How many steps back should a triple jumper's run-up be?
Longer is not better in triple jump the way it is in long jump, because a faster approach only helps if the hop, step and jump can still absorb the speed.
Long jumpers are chasing maximum controllable speed into one takeoff, and a run-up of 16 to 20 strides usually earns its length. Triple jump is a different problem: the same speed has to survive three takeoffs in a row, and a run-up built to maximise speed into the board often produces a hop so big it eats the rest of the jump.
Why shorter is the safer start
A run-up of 8 to 10 strides is enough to get an athlete moving fast without handing them more speed than their hop, step and jump can currently absorb. Start there, not because it is a ceiling, but because it is the length where a coach can actually see whether the three phases are even, rather than watching one huge hop followed by two short ones trying to make up for it.
- If the hop is consistently taller than it is long, the run-up is already feeding in more speed than the phases can use.
- If the step and jump are both shrinking relative to the hop, lengthen the run-up only after that ratio settles, not before.
Lengthening it properly
Add strides from the back of the run-up, in twos, and only once the current length produces the same three-phase pattern on most attempts. A run-up that is inconsistent at 10 strides will not become consistent by adding six more; it will just fail faster.
What a single 2D camera cannot tell you: whether the run-up was the same length on this attempt as the last one. One clip shows one run. Counting the steps yourself, or filming several attempts from behind to compare the check marks, is still the only way to know if the approach is actually repeating, because the Film Room reads the one run in front of it, not a consistency score across several.
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Related
How long should a long jump run-up be?
Long enough to reach the speed the athlete can still take off from, and not one stride longer.
Read →How long should a high jumper's approach be?
The honest answer is set by how many strides it takes an athlete to reach a speed they can still control on the curve, not a number to copy.
Read →Why is my triple jumper fast on the runway but short in the pit?
A fast approach that does not turn into distance almost always means the speed is being spent going up instead of out.
Read →