The Forces I Generate - In Progress

I have used almost the same approach since I started jumping.

Good if you're still in the first few years; bad if this marks year #15.

Years of Refining:

Year 1 - I stated with a ~6' and ~48' approach.

Year 2to7 - Not much changed other than my obsession with technique and consistency.

Year 7to10 - I won National Championships with this 6' mark. I also started to get a lot stronger and maintaining that threw me off balance.

Year 10 - I removed the iconic hop in my approach to adopt a smoother approach.

Year 11to13 - Jesus Dapena analyzed my approach, and I needed speed.

Year 14 - My approach slowly moved to 8.5' and 51', but my speed didn't increase.

All decisions are made on Love and Fear.

Still in need of speed, I decided to try a 12 step approach out of Love.

If I fail, then I'll learn and move on. I shouldn't Fear this.

Procedure of data collection using the mapping approach listed in the Techniques' magazine "High Jump Approach Mapping; A new way to Develop a Consistent High jump Approach" by Dusty Jonas. This is a simplified and modified summary of the article to make the procedure more user-friendly.

Need: A NOTEBOOK, Tape, Tape Measure, a Friend, calculator at times...

Step 1 - Run 5 or 7 steps (for a 10 or 12 step approach) straight ahead. Use a friend and mark the distance. = Da

Step 2 - Use a 3-4-5 triangle to find the line perpendicular to the Da line in the direction of your curve. Use google to understand the 3-4-5 triangle. This is the line where The radius of your curve will begin. Once you have a straight line, mark 30', 35', and 40' and start drawing out the curve by having a friend hold the tape measure at the center of each circle as you move along the curve placing tape every couple feet.

This shows the curve mapping (Step 2) for the radius described for jumpers of each side.

Step 3 - Begin running the mapped path to determine your preferences for radius. Have a friend watch your mid-mark and your final step to help with determining if the map is appropriate or needs refinement on Da or additional mapped radius markings.

Step 4 - After a consistent final step has been found, measure the chord length (Db), the full straight ahead (Dd is to take off, not measured from the standard), and the over distance (Dc is to takeoff placement).

Step 5 - Compute the adjusted Dd (Ddactual = Dd +4' for males or 3' for females) and Dc (Dcactual = Dc -18inches). Knowing this is a computed distance, preference will need to be taken into consideration while honing in on an actual spot.

Step 6 - Write down everything, everything, everything. Keep detailed notes. If you take all this time to do this, don't waste your time by not writing anything down.

The Science

Hypothesis: Does the 12 step approach allow me to achieve a greater speed that also allows me to generate greater forces. (Simply put - Does 12 step allow me to jump higher?)

Approach: Use a kinematic study of forces generated. Analyze the 10 step and 12 step approach to determine the distance traveled along t

he chord of the arc length (Db). Collect the time taken to travel on steps 5-8 (10 step) and 7-10 (12 step) via video. Using both time and distance, calculate Velocity. Then begin using kinematic formulas to determine the force.

12 Step - My Results

[in feet or degrees]

Above are my 12 step measurements from my first 3 attempts. I expected this to be highly volatile data.

For Week 2, I used Ddact=69.5' and Dcact=11.5'. While all my attempts were precise; they weren't accurate. This is likely due to just guessing a spot and using a shorter penultimate step. For Week 3, I adjusted these to be Ddact=69.3' and Dcact=11.25'. (Using a triangular measuring scheme because the 3-4-5 triangle is small for measuring out 70' distances.)

For Week 4, I began to jump over 5' to 5.5' bars, my steps became Ddact=68.8' and Dcact=11.25'. The adjustment came in the measurement from the midmark to take-off.

10 Step Analysis Setup

In order to determine the velocity differential, data on the original approach is needed.

I needed to measure the distance traveled on 5 straight steps (Da), where my plant was relative to the standard (for adjusting Dd and Dc), and the chord length (Db). Using these numbers along with the measurements that I use to mark my spot, I reconstructed and verified the table to continue the analysis.

Velocity Differential

With the times collected via video; below is the velocity for the 10 step and 12 step approaches.

Db10step = 23.2 ft, T = 0.77, 0.77, 0.73 seconds

Db12step = 29.6 ft, T = 0.85, 0.86, 0.89, 0.87, 0.90 seconds (More times coming soon)

Velocity 10step [ft/s] = 30.1, 30.1, 31.8 [ft/s]

Velocity 12step [ft/s] = 33.5, 32.4, 32.8, 33.9, 34.3 [ft/s]

The distance is the entire chord length, while the time is associated to the first 3 of 5 steps taken to travel this distance. This makes this velocity become more of a guideline instead of an absolute. Greater Speed, Achieved.

Force Differential

The force.... :)