Sunday 19 June 2016

INTRODUCTION
This blog aims to define and discuss the key principles involved in executing an effective long jump. A number of movement patterns will be identified and compared in order to present one single optimal technique. Throughout the process of identifying the movement patterns within long jump, many biomechanical concepts will be presented and discussed in relation to performance outcomes. 

The International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) (n.d.) stated that the goal of a long jumper is to sprint along a runway and jump as far as possible into a sandpit from a take-off board. This distance travelled, from the edge of the board to the closest indentation in the sand to it, is then measured. Linthorne (2008) builds upon this goal, stating this distance is greatly dependant on the horizontal approach speed and the athletes’ ability to control, conserve and dispense this speed over each phase. We have broken down the event of long jump into four main phases: run up, take off, flight and landing. The biomechanical principles specific to these phases will be discussed below. 

MAJOR QUESTION
Run-up
There are various biomechanical principles involved in the initial run-up phase of long jump; it is a sprint requiring optimal speed, which is crucial as it affects the overall performance (Bridgett & Linthorne, 2006; Linthorne, 2008). The athlete obtains optimal biomechanical techniques by starting facing the pit, predominately with one foot in front of the other, leaning forward and crouched down slightly preparing to start a sprint (Linthorne, 2008) (displayed in Figure 1). 


FIG. 1 See Pacey (2010) for full video


This starting position allows the athlete to push off the ground with their back foot, causing them to move forwards with maximal force; this can be contributed to Newton’s Laws of Motion. Newton’s First Law is involved as the athlete remains at rest until a net force larger than zero is applied (Blazevich, 2012), in this case, by the athlete themselves. This force is influenced by inertia, and dependant on the athlete’s mass; the force applied is assisted by having one foot in front of the other, learning forward, and being slightly crouched down, instead of if the athlete was standing upright. This also relates to Newton’s Second Law, as the athlete needs to apply a large force to accelerate and push off the ground (Blazevich, 2012). To maximise velocity, a large force production through the legs and feet is required. The greater the athlete’s mass, or inertia, the greater the force needed to change the state of motion and accelerate in a constant horizontal running velocity (Blazevich, 2012). Therefore, the athlete needs to accelerate from standing still to a high velocity sprint, applying a force to overcome inertia and gravity to successfully move. The athlete will accelerate faster as they apply a larger force to push off the ground. This also creates an equal and opposite reaction according to Newton’s Third Law. This means that as the athlete leans forwards, they push vertically downwards into the ground with a force large enough to overcome inertia, exerting an equal and opposite reaction (ground reaction force), accelerating the athlete forwards when combined with some horizontal force as well (Figure 2) (Blazevich, 2012). These laws are not only relevant in the start position, but continued throughout the whole run-up phase.


FIG. 2

A study by Bridgett and Linthorne (2006) revealed when run-up and take-off speed increases, there is a positive correlation with the distance jumped (shown in Figure 3). However, a later study by Linthorne (2008) noted the athlete should accelerate quickly to achieve near-maximal speed, aiming for 95-99% maximal effort. Research found when athletes ran using 100% maximum effort it reduced foot placement accuracy, which may result in fouled (unsuccessful) jumps. Top-speed should be reached quickly as this improves average running speed resulting in greater performance (Blazevich, 2012). The athlete decides on their run-up distance suited to individual needs to ensure near-maximal speed is reached, generally 35-55 meters averaging in 16-24 strides (Linthorne, 2008). To calculate speed in scalar quantity the change in distance is divided by the change in time of the performance (Blazevich, 2012). The run-up is performed in a straight line classifying it as rectilinear motion where the athlete moves with positive displacement, distance, and acceleration (Blazevich, 2012).

FIG.3

By increasing velocity, it builds momentum which is transferred to other phases facilitating the distance jumped. Therefore, a fast run-up is shown to improve take-off, along with shortening the foot’s contact with the ground assisting generation of vertical impulse (Bridgett & Linthorne, 2006). The impulse-momentum relationship is evident as the athlete needs to apply horizontal forces to accelerate themselves forwards by producing greater impulse through their feet, hitting the ground for the longest time possible, resulting in greater momentum (Blazevich, 2012). Both breaking and propulsive impulses occur; however, as the athlete needs to accelerate forwards, propulsive impulses need to be greater than breaking impulses (this relationship is evident in Figure 4). To achieve near-maximal speed and obtain a shortened foot-ground contact, the athlete needs to lean forwards placing their foot in front of their body and centre of mass (Bridgett & Linthorne, 2006). Professional sprinters’ feet hit the ground 6cm in front of their body, minimising breaking impulse (Blazevich, 2012); however, this may result in short foot-ground contact time. Although, if their feet lands further outside the athletes' centre of mass, a larger breaking impulse results severely affecting performance (Blazevich, 2012; Bridgett & Linthorne, 2006). Therefore, sprinters’ speed is not necessarily determined by the small foot-ground contact time, but instead this short time assists them. The athletes ultimately need to trade-off horizontal breaking impulse for a short foot-ground contact time, which facilitates velocity (Blazevich, 2012).   


