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Visual guidance during competition performance and run-through training in long jumping.
Elizabeth J Bradshaw1, Brad Aisbett
1School of Exercise Science, Australian Catholic University, Fitzroy, Victoria.
Sports Biomechanics
|March 9, 2006
Summary
Long jumpers who use more visual guidance during their run-up jump farther. Run-through training, a common practice, uses less visual guidance than actual long jumps.
Area of Science:
- Sports Science
- Biomechanics
- Motor Control
Background:
- Long jumpers visually regulate their stride for precise take-off.
- The relationship between visual guidance and jump distance is not quantified.
- The effectiveness of run-throughs for simulating long jump approach is unverified.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the relationship between visual guidance and long jump distance.
- To compare visual regulation during run-throughs versus competition long jumps.
Main Methods:
- Six elite long jumpers and heptathletes performed run-throughs and competition jumps.
- A 50 Hz video camera recorded trials for gait analysis.
- Linear regression analyzed the correlation between visual regulation and jump distance.
Main Results:
- A longer visual regulation phase (time, distance, strides) predicted longer jump distances.
- The number of visually regulated strides positively correlated with jump distance (r = 0.67, p = 0.001).
- Run-throughs involved significantly less visual regulation (less than half) than competition jumps (p = 0.001).
Conclusions:
- Increased visual regulation during the long jump approach is crucial for maximizing jump distance.
- Run-through training alone is insufficient for developing optimal visual guidance strategies.
- Coaches should incorporate more visual guidance exercises into training to enhance long jump performance.