What Is High Jump?

What Are The Required Skills In High Jump?

There are essentially two kinds of High Jumpers. There are those jumpers who naturally possess Speed. They tend to be tall, lanky and have very high waists.  

Then you also have the Power jumpers. They are shorter, have a lower center of gravity but are generally better equipped to generate explosive power from the lower limbs. 

The best high jumpers in the world have Mental Fortitude, which is something that can be trained. Therefore it is also a skill. 

The best jumpers also have something called Aerial Awareness. That is also a skill that can and should be trained.  

Evolution Of The High Jump Technique

1- The Basic Scissors

The core principle is that the technique allows you to land on both of your feet. This was one of the first techniques.

2- The Eastern Cut-Off Scissors

3- The Western Roll

This allows your head to cross the horizontal bar before your feet, which was once a taboo in High Jump circles.

4- The Straddle

This allows you to dive over the bar and is also unique because the take-off is off the inner foot and not the out foot. There are still some elements of that in modern jumping.

5- Fosbury Flop

How Do You High Jump?

1- The Approach

The run-up helps a jumper gather momentum and build up of speed before trying to clear the horizontal bar.

2- Take-Off

The Take-Off is the coming together of velocity, built up during the Approach, and the release of Explosive or Elastic Power, which you stored while initiating the Countermovement.

3- Flight

Up to this point it has all been about your lower limb functionality and the strength of your leg muscles. However, during Flight - where you are airborne - the influence of your upper limbs, abdominal core and back muscles becomes increasingly apparent and important.

How Do You Prepare For High Jump?

With any form of jump training, you should conduct the warm-up to adequately prepare your muscles for the regular contracting and stretching that will be demanded of them during the jump motion. 

You also conduct warm-ups for jump training to increase the range of motion in your body. That incorporates activities that are developed to increase capacity in both the joints and the muscles. 

You also perform warm-ups before jumping to help prevent injuries. With the two previous points, the emphasis was on preparing yourself for enhanced performance on the High Jump track. Things like running up, taking off and clearing the bar once airborne.

With the prevention of injury, you are also taking the impact on your body into account, when trying to To Jump Higher. The prevention of injury also takes into account the absorption of that impact when you land. 

The degree to which you land on your back tends to vary in High Jump, despite there being a large foam mattress. Throughout that phase of the High Jump, there is just a tremendous amount that can go wrong, not a whole lot of which can be under your control. However, warming up thoroughly can help mitigate the impact of this.

12 Effective High Jump Exercises

- Approach Training exercises

1-

Drill Name: Curved Running

Drill Direction:

• Find an area on the track, in a vacant hallway or somewhere in a relatively empty gymnasium and either use some paint or chalk to mark out a set of alleys that you will run in

• Those alleys need to be drawn at a curve that is the approximate length of the standard run-up to a High Jump mat. That could be anything between 8-12 full strides. How tall you are might help determine that. Most of the strides during this phase of the High Jump are full strides

• Pay attention to running at an angle but place more emphasis on maintaining that lean (about 22 degrees) right until the end of the Approach

• You need to teach your body to avoid the temptation to straighten up or even fall too far over. This drill is all about the muscle memory and training your mind to make this movement second-nature

Reps: 10 Reps Per Set

Sets: Devote most of your training to this, especially as a beginner

2-

Drill Name: Steering Drill 

Drill Direction:

• The point of departure for this drill would be where you envisage taking off for the High Jump

• Then start running away from that spot, in the opposite direction to the mattress

• Pick a random spot at which you anticipate stopping, before turning back and taking off to clear the horizontal bar

• You should perform this drill with a partner, at the very least. Preferably somebody who understands the nuances of High Jump

• When your partner or coach claps, you will then turn around and actually make an attempt at a jump over the bar

Reps: 10 Reps Per Set

Sets: 5 Sets Per Session

3-

Drill Name: Circle Drill

Drill Direction: 

• You could perform this drill by actually setting up some cones in a “perfect circle” or you could invade the local soccer field and use the middle circle as a guide

• Start running around that circle, first by running clockwise and then by running counterclockwise, regardless of which foot you usually take off from during the High Jump

• Make sure your knees are up, that your toes are up and that your heels are up when running around that circle

• Try to maintain a steady rhythm throughout

• Make sure you are leaning at the recommended 22-degree angle while you are running

Reps: One Minute At A Time

Sets: 5 Sets Per Session

4-

Drill Name: Circle With Hurdles Drill

Drill Direction: 

• Refer to drill Number Three (above) but with the addition of hurdles in that circle, placed at a manageable distance apart and at a manageable height

• Two hurdles directly opposite to each other is the requirement

• When you clear those hurdles, make sure to maintain your lean and do not lose that form, just because you are trying to clear the hurdle

Reps: One Minute At A Time

Sets: 5 Sets Per Session

Why Should You Include These Exercises In Your High Jump Training?

The High Jump is a technical activity and exceedingly difficult to train and coach. On that score, everything that could possibly go wrong in the High Jump event, usually goes wrong before you even Take-Off. These exercises are an attempt to remedy any of the shortcomings you might have during the Approach. 

