Sunday, February 21, 2010

Staying the Course

Some anonymous blog reader was kind enough to post my series of results and jumps from last year up until this past weekend in the comments of my last post. The reasoning seemed to be that perhaps I was headed in the wrong direction. Or maybe I should start freaking out and question everything I’m doing because something isn’t working. Well obviously this anonymous person isn’t an athlete. Or a coach. Or a nice human being…but that’s besides the point.

When you’ve been doing this as long as I have, you come to realize when freak-outs aren’t necessary. You can’t all of the sudden become a bad jumper in a few weeks time. It’s virtually impossible. I started off this indoor season on a good note. That tells me all I need to know. It tells me that on any given day, I can jump pretty far. That doesn’t mean on every given day I will. Unfortunately it doesn’t always work that way. As a young competitor, I didn’t really understand that and I would let a bad competition get the best of me. I’d start to wonder what was wrong, I’d try to change things hoping to fix it, and I would begin to doubt myself. But now I try to take it in stride and stay positive. Sure. I allow myself a 24-hour sulking period, but I find that therapeutic. These days I am relying on myself far more than ever before so it’s that much more important that I don’t become a head case.

In keeping with the theme this year, I’m posting the following video of one of my jumps. The word that comes to mind for me is pancake. I really felt so incredibly flat trying to come off the board during the whole competition. Other than that though…I felt great! I tried tweaking a few things in my approach, but it’s hard to tell if it worked or not, being as though I had so much trouble getting 2 inches off the ground at takeoff. As always, feel free to share your thoughts. Some I’ll take in to consideration, others...maybe not. :)

21 comments:

E.M.H. said...

I think you are doing the right thing and keeping positive. Way too early in the track season to be stressing yourself out :-) Plus, while jumping far is your ultimate goal, some meets may be more about working on your technique and jumping well. The distance will definitely come. Good luck if you're jumping this weekend at nationals. Have fun

Anonymous said...

As before...I'll wait to see other comments before I give you my shiney, red two cents worth! :O)

~Yeaya

Bianca said...

I LOVE these videos! I'm so proud of you.

SD soon?

Anonymous said...

Some people thrive on being critical of others, you are doing the right thing by being selective in who you "listen" to vs who you "hear". I haven't seen your evolution as a jumper so this is a comment solely based on this video. I think from a physics perspective the reason why you felt flat was the placement of you drive knee. It seems like it was a little bit below 90 degrees. The right leg quad starts below 90 and you rush the transition to landing phase. Just my two cents.

Unknown said...

I've been following your blog a little closer this year and it's great to see the meet videos to track your progression.

I'm guessing the clip from the Aviva Grand Prix is your 6.38 jump, but I could be wrong. Compared to previous meets your speed looked good, and you can see that your hips never rose between the board and the pit (which explains "pancakes"). You could be more patient in your flight, but all the little things are what you work on at meets.

Consistency is key when it comes to the jumps, and you have been all indoor season. Big jumps come when they need to so US Nationals and WC in Doha are where it will happen. You're doing great.

Dust said...

Again I know nothing about your profession so I have no good advice, sorry.

However, I feel you can place the blame on your previous blog and your slice of cake. That could've hinder you from jumping your best.

The moral of the story, blame the little things and it will put your mind at ease.

Brianna said...

@erin...thanks! i'm looking forward to this weekend.

@Yeaya...you are trying to steal someone else's expertise, huh??

@bianca...come soooooon!!!

@anonymous...you are right. however, it's kind of something i could always do better. i need to drive my knee better.


@jeffrey...thanks for your two cents and for the vote of confidence. i appreciate it!

@dust...darn piece of cake. but i've done worse so i doubt it was that. :)

Janell said...

Girl, pay them haters "no nevermind"!!!! Keep doin yo thang:) Just remember you gotta grind in order to shine....God Bless.

~~CJL

Doogsiregna said...

Good! Get pissed off! Channel the anger into jumping longer this weekend! Jumping is about being in a controlled state of complete RAGE which explodes when you hit the board and in the air fighting for every inch! Anger is good!

Anonymous said...