FIG.4 

Athletes need to swing their legs rapidly when sprinting to increase speed. During running, the hips are the principle aspect of torque production, and the centre of rotation when swinging the legs (moment of inertia) (Blazevich, 2012). The ‘radius of gyration describes the distribution of the mass relative to the centre of rotation’ (Blazevich, 2012, p. 74) and sprinters often reduce the weight in the calves to increase muscle mass closer to the hips, reducing the moment of inertia, making it easier to move (Blazevich, 2012). Torque is the force required to produce angular velocity required for sprinting. We need this torque, or more simply, power, to overcome inertia of the leg and ensure the athlete continues to move with constant angular velocity (Blazevich, 2012). To increase torque, the legs need to have a fast swing phase also reducing the loss of speed, and decreasing moment of inertia (Blazevich, 2012). The leg also needs to be reasonably extended during the swing phase and when landing on the ground. The recovery phase also needs to occur quickly by flexing the leg up in front/under the body (Figure 5), also aiming to increase angular velocity, while still reducing the moment of inertia (Blazevich, 2012). The quicker the arm swings in a forward motion while being tucked into the body, the more angular momentum it retains (Blazevich, 2012) which reduces the moment of inertia and radius of gyration further. Conservation of momentum is largely due to the arm swings, as the opposite arm and leg swings at the same time (displayed in Figure 5); the arms counteract the legs’ rotational momentum by producing an equal and opposite angular momentum (Blazevich, 2012). The backward swing phase needs to be vigorous to accelerate the body forward and upward as this increases running speed. Whereas, it is extremely important that the recovery arm moves forward slower than the backward/downward arm swing, otherwise it will push the body backwards, resulting in losing speed (Blazevich, 2012). Therefore, force production needs to be controlled, with correct equal and opposite reactions for optimal technique and performance.


FIG. 5
Take-off
Although long jump performance is primarily determined by the athlete's ability to reach a fast horizontal velocity at the end of the run-up, the athlete must also use an appropriate take-off technique to best conserve this momentum. The distance an athlete jumps is largely determined by the flight distance (Hay, 1993) and this is determined by the height, speed, and angle of projection of the centre of mass at take-off. The speed and angle of projection are determined by the combination of horizontal and vertical velocity. The horizontal velocity is developed through the run-up, where the athlete is usually close to maximum speed at the take-off board; whereas, vertical velocity is generated during contact with the board (Lees & Fowler, 1994; Linthorne, 2008). If the athlete is able to generate near maximum speed close to the board, the problem long jumpers face is how to best generate vertical velocity from the board. Adjustments can be made by the athlete when approaching the board to enable vertical velocity to be generated.

The first step to improve a long jumper’s take off technique is to analyse the last two strides taken in the approach phase. The second to last stride before take-off should be longer than the last, where the athlete lowers their body and centre of gravity (shown with the slight dip of the hip in Figure 6). Continuing this, the last stride is shorter while maintaining the lowered centre of gravity. These strides are significant, and need to be near-maximal speed with horizontal velocity which has greater kinetic energy utilised and transferred over to the vertical velocity in the take-off and flight (Blazevich, 2012; Linthorne, 2008). Long jumpers need to place their take-off foot well ahead of their centre of mass at touch down to produce the necessary low position at the start of the take-off (Hay, 1993; Lees & Fowler, 1993; Linthorne, 2008; Jaitner, Mendoza & Schöllhorn, 2001). This is shown in Figure 7 where the centre of mass is represented by the yellow line. The athlete’s take-off leg is the furthest point from the rest of the body. As the athlete extends their leg longer than usual, the centre of mass is not only horizontally changed, but vertically changed as well.