- Take-Off Training Exercises

1-

Drill Name: Ankle Roll Walks

Drill Direction:

• Lead your foot with the ankles and not so much the heel while walking

• In the process of leading with the ankle, you effectively roll onto the balls of your feet, at which point you will push up a little bit

• Your foot should be behaving a little like a rocking chair at this point

Reps: One lap around the track

2-

Drill Name: Circle Walk With Pop-Off

Drill Direction: 

• Find or create a circle much like the one we referred to in our Approach training, where we had the two hurdles

• Find two similar hurdles and set them a little lower this time

• Again, you will walk around that circle while maintaining that lean that is so critical to high jump

• Your focus here is on teaching your body to pop off the ground, while still leaning at that angle, with less emphasis on the approach and more emphasis on the takeoff this time.

Reps: One Minute

Sets: Between 2-5 Sets

3-

Drill Name: Curve Walk With Pop-Off

Drill Direction:

• Refer to Drill One in Approach Training (above) and just focus on the walk this time

• The other critical difference with this drill is that instead of just returning to the start of your run-up, you will actually take off here and land on the High Jump Mattress

• You need not set any horizontal bar up though. Just jump onto the mat and think about nothing else 

Reps: 10 Reps Set

Sets: More than 5 Sets

4-

Drill Name: Three-Step Scissor Approach

Drill Direction: 

• Start from where the final three steps or strides of your run-up should be but instead of performing the conventional Fosbury Flop, you perform the more archaic Scissor Jump.

Reps: 10 Reps Per Set

Sets: 5 Sets Per Session

Why Should You Include These Exercises In Your High Jump Training?

These drills, in part, assist with developing the right rhythm for take-off. However, the more telling component of these drills is that they seek to increase strength capacity in your ankles and they also help you to develop the range of motion required when performing the High Jump.  

- Flight Training exercises

1-

Drill Name: Hip Raises

Drill Direction: 

• To perform this drill, lay down in a supine position. That is back down and face up

• Then bend your knees and place your feet hip-width apart

• Then rest your arms by your sides and make sure your palms are facing down

• Then lift your pelvis towards the ceiling and squeeze your glutes tightly

• Hold yourself up momentarily and slowly lower your hips back down to the floor

• Continue to perform this drill until you feel like your body can go now further

• To increase the challenge with this drill, you could also add some weight resistance

Drill Reps: 12 Reps

Drill Sets:  4 Sets

2-

Drill Name: Abdominal Press 

Drill Direction: 

• You will also perform this drill while lying on your back or facing up towards the ceiling

• With both of your feet planted on the ground, bend your knees

• When you are ready, you should raise either your right or left leg off the ground, it does not matter which one you do first

• When you have flexed enough for your knee to be at a right angle, in relation to your hips, you should then lift the hand from the same side of the body and place it on your knee cap

• Use your hand as resistance against the knee, while you continue to pull it backwards towards your chest

• Maintain the status quo for a few seconds, at which point you should feel your abdominal core at work

• When you are ready, you should release that tension and return your foot to the ground, before starting the process with your other leg

Reps: 12 Reps for each side

Sets: 4 Sets 

3-

Drill Name: Five-Step Approach Jump

Drill Direction:

• Complete the final five steps before actually attempting to clear the horizontal bar

• Make sure they are the final strides and not the standard beginning strides, so they will be smaller and quick steps

Reps: 10 Reps

Sets: 5 Sets

4-

Drill Name: Seven-Step Approach Jump

Drill Direction:

• Refer to Drill 11 (above)

• The main difference is that you will include two of your larger/beginning strides for the High Jump

• It is still not a complete run-up but it is as close as you are going to get

Reps: 10 Reps

Sets: 5 Sets

Why Should You Include These Exercises In Your High Jump Training?

The stability of your abdominal core will determine the level of success that you enjoy during the High Jump. The capacity to lift the glutes and the buttocks is the stuff that can either make or sink a High Jump career. These drills help you master that fine art when attempting to clear the horizontal bar. 

Do You Need To Be Tall To Be Successful At High Jump?

Being tall and lean certainly won’t harm your chances, if you harbor ambitions of competing in High Jump competition, but to answer this question more directly, you do not need to be tall if you want to be successful at High Jump. 

If body composition were to have any bearing on becoming a successful High Jumper, your weight is likely to be a more telling factor. 

At this point it would be worth noting that Mutaz Essa Barshim, who is the premier high jumper in the world today, measures in at about 1.9m tall. However, what is of more interest to us is that the man weighs between 65-70kg - not quite a jockey but frighteningly close.  

As we already established elsewhere on these pages, muscle mass is seldom harmful to your cause when jumping. However, body fat is certainly a problem and that is something that would need to be adequately addressed if you generally want to be successful in track and field competition. 

The High Jump is a more technical activity and your capacity to control the movement of your body will always have a more significant impact on whether you do well in the sport. Body Control, as we are now calling it, hinges heavily on your abdominal core strength. 

In simpler terms, that would be your body’s capacity to resist gravitational forces while you are airborne and trying to clear the horizontal bar which has made and broken so many careers. 

When competing in the High Jump, your lower limb functionality is also significantly more important than your height. 

Conclusion

That one advantage that does come with being a tall potential high jumper is that your centre of gravity will be higher off the ground. However, something like that is only really telling at a junior level, particularly for those competing against each other in Primary School. 

Once a youthful body starts to develop in the teens or during the High School phase of competition, the advantages that come with being taller than your peers are quickly eroded. 

Your capacity to harness and develop the skills required for the High Jump become more important than any physical attribute - which is why we have placed so little emphasis on things like plyometrics and weight training in this blog.