

Keywords:

• Athletics
• take-off angle
• long jump
• sports biomechanics

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the New South Wales Institute of Sport. Thanks to Keith Connor for arranging the participation of the athlete, and to Margy Galloway for assistance with the filming and biomechanical analysis. Thanks also to Jim Hay for supplying the data from his cross-sectional study of long jumpers.