Bri - I wouldn't steal someone else's expertise. :O) Everybody has opinion's and I was just interested to see what others would say first before I commented. BUT, since Anonymous stole MY 2 cents (hahaha), let me give you the 1 cent I had hidden in my shoe:

I've looked at the other two vids of yours and the only thing I can see was your flight. Seems to be rushed on the current vid. HIT THAT BOARD, SPREAD YOUR WINGS AND ENJOY THAT FLIGHT!!! Remember what I told you..."everyone has an opinion" that was just mine. I didn't see the chopped steps like on the other vid, although that is a common occurance during the start of the season, it was minor. Seems like you've gotten that taken care of and you're headed in the right direction and really have nothing to worry about (my opinion again). I also liked "Doogsiregna's" comment! ;O)

For what its worth...that's my take on it.

~Yeaya

Steve Ryan said...

Negative input - BAD! Positive input works wonders! Keep at it. There are lots of us out here who wish you the best and wish we could be with you on every jump.

Anonymous said...

Brianna...I think you are over lowering the penultimate which puts you in a bad position to apply force for takeoff. Work on just putting the penultimate flat (rolling) and try not to over low. Besides that and a couple of advises given before will help you in your jumps.

Hcaocsannairb said...

Analysis:

I don't see where you are "jumping" at all. You look like you have the runs and are trying to get the bathroom as quick as you can in the most direct line. You sprint up to the board like you have an ironing board strapped to your back. You run through the board with no "coil" at all. Your trajectory was terrible. You are using only speed, with no jumping. Speed launched forward in a straight line comes down quicker than if you launch in a proper arch. Your stutter step was ok, but cost you a few inches as it looked clumsy. Landing was ok. The dark socks were ugly. I much prefer white with red and blue stripes as it shows off your strides and extension above the pit better. Plus everyone likes a patriotic athlete.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybEs3j_MmrA

Open the above video and lets look at the first jump and analyze the parts of the jump and why is was successful. Watch the first jump about 10 times now.

Here is what you should have seen......

THE APPROACH
1.) First, he builds speed, builds, builds, builds, builds, and then levels off the last 10 or 15 meters before the board at a controlled top speed! Notice his approach is not his normal sprinting form in the 100 meter. He has a higher bounce to his step. Kinda a mix between a high jumper approach and a sprinters sprint mixed into one. Jumping is not sprinting. Sprinting is not jumping. If it were, Grace would have been a 100 meter Olympian. Speed only gets you so far in jumping. You have to be a JUMPER. And you need to have a slight bounce to your step, not just speed.

2.) Second, notice his body the third to last stride, his head, and torso dip to start preparing, gathering all his power, like getting ready to sneeze, everything coils up, coils up, coils up, ready for the last step and an explosion and release of the coil! 1-2 EXPLODE ON 3, 1-2 EXPLODE ON 3, 1-2 EXPLODE ON 3! Notice how in the beginning of his second to last step, if you can freeze the frame on that step his body is slightly leaning back and is transitioning forward into the last Explosive step to the board. Freeze the very next frame, he is straight upright on the board. Think of the last 3 steps like a wave on Pacific Beach. The water is being pulled out to sea, which "coils" the incoming swell, the swell, leans back, gathers strength, and then 1-2 - Explode, 1 -2 Explode on 3, the wave pushes forward with great power and strength. The wave can NOT just charge into shore. Without the "coil" it has no power! On the 1, is the lean back coil, transition into the 2 with full coil, transitioning into the momentum forward bringing your torso upright and to the 3 of hitting the board and thrusting all that coil, and speed, up into the air! It happens very fast, the lean back is so very very slight, and very very quick, the lowering is very very slight and very very quick, all of this flows like a wave forward gathering power to the final climax! Yes, I said it before, it's like an orgasm. I won't go into details here.



Lets recap and combine #1 and #2 before we go on......

** Visualize what is going to happen. The approach, the coil, the explosion, the flight, the landing.

** Build speed, build speed, bounce in strides, speed, bounce, speed, speed, build, build, full speed 10 to 15 meters away from climax.

** Like a wave, building its power, 3'rd step before board, lower, coil, coil, build forward and upward force like a wave.

