What do I mean, well the lack of competitive opportunities for athletes, who have been trying to train as best as they can. This seemingly applies to athletes from all over the world at the moment and is affecting the various track & field events differently. Of course, I’m particularly concerned with the long and triple jumps being the events I coach.
 
Our UK’s English, Welsh and Scottish Champs have all been cancelled and we wait to see whether any higher-level comps (other that the British Champs scheduled for September) will actually happen. Elite athletes in the sprints jumps, hurdles and throws seem to be finding the odd comps abroad but here our lock-down restrictions have mitigated against limited scale meets being run for those of a lesser level and of course young athletes. 
 
One of the main issues to limit UK comps has been that very few tracks were open … and it’s only now in late July that they are unlocking their gates and putting into practise COVID secure environments. For many tracks the locks are still in place for field events as well … my local track, for example, will open soon but the pits won’t – yet, the alternative one I’m currently using does allow pit usage and has done for numerous weeks. There are anomalies and a major one is between sports where football can be played competitively …
 
Last night I watched a specially staged long jump meeting from Sweden featuring many of the country’s top jumpers and it was supported by the Swedish Federation. The broadcast quality was top-notch. Tobias Montler and Khaddi Sagnia both competed in Gothenberg. It seems that there will be a series of these meetings. I believe the driving force behind them is top Swedish Coach – Yannick Tregaro (who presented at the European Jumps and Sprints Symposium which was held last Dec in Karlstad, Sweden and which I attended).
 
So, it seems that I and fellow coaches will have to follow Yannick’s lead if we want to have any regular jumps comps in the UK this year, but having looked at the documentation produced to run one it’s going to take some organising and a stumbling block may well be finding a track willing to cooperate. So, watch this space for if and when we put on any jumps meets. I certainly want to make it happen.
​Click on the banner below to watch the meeting from Sweden.

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​Percussive therapy
 Theraguns are percussive devices used by athletes to help them warn-up and recover from their workouts and competitions. They have become increasingly popular in recent years. John Shepherd takes a look at the Theragun Elite.
 
Theraguns were invented around 2008 by chiropractor Jason Wersland. Wersland was unfortunately involved in a bad road traffic accident in the States when riding his motor bike. Paradoxically he was on his way to his final exams to become a chiropractor. The crash left him in a lot of pain – particularly soft tissue pain. 
And it was because of this that during his convalescence he determined to invent a machine which would treat his injuries and manage his pian. Using DIY skills and bits and pieces of various devices he constructed a rudimentary Theragun. The rest as they say is history as Wersland gained backing and support for the use of his devices - so much so that Theragun, now branded under Therabody, is the leading percussive therapy brand in the world.
 
Putting it to the test
 
I trialled the Theragun Elite the second from the top of the range model in the company’s line-up behind the Theragun Pro. I found it has everything that any athlete would need for such a device (the Pro has, for example, a greater stall speed and storable programmes). The stand-out feature for me was the app guidance and Bluetooth connectivity. 
Many times, athletes will get a hold of a device for massage or warm-up but do not know how to use it specifically, well the Therabody app takes away all the head-scratching. You connect your Theragun to the app and you can allow it to take over and lead you through a specific session. 
I found this very intuitive to use and obviously of great value when starting out to use the device. 
You can, for example, select the body part you want to work on from the app, and with the Theragun connected, work for a specific time on that body part. The app shows which attachment to use (there are five) and the recommended grip, for example, so that you can more comfortably get it into the area that you want to treat. 
And a graphic indicates how to sweep the device across the relevant area making sure you get maximum benefits. A further cool feature is the fact that the app will actually switch the Theragun off after each treatment. You can also manually control the amplitude of the Theragun from 2400PPM to 1750PPM depending on the type of effect you desire and vary the pressure you apply (the stall speed being 40lbs). 
To use the device sweeping movements are generally recommended. The lighter the pressure the more the effect will target recovery, whilst the stronger the pressure the more the effect will be stimulatory. If you have sore muscles and knots, it’s advised that you work around these to reduce the inflammation and apply gentle pressure. 
So, don’t “hammer” away at the painful area, as in all likelihood you will make the area worse. You want to break down the knot and achieve increased healing blood flow.
 
After a treatment you will probably feel heat in the targeted area and sometimes a tingling feeling which is due to the increase in blood flow.
I’ve used the device for both recovery and for warm-up purposes and have found it to be useful for both. A specific example, I had a sore ITB and the Theragun certainly reduced the soreness over a couple of days of treatment. 
 
