Coaching Young Athletes

Storytelling Techniques to Enhance Learning and Engagement in the Long Jump

Learning long jump should be engaging and fun for young athletes. Storytelling, analogies, and novelty will enhance engagement and help beginners understand and excel in the fundamentals of this event. So fasten your seat belts, and let’s get ready for take-off!

1. Run-Up

Imagine a long jump runway as an airport runway, where young athletes gather momentum for their take-off. Just as an aircraft accelerates before take-off, our young jumper needs to build up speed. Remind them to stay fast, relaxed and balanced, like an aircraft gracefully speeding down the runway.

2. Take-Off

After the young athlete performs the take-off, it’s time for them to lift their knees and feet up. Liken this to an aircraft retracting its landing gear. This action helps generate upward momentum and maximise their flight time by keeping their feet away from the sand.

3. Flight

As coaches and parents, we can inspire them to imagine clearing a magnificent mountain range during their jump. Gather some sand to create a low sand wall, only a few centimetres high, at an achievable distance in the landing pit. Explain to the child that this wall represents a majestic mountain range that they must clear after take-off. Encourage the young jumper to direct their energy upwards and outwards, towards the end of the pit, as if they were soaring over the mountain range. This visualization will motivate them to exert their maximum effort and hold their feet up longer prior to landing.

4. Landing

Just as an aircraft’s landing gear returns to the ground for a balanced landing, our young athlete’s feet must come back down to the sand. Encourage the jumper to envision their feet landing parallel, just like an aircraft’s wheels touch down simultaneously.

Conclusion

By incorporating storytelling and visualisation techniques, coaches and parents can enhance engagement and foster a deeper understanding of the fundamentals of long jumping. Transforming the long jump runway into an airport runway and the young jumper into a jet aircraft provides a novel approach to teaching the basics.

Further Reading

How To Teach Young Athletes To Long Jump (plus bonus cheat sheet) an E-Book by Coaching Young Athletes

---

If this post helped you please take a moment to help others by sharing it on social media. If you want to learn more I encourage you to leave questions and comments or contact me directly.

---

Click here to subscribe for free to the Coaching Young Athletes email list and receive a complimentary mini e-book!

Do you want that little bit extra? Learn about Coaching Young Athletes membership HERE.