In Search of the Optimal Triple Jump Phase Ratios: Trial and Error

Copyright © 2020 by Dr. Clifford Larkins

This article is unpublished at this time. However, you are welcome to read the article--in pdf format--by clicking the link below. If you reference material from this article, please give credit where credit is due.

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Article Abstract Below

Dr. Clifford Larkins,
The University of Michigan, USA

            The purpose of this study is to trace the evolution of triple jump technique focusing on how athletes distribute each of the three phases. In their effort to achieve maximum distance, conserving horizontal momentum across all three phases has been THE unique challenge. As the record shows, once coaches and triple jumpers realized that the apportionment of the phase distances is a critical determinant to the jumper's performance, they began to search for the best of all possible apportionments. From lack of a more systematic method, they conducted their search by trial and error. As a result, jumpers have experimented with extremes in phase apportionment resulting in extremes in triple jump style. Experimentation has led jumpers to emphasize each phase individually as well as to emphasize various combinations of phases; and their search - as this study shows - has swung somewhat like a pendulum.