FIG. 6

FIG.7

The lowering of the centre of mass minimises the downward vertical velocity so as to maximize the effect of the vertical impulse and increase the vertical distance over which the centre of mass is worked. The large touchdown distance has been explained as enabling an increase in the time period during which vertical impulse can be generated, increasing the range of movement through which the hip extensor muscles may work, and placing the leg in a position to enable it to be stretched and store elastic energy which recoils upon release.  In this position the body can pivot over the leg to gain vertical velocity.


Unlike the projectile athletic field events of javelin, shot put and discus, the long jump requires an angle of release lower than 45° (Blazevich, 2012, Lees & Fowler, 1993; Linthorne 2008). The notion that the optimum take-off angle is 45° is based on the assumption that the take-off velocity is constant for all moments of the take-off phase. If the athlete were to exhibit a take-off angle closer to 45° we would notice a significant drop in velocity in order to manoeuvre the body segments in a way to allow this. Additionally, a 45° angle of release assumes the vertical and horizontal velocities are the same (Linthorne, 2008), which in the long jump is not possible. Linthorne (2008) found long jumpers can reach significantly higher horizontal velocities (8-10 m/s) compared to vertical velocities (3-4 m/s). Linthorne (2008) found when long jumpers produced near-maximal effort in the run-up phase, the athletes' take-off angles from the board were less than 25 ̊. It was suggested that to produce a jump with a larger take-off angle, athletes would need to slow the run-up so take-off velocity can be reduced. As we discussed above, the greatest determinant to reach distance in the long jump is attaining a high velocity. Therefore, to slow the run up phase simply to increase take-off angle, would not improve performance. Instead, jumping at a lesser angle should see the athlete jump further. We analysed the jumps of three of the world’s top long jumpers with specific focus to the take-off angle, and our findings substantiate those of Linthorne. Our calculations show the long jumpers all leaving the take-off board at angles less than 25°. We suggest coaches and teachers of the long jump make use of technology; whether it be mobile phone video, Ipad or Tablet Applications or specialised video equipment, to help break down the angle of take-off when training athletes. This can help improve the overall distance jumped.  




FIG. 8 Shows the take-off angle of three internationally acclaimed long jumpers: (A) Fabrice Lapiere from Australia jumped a distance of 8.1 at the Beijing 2015 World Championship with a take-off angle of 22.7°, (B) Aleksandr Menkov also competing at Beijing jumped 8.02 with a take-off angle of 20.7° and (C) Dwight Phillips from USA jumped 8.6m at the Helsinki World Championship with an angle of approximately 20.9°.

Another important factor to consider when maximising energy conservation in the take-off phase is the surface material of the board and the shoes worn by the athlete. In the same way that we lose energy when we become fatigued, we lose energy when it gets absorbed into other objects. In other words, a long jumper should try to minimise energy lost when landing on, and pushing off the wooden board. The coefficient of restitution tells us when an object collides with another object or surface, a portion of the energy that the moving object has will be lost and absorbed by the colliding object (Blazevich, 2012). To counteract the energy lost during take-off, long jumpers use shoes specifically designed for their event that have spikes under the ball of the foot and stiff soles (Linthorne, 2008). Stiff soles are biochemically advantageous for long jumpers to help increase the coefficient of restitution as the ground is compact and the shoes are also stiff, the majority of the energy from foot-ground contact will be redistributed back to the athlete to increase distance jumped.

Flight
This phase aims to gain as much time airborne, where the athlete’s body and centre of mass travels the furthest horizontal distance (Bartlett, 2007). There are different flight techniques athletes are shown to generally adopt; there is the sail, hang, and hitch-kick, all shown in Figure 9. The hang technique is when the athlete looks like they ‘hang’ in the air bringing their limbs together almost extending them to slow forward rotation. The sail is where the athlete almost floats through the air in the same position from take-off for as long as possible. Finally, the hitch-kick is where the athlete basically continues to run through the air. All techniques basically end the same, where the athlete moves their body almost to a pike position preparing for landing. These techniques often depend on the run-up and take-off phases (Stefanović, 2015).


