Jump drills — by age group

Jump drilling is layered. Approach mechanics first, takeoff drills second, in-flight work third, landing and plyometrics layered throughout. Athletes who skip the order — usually because they want to take full-effort jumps before their approach is consistent — foul their way through high school and never figure out why their distances stall.

How to use this library

Find your event below. Approach drills are the highest-leverage work at every level and the most consistently underdone — a jumper with a clean takeoff and an inconsistent approach loses inches on every jump. Takeoff drills come next, and they live close to the approach work because the last three strides decide the takeoff. In-flight drills (hang, hitch-kick, back arch, pole vault swing) drill the air phase in low-stakes contexts. Plyometric progressions run alongside everything, with attention to volume and recovery.

Each drill page covers the demo, the developmental notes for the age, the coaching points, and the most common mistakes. Triple jump drills include explicit phase work — single-leg hop drills, step drills, and full phase rhythm work — because the event lives or dies on rhythm. Pole vault drills require facility, equipment, and coaching that most schools do not have in surplus, so the cluster is honest about what is appropriate to drill solo and what is not.