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High Jump Specfic Drills

June 15, 2022 by

Gwen Wentland is a former world-class high jumper, Olympic coach, and college coach. In the video below she shares 8 High Jump Specific Drills that you can utilize to effectively train your high jumpers.

Here are the 8 High Jump Specific Drills demonstrated in the video:

Circle Drill

  • Athletes run in a circle (males radius 30-50ft and females radius 22-30 ft)
  • Shoulders back
  • The inside foot should come across the midline of the body
  • Run both directions

Figure 8 Drill

  • Allows athletes to feel the transition on each curve
  • Aids in maintaining balance on each side

Circle Drills with Pop Offs

  • Athletes run in a circle with the same fundamentals as the circle drill
  • Every 5 steps they will execute a pop off
  • The last two steps should be really quick
  • Emphasize vertical drive

Pop Off Between Hurdles

  • Small hurdles placed approximately 3ft apart
  • Athletes will execute a pop off between each hurdle
  • Emphasize being quick off the ground

Rhythm Drill

  • Run 10 steps with a pop off at the end
  • Be sure that the last two steps are really quick

Skipping Take-Off Drill

  • Emphasize bringing the take-off leg directly under the center of mass
  • The athlete should drive their take-of foot  down into the track
  • The drive knee should come up and block

Galloping Drill

  • Push off the back foot
  • Pull with the front foot

Running the Curve

  • Run 100 meters on the curve of the track
  • 4x is a typical workout

The video below was taken from Coach Wentland’s complete high jump training course. For more information about that course click the following link: Effective Practice Drills for the High Jump


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