** Transition the wave of coiled power to the board, torso hitting board upright, exploding forward and upward! 1 coil, set up for dip, slight lean back, 2 dip coil start forward wave, and 3 explode up and out.

** Reach, reach, reach, reach, fight, fight, fight, fight, for every darn inch you can twist and stretch out of your body!

And there you go....7+...You win!

xoxo

Anonymous said...

OMG Why is everyone throwing a tizzy over indoor this year? World Championships? The question is how are athletes and coaches adjusting their training, if at all? Bottom Line - You won't have peak performances until your body is ready, aka neuromuscularly (<-new word)tuned. If you are training/lifting at high volume as you normally would in prep for main outdoor season then you can not expect your technique to just fall together now. Though, as an "advance" athlete you can still train & perform at high levels with a certain type of periodization training. Otherwise,

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Ms. Glenn;
I am still thinking about that 39 day CAKE! If we are ever at the same event, I'm gonna bring the whole thing and we can share it at track side. Yeahhhh Baby!

Generally most of the analysis seems to point out your flight stage. This season you should focus on that aspect of your specialty event. Everything before the board is okay for the season, long term benefits will be achieved by your jump and flight development.

If a basketball player can beat everyone with terrible technique. Then is should be clear to any novice that the standard law of physics does not apply. Marion Jones also lacked style points but physical ability got the job done. Even before shooting up jet fuel. Inspect your "black box" this year for the answers.

Brianna said...

I think many of you actually have some valid points and I appreciate you sharing them!

Just so you know, although I am not by any means a technically sound jumper, I do know a lot about long jumping. A lot of times I know exactly what I'm doing wrong, and why. That doesn't mean I can automatically fix it though! I've been doing this a long time and worked with pretty much every coach under the sun. I just think it is helpful to sometimes get fresh eyes on things and also it's interesting to see what others see.

Some of my issues this meet simply came from the travel and time zones catching up with me. My body simply wasn't responding the way it needed to. I also was blocking at my penultimate step, which in turn caused me to reach too much at the board, which in turn causes my angle at takeoff to not be ideal. To me, this was my main issue.

For the person who commented about all the hooplah about Indoors...you are right to an extent. Hardly anybody will ever be able to be at their peak in an event like this indoors. However, this is the team we have to make this year and it matters. So we are all just giving it our best shot!

Brianna said...

I think many of you actually have some valid points and I appreciate you sharing them!

Just so you know, although I am not by any means a technically sound jumper, I do know a lot about long jumping. A lot of times I know exactly what I'm doing wrong, and why. That doesn't mean I can automatically fix it though! I've been doing this a long time and worked with pretty much every coach under the sun. I just think it is helpful to sometimes get fresh eyes on things and also it's interesting to see what others see.

Some of my issues this meet simply came from the travel and time zones catching up with me. My body simply wasn't responding the way it needed to. I also was blocking at my penultimate step, which in turn caused me to reach too much at the board, which in turn causes my angle at takeoff to not be ideal. To me, this was my main issue.

For the person who commented about all the hooplah about Indoors...you are right to an extent. Hardly anybody will ever be able to be at their peak in an event like this indoors. However, this is the team we have to make this year and it matters. So we are all just giving it our best shot!

Anonymous said...

Closing comment:
Alvin Ailey once spoke of the use of dance in athletics. Long Jump has always been one of my favorite events after the 4x1 & 4x4 relays. But with a hip that would slip out of place better judgement dictated foregoing the jumps. Still Alvin Ailey's Harlem dancers abilities always fascinated my imagination for new long jump styles.

Frankly if I did compete in the long jump my endeavors would be to go the distance; yet do it with a dynamic aerial display. Art & Athletics is something rarely seen in track and field.

If anyone is interested in a athletic mixing session at UCLA before 7:30am let me know. And I will take on any challengers from 100 to 800 metres. If you are "pro", don't be foolish to think you can win easy.

Doogsiregna said...

@Wiliqi

Might take you up on that. Let me know how my ass looks. Let's plan it when Brianna is up in LA so she can can join us. I'll buy breakfast after.
:)

Anonymous said...

Just to be clear. I don't take challenges from women, unless it's something like chess.