Achilles Tendon Length and Jumping: Holm vs. Thomas

Joel Smith analyzes how Achilles tendon length influences knee bend and ground contact times in high jumpers Stefan Holm and Donald Thomas.

Free, cutting edge PDF's on jumping higher and running faster! just-fly-sports.com/free-ebooks/ I took some clips from the Holm vs. Thomas sport science documentary and coupled with recent research by Earp in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning research (2011) made this short video showing how the length of the Achilles Tendon influences knee bend and ground contact times in single leg jumping. Typically, athletes with shorter Achilles tendons will be better at jumps from a running start, relatively speaking, but their standing verticals will be poor compared to their long tendoned counterparts. Athletes with longer Achilles tendons will excel and standing and short approach jumps, but will be at a slight disadvantage when it comes to fast running jumps. This doesn't mean that they can't be good at it, however, they will just end up doing it with slightly different Biomechanics. In short: Long Achilles tendons = better standing vertical jumps, and more knee bend on running jumps to jump high. Longer contact times. Short Achilles tendons = better running jumps, particularly off of one leg. Relevant research: Earp, J. E., R. U. Newton, P. Cormie, and Kraemer J. W. "The Influence of Muscle-Tendon Unit Structure on Rate of Force Development, During the Squat, Countermovement, and Depth Drop Jumps." Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 25 (2011). Web. "vertical jump bible" "vertical jump training" "how to improve vertical jump" "increase vertical jump" "how to increase vertical jump" "vertical jump exercises" "Increasing vertical jump" "vertical jump program" "best vertical jump program" "exercises to increase vertical jump" "free vertical jump program" "improve vertical jump" "highest vertical jump" "improving vertical jump" "increase vertical jump fast" "vertical jump workout" "Increase your vertical jump" "how to increase your vertical jump" "vertical jump equipment" "how to improve your vertical jump" "vertical jump shoes" "vertical jump test" "best vertical jump" "vertical jump programs" "improve your vertical jump" "exercises for vertical jump" "vertical jump training program" "vertical jump workouts" "standing vertical jump" "average vertical jump" "increase vertical jump program" "vertical jump program reviews" "how to increase vertical jump fast" "how to increase my vertical jump" "increase vertical jump basketball" "ways to increase vertical jump" "vertical jump calculator" "Increase vertical jump exercises" "vertical jumping" "top vertical jump programs" "vertical jump machine" "workouts to increase vertical jump" "increase vertical jump workout" "best way to increase vertical jump" "how to increase vertical jump for basketball" "how to jump higher" "vertical jump training equipment" "vertical jumping exercises" "best vertical jump exercises" "increasing vertical jump for basketball"