Track & Field Jumping Practice Plan for 13 to 15 Year Olds
At 13 to 15, jump training becomes the elastic discipline: APPROACH CRAFT (longer run-ups with check marks, rhythm under speed), ELASTIC POWER developed on purpose (bounding menus, depth-drop landings, hill pops), the measured battery logged like lifts, and landing INTEGRITY as the growth-window law. Event technique (the flop, the hitch-kick) stays with track coaches and facilities; the home program builds the spring they shape.
This is a 75-minute session on grass with chalk and a low step or curb. Volume stays counted (max-effort jumps are nervous-system work: few, rested, immaculate), and the teenage frame goes on the wall: jumpers are sprinters with braver ankles, and the approach's controlled speed, not the leap's effort, sets every personal best.
This plan was written for every 13 to 15 year old. ParentEdge writes one for yours.
Built around their game, their goals, and what they’re working on.
How do home sessions relate to real long and high jump training?
They build the engine coaches shape: approach rhythm, penultimate feel, elastic power, and landing strength are the transferable 80 percent, while pits, mats, and event technique (flop mechanics, flight styles) belong to track programs. Athletes arriving with the engine learn events startlingly fast.
What are depth drops and what height is right?
Step-offs landing stuck (then converting to jumps): the elastic strength builder. LOW is the law at this age: a 12-to-18-inch curb or step, quality landings only, five-rep doses. The high-box versions circulating online are adult tools; the low version banks the same teenage adaptation without the joint tax.
How often should the jump battery be tested?
Quarterly, ceremonially: standing broad, short-approach jump, and vertical, logged against the growing line. Frequent testing just measures fatigue; the quarterly rhythm captures real adaptation plus maturation, and the multi-year chart becomes the most motivating page in the whole log.