How to Determine the Right Supplemental Jump Variation to Compliment Your Speed Training

In speed, we can break down the locomotive movement into 4 segments. 

Strength -  Power - Power/Speed - High Speed/Elastic 

Slow Stretch Shortening = Longer Ground Contact 

Fast Stretch Shortening = Shorter Ground Contact 

Each phase presents different levels of forces that the body experiences. In addition, all locomotive motion will require the transmission of force into the ground with various time constraints (dependent on the task). Therefore, we can use ground contact times as a simple indicator of how unilateral and bilateral power activities might differ in their force-time expression and how they align with different athletic actions like accelerating, sprinting at top speed, changing direction, or decelerating. 

It’s worth mentioning that explosive/elastic activities incorporate a greater influence of the entire musculotendinous unit to help aid in force production. The greater contribution from elastic structures like tendons allows for the body to sustain such high forces. We simply cannot simulate these forces in a weight room, due to the slow nature of resistance training, which directly stresses the muscle more. Thus, it’s important that we incorporate power and plyometric activities to develop the tissue integrity, proprioception, and coordination required to perform rapid, explosive actions competently and safely.

Coaches and practitioners working with athletes need to expose them to a high number of collisions in training to better prepare players for game demands.

A balance must exist between the number of exposures required to improve fitness and the number that elicits negative fatigue responses and increased injury risk.

Players who can produce high average inertial load values can be less susceptible to contact and noncontact soft tissue strains and sprains.

Players with a high level of neuromuscular responsiveness and control can produce high inertial load values through rapid acceleration, deceleration, and change of direction, which may offer protective benefits. 

So, being able to overcome the resistance of inertia with great efficiency seems to have a protective effect for team sport athletes. This information falls in line with how unilateral power training in multiple directions is a necessary training consideration for a complete team sport program. The forces of unilateral plyometric activity appear to be just as high as those of a bilateral countermovement jump, revealing a unique training stimulus that can help prepare the structures of the lower limbs for high impact loading at fast speeds.

Shown in the video, is an example of an exercise we use to help athletes to connect the dots. This is a countermovement depth jump that includes the aforementioned concepts to help athletes prepare for collision. 

Perform 3-4 sets of 3 reps each leg with 45-60 seconds rest in later phases of sprinting development.