FIG.9

It is shown that an increased run-up and take-off speed increases the distance jumped in the flight phase (Bridgett & Linthorne, 2006). The athlete is ultimately a projectile as they propel themselves into the air and end contact with the ground (in free fall), occurring in a curvilinear motion (Bartlett, 2007). The athlete aims to increase their trajectory more so their horizontal distance (range), than their vertical motion to accelerate and jump through the air aiming for the furthest distance (shown in Figure 10). This involves projectile motion where the athlete is affected predominately by gravity, but also air resistance (Blazevich, 2012; Linthorne, 2008). Newton’s First Law is involved, as well as the Law of Gravitation as the athlete moves vertically they are pulled by gravity affecting their state of motion (Bartlett, 2007; Blazevich, 2012). The small amounts of air resistance present can be reduced by bringing all limbs forward in a tuck/pike position to create a streamline effect. However, according to Bartlett (2007) this position is also shown to negatively affect performance by producing more forward rotation of the body, negatively impacting the landing distance. Projectile velocity determines the amount of time in the air and should continue the speed applied in the previous phases, which is why a faster speed is preferable (Blazevich, 2012). Even though flight technique is significant, the run-up and take-off speed ultimately determine the distance. This projection speed also influences the range travelled, multiplying the horizontal velocity by the flight time (Blazevich, 2012). Regardless of air resistance, it is evident that gravity accelerates objects at a rate of 9.81 ms-2 towards the ground (Blazevich, 2012). This means that all objects accelerate the same, so athletes need to try increase their horizontal range and trajectory within the time it takes to reach the ground. The projection angle from take-off also impacts the distance travelled, which is explained earlier in the ‘take-off’ phase.


FIG.10

Once the take-off is performed, the athlete needs to control the forward rotation produced to result in a further distance travelled (Linthorne, 2008). Generally, the amount of angular momentum, along with the available time in the air before landing, determines the flight technique. Often, coaches tell a novice that if they have higher angular momentum then the hitch-kick is preferred, whereas, if they have lower angular momentum, then often the hang technique is generally required (Linthorne, 2008). Whereas, predominately, professional athletes are shown to perform the hang or hitch-kick technique in the flight phase (Linthorne, 2008). Both of these techniques allows the forward rotation to best occur and be controlled, and also enables good landing positions. Angular momentum occurs during flight phase; the hang technique attempts to reduce the forward rotation, but also involves a large moment of inertia as the body is predominately extended for majority of the flight, which reduces forward velocity. Altering limb movement, either closer or further from the centre of mass, changes the athlete's moment of inertia. Whereas, the continuous forward rotation of the arms and legs along with straight posture, in the hitch-kick technique conserves and transfers angular momentum from previous phases and counteracts the forward rotation of the body (Bartlett, 2007). The rotation of the arms and legs produces an equal and opposite backward angular momentum which according to biomechanic principles will propel the athlete forwards.

The last section of the flight prepares the athlete for landing, where they need to extend themselves the furthest possible distance while still in the air to increase the horizontal line distance travelled. This is done by ensuring the legs and arms are out in front of the athlete (almost in a sitting position) while still leaning forward to ensure they fall in front of where their legs touched the ground, to create the furthest distance and not fall backwards which could cost them the competition (Linthorne, 2008; Stefanović, 2015).


Landing

We know the goal of long jump, more specifically, the landing, is to create the furthest distance between the take off line and the closest mark made in the sandpit by the athlete. It was long thought the optimum landing position for a long jump athlete is one with the trunk nearly erect, legs below the horizontal line, and the arms behind the body (Dyson, 1962; Schmolinsky, 1983). Recent developments in biomechanics suggest otherwise. The findings from Mendoza (1989), Hay (1993), and Linthorne (2008) found the optimum landing position is one with the hips fully flexed and the trunk well forward over the legs (Figure 11).


FIG. 11


For the optimal landing technique, we propose the athletes’ heels should make connection with the ground first. As the flight phase ends, the athlete must prepare for landing by lifting their legs up and extending them in front of the torso. As seen in the diagram above (Figure 11), the heels should land just before the body’s projected flight path (as represented by the dotted line). As the feet make contact with the sand, the athlete can then press their heels downwards and contract the hamstrings, which will in turn, cause the hips to rise. This sequential movement pattern allows the conserved forward momentum from the previous three phases, to carry the body past the landing position for the longest possible jump.

 As we discovered in the flight phase, angular momentum of the arms is also crucial to producing torque and velocity of the athlete, resulting in a greater distance jumped. In the landing phase, the ideal technique would see the athlete push their arms outstretched behind the torso. When the feet connect with the sand and the hips rise, the arms naturally follow, helping to push the body’s centre of mass forward, to connect with the sand in the same spot the feet did. Moving the body parts in this manner uses as much of the built up energy as possible which the long jumper has created in the previous three phases. When landing, it is also important to ensure the athlete does not fall backwards into the pit or otherwise create a mark closer to the take-off board.


