Does anyone think that there would be any sub 10sec sprinters who could not jump as far as 3 meters in the standing long jump? Also, does a person’s height, or leg length have any impact on standing long jump ability? So, would someone with longer legs be able to jump further in the standing long jump than another athlete of the same height, but with shorter legs?
I believe that a standing long is a good test for sprinters.
For myself, everytime I did a personal best I ran a pb.
While one cannot compare standing long jumps with other athletes to indicate performance, given that top sprinters have many exceptional physical, mental and skill attributes, there is no question that an improving standing long jump is an excellent indication of progress in terms of power development.
However, I do not train for it. Rather, I train with weights and occasionally test my standing long to measure improvement. If my lifting weights per bodyweight is up i am always confident that this will be reflected by an improving standing long jump along with faster times on the track.
Well it’s safe to assume that the taller you are, the greater your body reach in the SLJ
Well jumpers rely more on elastic energy rather than outright explosive strength that throwers train for. Body becomes it’s function as they say 
Richard,
Sometimes setting up a perfect 100m is very hard to do with weather… If I only used 100m times many olympic athletes that I worked with would be a poor choice since many of them get hurt from previous coaches and may be in chronic fatigue. A flying 20m and 60m dash can be accurate measurements.
As for any tests, they can be used to compare the athlete to themselves from year to year or progress within the annual plan. Perhaps they are windows of specific qualities such as elasticity, power, strenth, max speed…etc.
This is only my opinion but I think that taller people have an advantage in the SLJ. We’ve heard about the throwers who could jump 3.5 metres and upwards, but when Jonathan Edwards did a test on uk t.v he only did 2.97 and was beaten by someone else (although it was in December and don’t know what condition he was in).
I witnessed Justin Gatlin SLJ around 3m30, and I remember seeing Jason Gardener do 3m10 lonh before he became senior world class :o
what can the SLJ tell you. Does a mark around 11’ tell you that you can be a good sprinter. I’m sure there a guys that can’t jump well. This does measure power. I believe that strong upper body can help in the SLJ almost as much as legs. Any thouhgt? Clemson, Charlie, Tom??
uthur,
if i am correct Gatlin was also a state level long jumper in high school. So assuming he trainined for the long jump he may have an advantage to those sprinters who do not train for the long jump. I think gatlin jumped somewhere in the 24 foot range. And also him being a hurdler may give him an advantage. any thoughts?
Standing LJ is not an important indicator for sprint performances. Actually, there’s no corelation between St LJ and 100m times!
I think any sub10 sprinter can jump +3m, but jumping 3m won’t make you a sub10 sprinter.
St LJ test shall be part of complete tests program in order to have a global idea of the athlete’s strength level.
The bets athletes at this test are usually shot putter, discus throwers, decathletes, then hurdlers and long jumpers, then Triple Jumpers (Jonathan Edwards did 3.14 in May 1995), then high jumpers (some 2.35 jumpers can’t St jump over 3m…).
For sprinters, it varies so much than it’s nearly impossible to make stats, the other reason is that the majority never try it!
I agree that the test will not tell you who can be a sub 10 sprinter, but I feel that it may be usefull.
Actually there is at least some research that suggests that there is a correlation between running speed and SLJ. (r= -.50 ,- .83) ( Baker and Nance 1999; Manou et al. 2000). However, this does not necessarily mean 100m.The correlation is better at less than 30m. Another important issue is that correlation doesn’t mean the same as causality. I think that most coaches will agree that if all other factors remain the same, that increasing SLJ will mean better 100m times. Why? The athlete can produce better peak ground forces as evidenced by their ability to propel their mass further through space. Spartacus is right on.
Originally posted by spin65
I think that most coaches will agree that if all other factors remain the same, that increasing SLJ will mean better 100m times. Why? The athlete can produce better peak ground forces as evidenced by their ability to propel their mass further through space. Spartacus is right on.
Then, a better test would be Standing Triple Jump, or 5 or 10 jumps, or bounding over 30m.
I agree st LJ is better as an indicator for first 30m from starting blocks. 100m is much more complex, and the relation between st LJ and speed maintenance is much less obvious.
Limited value as an indicator of performance- and it would have to be indexed against height, which is a big advantage in this event. Ray Ewery, the turn-of-the-Century SLJ champ was extremely tall.
Probably a good indicator of getting off the mark but doesn’t tell you much after the first step.
Interesting thought re height.
Wouldn’t the best predictor of 100 meter performance be 100 meters performance?
Originally posted by Richard Tolman
Wouldn’t the best predictor of 100 meter performance be 100 meters performance?
Of course, but some athletes don’t like to practice their comeptition distance at practice, for some psychological reasons. A 100m competition during preparation phase is a good indicator, but it can be disastrous from a psychological aspect again to run several tenth slower than when you’re ready.
