Improving On Jumps...what Helps You???

Flexibility is a huge part, but Strength is the main thing!! Have her condition her jumps and legs. I love leg circles, squats, frog jumps, and leg lifts. Then have her to her splits. Just remember that she can be CRAZY flexible and have sucky jumps. She has to have the strength to get her legs up!!!

abs abs abs! and hip flexors! having a strong core is what really helps you get your legs up and strengthening your hip flexors is how you rotate to get inverted jumps. for hip flexors leg circles are my favorite because they really do help!

hip flexor exercises!!!!!!...also using proper technique: keeping chest up in the jump..... not reaching for toes but instead lifting toes to you....learning to snap feet back together properly....

What I did as a gymnast (and still do sometimes) was to put on 2 lb ankle weights and do my jumps on the trampoline. We also used to use those stretchy exercise bands and tie those around our ankles. That was mostly for split/ring jumps though so I'm not sure how it will work with other jumps!

We have been doing 10 jumps with resistance bands tied to the ankles then 5 jumps without any bands. Followed by 30 crunchies, 30 V sits and plank holds for 1:30. Then tie the bands back on again and do 10 sets of leg raises to the front, side and back. Repeat the whole thing 5 times and it is really starting to make a difference to the jumps

One tip I got from my coach is focusing on the "down" part of your jump. Instead of focusing completely on jumping up, have your CP do some jumps while focusing on the landing of her jumps. If she can learn how to bend and absorb to get momentum instead of just bouncing off the ground, it will help a lot! It helps with timing too!

Hope that makes sense! My coach told me that and it really helps a lot.

I agree with having the strength!! However flexibility helps a lot! My CP is incredibly strong but she has to work hard on her flexibility we have the issue that her jumps are incredibly high but they aren't as pretty. :banghead:

its all about the hip flexor google hip flexor conditioning exercises that should help!

my favorite thing to do for jumps is to jump on hard floor with leg weights about 10 times. then when you get on the mat and take off the weights, your jumps go sky high !

I really like this set of exercises for condition jumps.

Jump Conditioning

Born2Tumble said:

I agree with having the strength!! However flexibility helps a lot! My CP is incredibly strong but she has to work hard on her flexibility we have the issue that her jumps are incredibly high but they aren't as pretty. :banghead:

Click to expand...

One of the girls i coach has the opposite problem, really flexible but no control so her jumps arent quite as pretty as they could be

I wrote this awhile back. I think I posted it on here before but I'll post it again here in case it will help you guys.

Jumps

All jumps have three components: technique, flexibility and strength. Technique will always be the most important component, but good strength and flexibility will make any jump better. You will not have hyperextended jumps unless you are both strong and flexible (not just one or the other).

General Technique:
v Keep your chest up. In order to do this, it helps that you try to bring your legs up to you rather than forcing your body down to your legs. When you are jumping, it will help if you really think about kicking your legs all the way up to your head with all of your strength.
v Hit your jumps with your arms parallel to the ground. They should be in a ‘T’ motion in toe touches, but only far enough in front of you to just see them from the corner of your eyes. For hurdlers, your arms should be in a ‘touchdown’ motion; for pikes, your arms should be in ‘candlestick’ motions.
v “Face your butt to the crowd.” In your toe touches, you should try to roll your hips and knees so that they face behind you while you are jumping.
v Point your toes, and keep your legs straight by squeezing your quad muscles (located right above your knee).
v Only jump as high as you can with good technique. Do not sacrifice technique for a “better jump” because technique will always look better.

Flexibility:
v Static stretches involve holding a single position (e.g. splits, bridge, and heel stretch). For jumps, the static stretches that you should be doing are your left, right, and middle splits. In your left and right splits, your front and back legs should form a straight line and your arms should be on either side of you. Once they get very good, elevate your front leg. All left/right splits should be practiced with your front toe facing the ceiling. For middle splits, make sure that your hips are directly over your legs. Your knees and toes should face the ceiling, and either your hands or elbows should be on the floor in front of you.
v Dynamic stretches are stretches that involve movement (e.g. leg swings, butt kicks, toe pops). For jumps, you can work on leg swings (one leg at a time, kicking forward and backward as hard as you can). You could also work on slow and controlled leg lifts, where you try to lift your leg as high as you can without actually kicking it.

Strength:
v Core and hip flexor strength will help give you the strength to bring your legs higher, and can be most easily improved with L-sits. Start by sitting on something higher than the floor and put both hands by your side. Hold yourself up as long as you can with your legs bent. Once it is easy with your legs bent, you can try it with your legs straight but not yet parallel to the ground. Eventually, once you have the required strength, you can do this with straight legs on the floor. Another exercise is sitting in a straddle and putting both hands on either side of one leg and moving it in circles. You should do this on both legs.
v Leg strength will make your jump higher off the floor. You can work on calf raises (on both legs, and one leg at a time), Russians (one-legged candlesticks), and jump ropes (on both legs, and one leg at a time).