Willie Banks shares the overarching themes for the course: how to structure the triple jump, how to train for the event and how to find joy in the sport. In this class, you’ll learn proper jumping technique, how to think like a triple jumper and the most effective drills for the event.

The triple jump is an exceptionally impactful event that requires a focus on building strength and stability to withstand the hop, skip, and jump forces. In this chapter, Willie Banks shares his go-to strength and injury prevention drills. You’ll learn exercises specifically designed for triple jumpers that strengthen the core, legs, and feet.

Track and field athletes and coaches know that warming up is non-negotiable. But triple jumping comes with inherent risks that require more than a jog around the track. In this chapter, you’ll hear Willie Banks’s approach to warming up for the triple jump and his recommendations for structuring your warm-up routine.

Before beginning any training, it’s critical to warm up your muscles, joints, and nervous system to handle the workout ahead. As a triple jumper, it’s essential to warm up all the joints, ligaments, and muscles of the legs and core while getting your nervous system primed for jumping. In this lesson, Willie Banks shares the triple-jump-specific warm-up drills his athletes do before every training session.

Continuing on the previous chapter, you’ll learn additional warm-up exercises, focal points and common errors.

The hips and pelvis must withstand a heavy impact in the triple jump. This is why it’s vital to warm them up appropriately. Using a resistance band to stretch and build strength in the hips is a great tool to add resistance to your warm-up routine. This chapter shows the resistance band warm-up that Chris Benard builds into every practice.

Every track and field coach uses hurdles for strength and coordination work, no matter the event. Willie Banks also likes to use them for technique work. In this lesson, you’ll see triple-jump-specific hurdle drills to improve strength and flexibility while building proper posture, positioning, and technique.

The triple jump requires significant strength, flexibility, and coordination. This lesson will teach you five stationary hurdle drills to improve posterior, knee, and hip strength and flexibility.

What did a world champion and triple jump record holder learn from bounding drills? This chapter shows how Willie Banks learned to bound with the proper direction of force and landing alignment while improving his strength and confidence. He also shares the bounding drills he has found most effective for training triple jumpers of all levels.

The difference between force or power and speed is often difficult for younger athletes to understand. In this lesson, Willie Banks explains how he teaches athletes the difference between these concepts. You’ll see some physical demonstrations and drills that help facilitate an understanding of force/power and speed.

The run is the most important part of the jump. It’s where speed, momentum, and distance are generated. In this lesson, Willie Banks breaks down the four phases of the run, the critical components of each, and common errors. He also shares how to find the starting distance of the run for each athlete.

Continuing on the previous chapter, Coach Banks elaborates on the momentum and power phase of the run in the triple jump. You’ll learn the difference between speed and momentum and how to achieve maximum momentum and power before reaching the hop phase.

After the momentum or power phase of the run, the next phase is the rhythm phase. In this lesson, Willie Banks describes what the rhythm phase should look like and feel like to ensure you don’t lose power and speed. He then shares the critical technical elements of the takeoff and breaks down how to move through the hop, step, and jump.

Do you jump off the board or push off the board? The critical answer to this question will be the difference between a failed or a successful jump. In this chapter, Willie Banks explains how he teaches the concept of pushing off the board and what it should look like when done correctly. He also shares common mistakes with pushing off the board and how to correct them.

The hop phase is the first phase of the triple jump. In this lesson, Coach Banks describes what this phase should look like and the technical elements to achieve an effective hop. He outlines the physical components coaches should look for, common errors, and how to correct them.

Practicing the movements of the triple jump without speed can be nearly impossible. In this chapter and the following lesson, Willie Banks how he trains triple-jumpers using hanging and bar drills and why these are so beneficial to helping jumpers understand proper technique and build strength.

Continuing on the previous chapter, this lesson shows some highly effective, low-impact movements to build strength and improve technique while hanging from or strapped to a bar.

Body alignment is paramount to success in the triple jump. Everything should be in-line from the ears to the shoulders to the hips to the knees. This lesson provides drills to ensure proper hip and leg positioning during the jump and at the board.

The next phase of the triple jump is the step phase. In this phase, you are trying to achieve distance, conserve velocity and maintain proper posture as you transition to the jump phase. In this chapter, Willie Banks describes how to accomplish this and ensure this phase leads to a successful jump.

One of the common questions Willie Banks has heard during his career is, “how do you train for the takeoff in the triple jump?” This lesson will answer that question and give you many different surface options to use to train the takeoff.

The final phase of the triple jump is the jump phase. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to improve the jump phase to get more distance out of the jump. Coach Banks also shares common errors for beginning jumpers in this phase.

Landing in the sandpit can be intimidating for inexperienced athletes. In this chapter, Chris Benard demonstrates the different ways athletes land, and Willie Banks provides feedback on correcting errors and landing properly.

Like sprinting and hurdling, arm action in the triple jump is a vital component of a long triple jump. In this lesson, Coach Banks discusses why arm action is so important and what your arms should be doing during the run and jump phases. He also shares the difference between single and double arm action in the jump.

Fouling and poor posture or technique at the board ruins a potentially good jump. In this chapter, Willie Banks explains how he coaches athletes to achieve proper alignment at the board and how to correct fouling errors.

During his jumping career, Willie Banks often focused on the wrong things at the wrong time. In this chapter, he shares what he has learned about focus after becoming a coach and how to help athletes focus in practice to perform in competition. He also discusses the importance of rest and how he learned to respect this vital training element.

In this chapter, Willie Banks shares the lessons he learned from his World Record Jump.

Rhythmic hand-clapping has become a mainstay at track and field events. It’s a beautiful way for athletes to fire up their spirit and connect with fans on the runway. Its spectator participation at its finest. But this now ubiquitous scene wasn’t always a part of the sport. In 1981 Willie Banks brought the rhythmic clap to track and field and changed the fate of the triple jump forever.