You can test some section of the 100m race (e.g start, acceleration, maximum speed, speed maintenance…) by timing at practice over 0-10m or 0-30m, flying 30-60m, etc…
You can test the gobal level and the quality of transition between those sections by timing over 60m, 80m, 120 or 150m.
About jump or throw tests, it’s more useful to compare data for each athlete and his progression by training than to compare data between athletes, as their physical built and abilities are very different. The real test is on the track.
Some shot putters are obvioulsy lying when they say they can lift incredible weigths, this only shows that whith that kind of strength, they don’t master the proper shot putting technique!
I’ve seen a few TJers put in SLJ tests and it really seems to come down to height.
I’ve seen Larry Achieki smash out a 3.6m SLJ whilst a few days later Johnathon could only pop out a 3.14.
I know who the superior Triple Jumper is though.
MJ,
In reference to the use of arms-
Following is a recent published study-
I have seen similar numbers (up to a 25% contribution of the anterior deltoid to vertical jump performance)
: J Biomech 2002 Dec;35(12):1631-7
Role of arm motion in the standing long jump.
Ashby BM, Heegaard JH.
Mechanical Engineering Department, Stanford University, BME 224 Durand Building, Stanford, CA 94305-4038, USA. bmashby@stanford.edu
The role of arm motion on the performance of the standing long jump was investigated. Three males performed a series of jumps with free (JFA) and with restricted (JRA) arm motion to determine if arm swing improves jumping distance. The subjects jumped off a force platform and the motion of the body segments were recorded with a four-camera, passive motion-capture system. Jumping performance was defined as the horizontal displacement of the toe between the initial and landing (TD) positions. The subjects jumped 21.2% further on an average with arm movement (2.09+/-0.03 m) than without (1.72+/-0.03 m). Seventy-one percent of the increase in performance in JFA was attributable to a 12.7% increase in the take-off (TO) velocity of the center of gravity (CG). Increases in the horizontal displacement of the CG before TO and in the horizontal position of the toe with respect to the CG at TD accounted for the remaining 29% of the improvement in jumping distance. The added balance and control provided by the arms throughout the jumping motion contributed to performance improvement in JFA. The subjects were able to remedy excessive forward rotation about the CG by swinging the arms backwards during the flight phase. Without the freedom to swing the arms during flight, the subjects had to eliminate any excessive forward rotation while still in contact with the ground. This tendency in JRA was manifest in the premature decline in the vertical ground reaction force (VGRF) and the development of a counterproductive backward-rotating moment about the CG just before TO.
Originally posted by Dazed
I’ve seen a few TJers put in SLJ tests and it really seems to come down to height.
I’ve seen Larry Achieki smash out a 3.6m SLJ whilst a few days later Johnathon could only pop out a 3.14.
I know who the superior Triple Jumper is though.
yeah but TJ’er train for elastic jumping rather than explosive jumping ability.
To clarify what I said previously in relation to standing long jump tests, my argument was that a standing long jump is a good power to weight test for explosive power.
I agree with many of the points being made by various people. Because it does involve quads more so than other leg muscles, it is indeed more relevant to acceleration than top speed. Also, tall athletes do have an obvious advantage, especially powerful throwers.
However, my point was not to predict running times from standing long jump tests. As I noted, there are many physical, skill and mental attributes necessary to becoming a top sprinter.
Neverthless, if one’s traning in the gym is going well then a standing long is a good test to indicate that a person’s power to weight ratio is improving. Obviously good training progress will also be reflected on the track in terms of improving running tests which are more relevant.
However, as a variation, I have always used a standing long jump test to indicate whether my power to weight ratio has improved from weights. I have seen too many athletes alter their technique to lift more yet only fool themselves that their power to weight has improved. In other words, train with weights, or hills, or bounding, or whatever, and occasionally use such a test when fresh to verify strength improvment. In this case, a standing long jump test, or vertical, will indicate progress in the gym. After all, a squat also mostly uses quads yet virtually every athlete does them to improve their running.
Of course, running time improvements are obviously the best way to go. however, a standing long jump, while not the sole or best method of determining potential, is a useful way to know that the involved individual is improving his or her power in regard to a sound power to weight test. This was my point, an improving standing long jump is a good indciator to verify whether one’s training in the gym is on track, although not as important as legitimate running tests. It is merely relevant to the individual involved, not for comparison with other athletes who obviously have different strengths and weaknesses in regard to height, technique and so on. It is also a fun test where many athletes can get together and test themselves.
For those athletes who train sensibly in regard to all aspects of their chosen sport, and use standing long jump tests to indicate power progress, I am yet to see one athlete who does not achieve personal bests when their power to weight tests are up. However, I have seen many athletes who claim that their weights in the gym will produce personal bests on the track, yet fail.
Again, I acknowledge that accurate running times are the best test. However, a standing long jump, which removes the degree of skill needed from more complicated bounding tests, are a good way to test power to weight ratios.