Jumping events: training and safety for the long jump, triple jump, high jump and pole vault

Speed, then one take-off

A faster run-up gave longer jumps in an elite long jumper, and in an experienced vaulter every extra metre a second of run-up speed added about 0.54 m of height. Sprint speed is part of jump training.

Sources 1, 2

Injuries differ by event

Among decathletes and heptathletes at 11 championships, the pole vault, high jump and long jump had the most injuries per start. In college jumpers, ankle sprains led in the long jump, a big-toe tendon problem in the high jump and hamstring strains in the pole vault.

Sources 3, 4

Pole vault falls can be catastrophic

In US schools and colleges, most catastrophic pole vault injuries were head injuries from landing off the bed or in the box. Deaths fell after bigger landing pads and box padding became compulsory there in 2003, but other changes came at the same time, so the fall can't be credited to the pads alone.

Sources 5, 6

The rules set the beds and padding

World Athletics and UK Athletics set minimum sizes for pole vault and high jump beds and require padding, and UK safety guidance says no vaulting should start until all the pads and padding are in place.

Sources 7, 8, 9

Backs, knees and ankles

A stress fracture of the lower back (spondylolysis) was found in 28.6% of 21 vaulters scanned, and in a third of college vaulters' lower back injuries. Jumper's knee is common in jump sports, and ankle sprains are common in landings.

Sources 10, 11, 12

Heavy legs and jumps together

In a small randomised trial in 36 teenage long jumpers, pairing heavy squats and Romanian deadlifts with jumps raised the vertical jump by 15.6%, against 5.7% for lifting alone.

Source 13

The events

The long jump and triple jump are run-ups to a take-off board and a sand pit, the triple jump with a hop and a step before the jump. The high jump is a one-foot take-off over a bar onto a bed. The pole vault is a run-up, a plant into a box, a swing up on the bending pole and a fall onto a bed, often from 3 m or more. At top competitions the long jump board sits 1 m to 3 m from the pit, and the triple jump board at least 13 m (men) or 11 m (women) away.

Sources 7, 6

Speed and the take-offEmerging evidence

In 71 jumps by one elite long jumper, a faster run-up gave a longer jump, with a quicker, flatter take-off. In 17 vaults by one experienced vaulter, peak height rose about 0.54 m for every 1 m/s of run-up speed, about two-thirds of it from a higher push off the pole. These are studies of single athletes.

Sources 1, 2

What takes the loadEmerging evidence

The take-off leg's knee and Achilles tendon; the big-toe tendon in high jumpers; the ankles in landings and take-offs; the hamstrings; the lower back in vaulters at the plant and take-off; the bones of the foot; and, rarely but catastrophically, the head and neck in vault falls.

Sources 12, 4, 14, 11, 15, 6

Energy cost

The Compendium of Physical Activities lists the high, long and triple jumps, the javelin and the pole vault together at 6.0 metabolic equivalents (METs). The value is estimated rather than measured.

Source 16

What to train (our reading)

Sprint speed, strong legs and hips, tendons that cope with landings, ankles that land well, and a trunk that controls the arch and the twist; vaulters also need grip and pulling strength.

How often, by eventEmerging evidence

The numbers, by group and measure:

• Decathletes and heptathletes at 11 international championships, 2007 to 2024, injuries per 1,000 starts: decathlon pole vault 46.3, high jump 38.2 and long jump 35.0, against 3.2 in the shot put; heptathlon long jump 54.1 and high jump 29.3.
• 105 college jumpers in Japan over 2 seasons: 8.65 injuries per 1,000 athlete-exposures, with the pole vault at 10.53, the long and triple jump 8.94 and the high jump 4.96.
• US high school jumpers, 2008 to 2019: 1.33 injuries per 10,000 athlete-exposures, mostly the thigh (20.3%), ankle (18.2%) and knee (16.1%), with competition riskier than practice.
• 140 Wisconsin high school vaulters in one season: 26.4 injuries per 100 vaulters, 71.5% of them in the legs; landing incorrectly was the commonest cause.
• 135 college vaulters at 15 US universities in one season: 41% injured, the lower back 16.7% of injuries, and no head or neck injuries.
• 1,012 vaulters at one US indoor meet: 8 landing injuries in 6,751 vaults, all in less experienced vaulters.
• 62 French national-level vaulters: 77.4% had been injured in the previous 12 months.

Sources 3, 4, 14, 17, 11, 18, 19

AnklesEmerging evidence

Ankle sprains were the long jumpers' commonest injury (23.3%) in the Japanese college study, and the ankle took 18.2% of US high school jumpers' injuries. Our ankle sprain and chronic ankle instability guides cover them.

Sources 4, 14

Knees and Achilles tendonsEmerging evidence

Jumper's knee affected 14.2% of 613 Norwegian elite athletes from nine sports, high jumpers and sprinters among them, and 8.5% of 891 Dutch non-elite athletes, more often in younger, taller and heavier athletes. Growing jumpers more often have Osgood-Schlatter or Sinding-Larsen-Johansson. Our jumper's knee, Osgood-Schlatter, Sinding-Larsen-Johansson and Achilles tendinopathy guides cover these.

Sources 12, 20

The big-toe tendonEmerging evidence

In the Japanese college study, the commonest high jump injury was tendon pain in the flexor hallucis longus, the muscle that bends the big toe (15.8% of high jump injuries). We don't have a guide to it yet.