THE ANSWER
From examining the stages of the long jump and the biomechanical principles involved, there are some clear answers into what an athlete can do to increase their distance jumped. Firstly, to maximise distance, it is important to reach near-maximal speed when performing the run up. As discussed earlier, specific technical cues can be followed to increase leg and arm swing power, which result in a faster run-up. An athlete can improve the speed of their sprint by conditioning their body to increase the mass of muscles at the hips and decrease the mass of their calves. There are also performance principles that underpin the take-off, flight and landing phases of long jump. These include leaving the board at an optimum angle for each individual athlete, providing it is well under 45°, a strong arm swing for momentum and the ability to manipulate one’s centre of mass to further horizontal distance upon landing. Improving on these personal characteristics as well as the technique of the skill itself will produce a more accurate, powerful, and overall effective distance jumped.

Dissimilar to other sports such as basketball or tennis, an optimal technique is a fundamental aspect to executing a successful long jump. Sports such as netball and tennis can have ideal techniques, however with some players, their performance falls outside the “optimal technique”. Long jump however does have a preferred technique that is a combination of a number of factors such as posture, centre of gravity, ground contact time, and manipulating free-swinging limbs.


HOW ELSE CAN WE USE THIS INFORMATION?
The biomechanical principles that have been discussed throughout this blog are not limited to the long jump event and are transferable into countless other sports and activities. Understanding how to execute a skill with the optimal biomechanical technique is a fundamental aspect to ensure peak performance.

In the run-up phase we noted the optimal skill cue is to reach near-maximal velocity through a variety of movement patterns, such as foot-ground contact, angular velocity of limbs and torque. We can use this knowledge in sports where acceleration and velocity are required, typically the faster the athlete, the more successful the performance. Individual sports such as sprinting, hurdles and swimming are great examples where an athlete needs to move as fast as possible to win. Similar, are team tactical sports such as netball, soccer, basketball and AFL where players need to move around the court or field to maximise performance.

Knowing the optimum angle of release is helpful for sports with a jump take off, or releasing projectiles. Being able to maximise the horizontal distance traveled, with reference to the flight trajectory path, is crucial to sports such as discus, javelin and cricket batting. While the execution of these activities is not identical to long jump, the principles of manipulating angles of release are helpful to perform successfully.

Being able to manipulate one’s mass (body) can be helpful to develop strategies when participating in sports where the athlete needs to evade an object or opponent; high jump is a good example of this. The high jumper must try and manoeuvre their body segments when passing over the bar to maximise the height between themselves and the bar. Other sporting examples of centre of mass manipulation include, but are not limited to, gymnastics, diving and basketball.

Overall, the aspects of long jump can be linked quite effectively with triple jump. Similar to long jump, in triple jump the athlete is required to reach high velocity in the run-up, conserve momentum through take-off and flight and land with as much horizontal distance into the sandpit as possible.


REFERENCES
Bartlett, R. (2007). Introduction to sports biomechanics: Analysing human movement patterns (2 ed.). Routledge. London and New York.

Blazevich, A. J. (2012). Sports biomechanics: The basics: Optimising human performance (2e). Bloomsbury. London: A&C Black Publishers.

Bridgett, L. A., & Linthorne, N. P. (2006). Changes in long jump take-off technique with increasing run-up speed. Journal of sports sciences, 24(8), 889-897.

Hay, J. G. (1993). Citius, altius, longius (faster, higher, longer): the biomechanics of jumping for distance. Journal of biomechanics26, 7-21.

International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). (n.d.) Long Jump. Retrieved from  http://www.iaaf.org/disciplines/jumps/long-jump

Jaitner, T., Mendoza, L., & Schöllhorn, W. (2001). Analysis of the long jump technique in the transition from approach to takeoff based on time-continuous kinematic data. European Journal of Sport Science, 1(5), 1-12.

Lees, A., Graham-Smith, P., & Fowler, N. (1994). A biomechanical analysis of the last stride, touchdown, and takeoff characteristics of the men's long jump. Journal of applied Biomechanics10, 61-61.

Linthorne, N. P. (2008). Biomechanics of the long jump. Handbook of biomechanics and human movement science, 340-354.


Pacey, J. (2010). How to improve your long jump technique. YouTube: Teach PE. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v9p5jBN_Hg


Stefanović, R. (2015). Choice of Exercises for Results in a Long Jump Performed with Different Techniques. Activities in Physical Education and Sport. 5(2), 167-170.