I do like to see if there is any research on products tested (where relevant) and at the time of writing I was unable to locate any, unlike with for example, EMS/Bioelectrical devices. So, we have to rely on personal experience and more anecdotal evidence which is favourable for use from a wide range of sources.
 
The Theragun Elite is easily transportable and quickly charged and is a lot quieter than the previous third generation which I previously tested. Ergonomically it’s also more comfortable to use as a result of the subtle design tweaks. 
 
Theragun Elite Specs
 
OLED Display
Can store 3 pre-set programmes
40lbs stall speed
2400-1750 PPM speed
16mm amplitude
120min battery life
Wireless charge enabled
5 various treatment attachments
Bluetooth connected
 
SRP £375 $399

I regularly get questions posted on aspects of jumping, sprinting and conditioning on my various social media and in particular my YouTube channel., so I thought I would share a couple with you with my answers.

QUESTION 1 TRANSFERENCE OF TRAINING
I have been saying the same thing for years be it with runners or swimmers. It is all about thinking about transference and keeping the exercises as close to the chosen sport or activity as possible. I believe in working on challenging stability and making exercises as proprioceptively rich as possible so that the athlete figures out how to create a feeling of 'stiffness' and control is really important. So using plyometric exercises combined with landing and taking off from a slightly unstable surface or Bosu Ball can work OR stepping up onto a Bosu Ball with a weight or sandbag on the shoulders might be more rewarding. Wonder what you think?
ANSWER
I agree that working on unstable surfaces can be great for proprioception and injury avoidance and learning that "control" needed. One of the best ways, I believe of challenging the long jump take-off, for example, is by using a low mat for the penultimate step (as you may have seen in a video or two of mine). This should only be a couple of cms high and it overloads the take-off improves force absorption and return. We use a 6-10 step approach as it is very demanding. So this drill is very close to the requirements of the long jump take-off and has that direct transference as you indicate. I'm not one for heavy weights and Olympic Lifts in their own right, although we do do these (with the mature jumpers) following more triphasic methods. For young athletes there are far better and much more specific ways to get stronger, for jumping and sprinting from my point of view. With older athletes it's then a case of working out what they need more specifically - which could include a greater emphasis on weights and a specific muscular action.

QUESTION 2 SPRINT TECHNIQUE
My right thigh gets higher than Asafa Polwell’s one. Maybe it’s just about increasing frequency?
ANSWER
Your knees need to do forward and up and not just up (as may be the case by the sound of it). Think about moving your hips to generate speed and lifting the heel from the back of the body to the front and across the knee to achieve this also. If you improve your hip speed then your stride length and frequency will improve as well as your technique.
There are plenty of videos on the channel which will help you with this.
Check out this one. https://youtu.be/2hlZnNWf_wg

QUESTION TRIPLE JUMP
Double arms or single arm action which is the best,what is difference between this two types.
Double arm is probably the best throughout all the phases from a balance and power transference perspective. A single or quarter on the take-off can allow for more speed .- but due to the way the arms can recover it can lead to imbalance in the hop going into the step. Computer models for what they are worth in the real world vindicate the use of a double arm action throughout the phases and also a hop dominant phase ratio.
Women tend to use a counter movement swing more for balance than propulsion. Hope this helps Here a useful video: 
https://youtu.be/YwPdMri6XzA

AND DON"T FORGET TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE JUMPER WHERE MANY MORE QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED. ONE OF THE STAND OUT ONES BEING HOW TO RETURN FROM LOCK-DOWN BY ENGLAND ATHLETICS MEDICAL LEAD, PHYSIO Stuart Butler. Click on link to view to go and watch video for more content.

If you are a young athlete (or even an older one) perfecting the triple jump is a bit of an arm wrestle. You get one part right, eg the hop only to mess up the step or the jump! Many coaches will say that it's very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve a perfect triple. I think that's important to consider as a coach or a jumper as invariably - and as I am eluding to - there will always be something that's not quite right in a jump. You've three take-offs, three arm actions (and these could all be different), you've huge forces to overcome .... no wonder the triple is one of the toughest track and field events to master.
As with most events though, if you spend a lot of time working on your technique (and developing the strength, speed and power) that's needed then it will pay off in the long run. And one of these biggest payoffs will be reduced potential for injury. If you don't hop properly with correct balance and landing mechanics for example, then it could well hurt. It's all a layering process of building up the physical and technical components.
I, for example, spend much time working on skipping drills, hopping drills and hop and bound combos with the young triple jumpers in order to hopefully create robust and technically proficient jumpers.
I've hence pulled together a video that will hopefully go somewhere to explaining some of the fundamentals when it comes to coaching young triple jumpers.
You can check it out BELOW:

Let me know what you think and stay safe