From the Archives - High Jump Practice

Here is a note from Joan to Theresa from Jun 9, 2003, describing the first group high jump practice:

Tried tagging with high jump yesterday. It was good. We used it during individual jumps when they raised their non-jumping knee to waist level during the take-off. They all did it correctly on the first turn - the coach was very impressed. Then we raised the bar 2 inches (still at a low height that they can all clear) and they fell apart. More than half of them forgot about the knee drive and then they improved after a couple of turns. Major mental component with high jump - the bar is very intimidating. All the kids have got the basic idea of throwing themselves backward over the bar - which is very impressive because it is not easy and they had only had one practice before this. 

Next practice we will work on having them straighten out the knee that they bent. Now that they are into the idea of bending the knee they keep it bent all the way through the jump and this causes their backs to roll rather than arch. We will tag them for straightening the non-jumping leg after the inital knee drive and hopefully this will cause them to be in laid out position as they go over the bar. Then we can work on the arch. 

There are about 16 kids and only 2 half hour practices left before the meet. Even with tagging there is is not nearly enough time to develop all the aspects of the skill. According to what I have read on the internet, 90% of high jump technique is in the curved run and take-off. The athlete is supposed to run a curve for the last 5 strides that is part of a perfect circle (radius to be determined for each individual on the basis of stride length), while leaning into the circle so that at the takeoff the athlete is leaning away from the bar. The translation of power from the curved approach to the vertical jump is supposed to result in the spin in the axis perpendicular to the bar that results in the body going over the bar backwards without specific effort put into the spin. Try explaining this to an 8 year old! I think we will have to use cones to delineate the approach, since most of them (except Jennifer and a couple of the older boys) want to run straight rather than a curve. The coach put up one cone (there were no others available) for them to run around and many of them ignored it and went on the wrong side. The coach was very nice and patient with them. 

As always there are quite a few gymnasts on the team and they were very happy to see me with a clicker! I definitely notice that, like dogs, kids become "clicker wise" and learn faster than naive kids. Some of the kids have now been tagged for gymnastics, volleyball, long jump and high jump and these kids catch on much faster than the others. Of course the gymnasts have super body awareness and coachability, so this is probably also a major factor.

Here is a video showing the final tagging protocol we used for high jump:

Basic Principles Article #11 - The Point of Success

By Joan Orr, M.Sc.

What is the Point of Success?

The point of success is something the learner can already do and where he is guaranteed to earn a tag. For example a kindergarten student can certainly pick up a pencil with her writing hand. The first tag point in teaching letter formation could be “pencil in writing hand”. Starting with the point of success ensures success on the first try and provides a rewarding introduction to the lesson and to the method of TAGteach if this is the first experience with it. The point of success will gradually change as the learner gains competency. The point of success is a place to return to if the learner is having trouble with more difficult tag points.

Finding the Point of Success

In some cases the point of success is obvious. For example “stand still” or “hands folded on desk” are things that it is reasonable to expect that most learners are able to do at least for a moment or two. If you are a coach or teacher that has been working already with your learners you probably have a good idea of what each learner can easily do. With new learners or a new task, you need to evaluate their current status with the skill or behavior you are trying to teach. Ask them to attempt the skill and just observe without comment. Find something they are already doing correctly or something that is very easily accomplished and make this the first tag point. For example in teaching a learner to play the piano the point of success may be to sit at the keyboard with middle C and belly button lined up.

Sometimes the point of success is more difficult to find. If you are teaching a complex skill and the learner seems to be doing many parts of it incorrectly or is missing a key aspect, finding a point of success may be more of a challenge. For example, you are teaching an athlete to high jump using the Fosbury flop method. This requires the back to be arched while clearing the bar, but the athlete is going over in more of a sitting position without the proper arch. Where is the point of success when the main component, the arch, is nowhere to be seen? In this case in order to find a point of success, you need to make the task easier. Have the athlete lie on his stomach and push up with his hands while his hips remain on the ground. In this position it is easy for him to achieve the tag point “arch back”. He could also achieve this position lying on his back on the crash mat with either his upper or his lower body hanging over the edge of the mat. Isolating an element from the skill in this manner allows the athlete to experience the feeling of the position and have it be solidified by hearing the tag without having to try to do all the other complex parts of the skill. After a few repetitions of “arch back” isolated from the skill, move on to putting this back into the skill. To ensure the best chance of success, give the athlete as few other components to think about as possible. Remove the bar and ask him to jump from a standstill backwards onto the crash mat with the tag point “arch back”. This removes many other variables and gives him the opportunity to put all his focus into the one key element. You can gradually add one step then two steps, then the full run and finally replace the bar. If the athlete begins having trouble, go back to the most recent point of success and build up again from there. Start each new session with a point of success identified from the previous session.

Here is a video that illustrates this example. In this case we were able to isolate the point of success by having the athlete jump backwards from a standstill. We need to return to this point of success several times during the course of the training session.

We invite you to join the TAGteacher discussion group at www.tagteach.com to meet others who are implementing TAGteach in various disciplines and to see the list of upcoming TAGteach seminars.