Source 4

BacksEmerging evidence

In the US college vaulters, 83% of lower back injuries happened at the plant and take-off, and a third of their lower back injuries were spondylolysis, a stress fracture of a vertebra, three-quarters of them ending the vaulter's season. Spondylolysis was found in 28.6% of 21 male vaulters scanned in Japan, and pooled studies put these defects in about 12% of track and field athletes, against about 6% of adults generally. Our back pain and spondylolisthesis guides cover them.

Sources 11, 10, 21

Foot bonesEmerging evidence

Jumpers, sprinters and hurdlers had more stress fractures in the foot than distance runners. In 110 teenagers with stress injuries of the navicular, a high-risk bone in the midfoot, 32% did cross-country or track, and 85% healed without surgery. Our stress fracture guide covers them.

Sources 15, 22

Catastrophic injuriesEmerging evidence

From 1982 to 1998 there were 32 catastrophic pole vault injuries in US schools and colleges, 31 of them head injuries, and half were fatal. From 2003 to 2011 there were 19, about 2 a year, most in or around the vault box; the authors put the rate per vaulter at about 30 times higher in college than in high school. In 2024/25, the direct catastrophic injuries in all US school and college sport included 2 in the pole vault and 1 in the triple jump.

Sources 5, 6, 23

What goes with injuriesEmerging evidence

Associations, not proven causes:

• A previous vault injury went with 2.4 times the risk in high school vaulters, and several previous injuries with 2.7 times the odds in college vaulters.
• Inexperience and landings: landing incorrectly was the commonest cause in young vaulters, and every landing injury at one meet was in a less experienced vaulter.
• Run-up and take-off: faster approaches, bigger adjustments in the last strides and a lower grip went with more past injuries in French vaulters.
• Sex: men had about twice women's injury rate in the jumps at championships.
• Energy: low energy availability was commonest in endurance and jumping events, and in women, menstrual problems and lower bone density went with stress fractures.

Sources 17, 11, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26

Pole vault: bigger pads and box paddingEmerging evidence

The US school and college rule changes of 2003, as Boden 2012 reports them, enlarged the landing pad behind the box (from 16 ft × 12 ft to 19 ft 8 in × 16 ft 5 in) and required at least 2 inches of padding in the box collar. Afterwards, injuries from landing off the pad fell more than threefold and deaths fell from about 1.0 to 0.22 a year, but injuries in or around the box rose, often where box padding was missing. Other changes came at the same time, so the fall can't be credited to the pads alone.

Sources 6, 5

HelmetsMixed evidence

None of the 19 vaulters catastrophically injured after 2003 wore a helmet. The authors thought helmets warranted, but warned that a fall from 3 m or more onto a hard surface "would easily exceed the protection capabilities of a helmet", and no study has measured their effect. Neither World Athletics nor UK Athletics requires one. A helmet is a personal choice and no substitute for a full, padded, correctly placed bed and a coach (our reading).

Sources 6, 7, 8

Landing in the boxEmerging evidence

84% of 3,335 US vaulters surveyed had landed in the box at least once in their careers (77% 1 to 3 times), and 3% of those needed medical care. Coaching vaulters onto the middle of the bed, and box padding, are the measures; no trial has tested them.

Source 6

Pits and bedsStrong evidence

UK competition safety guidance says compacted or shallow sand "is the most frequent cause of injury", so pits are dug over to at least 30 cm and raked, and nobody should jump or vault onto a bed smaller than UK Athletics' specification. The details are in the pits and beds section.

Sources 9, 27

Landing skillsEmerging evidence

Landing badly was the commonest cause of young vaulters' injuries, and at one meet no landing injury followed a good landing. No trial has tested landing training in jumpers; our warm-up and workout rehearse landings first, as our jump guide does.

Sources 17, 18

Knees and tendonsEmerging evidence

Jumper's knee is common in jump sports, and whether jump volume causes it is uncertain, as our jump guide explains. Treatment is staged loading with tendon pain kept at 3 out of 10 or less, as our jumper's knee guide explains. We found no prevention trial in jumpers.

Sources 12, 20

Strength training cuts sports injuriesStrong evidence

Across 25 randomised trials in many sports, strength training cut sports injuries to under a third, while stretching programmes made no difference.

Source 28

What isn't shownMixed evidence

Without good evidence in jumpers:

• Helmets in the pole vault: no study.
• Pole weight ratings: the US rule's effect on injuries hasn't been measured.
• A prevention programme for jumpers: none beyond athletics' all-events programme, which made no difference in its trial when few athletes did it as asked.
• Landing technique training: observational evidence only.
• Ankle braces or taping for jumpers: not studied in athletics; our ankle guides cover the evidence from other sports.

Sources 6, 29, 18

Speed firstEmerging evidence

Run-up speed drove distance and height in the single-athlete studies, so sprint training, as in our sprint guide and sprinting page, is part of jump training.

Sources 1, 2

Jump training, from our jump guide

Two sessions a week for 8 to 12 weeks, with about 80 to 100 landings a session for beginners and 100 to 120 for intermediate athletes; landings first, then jumps, then low depth jumps. Our jump guide sets out the progression.

Heavy legs and jumps together: the long jumper trialEmerging evidence

36 boys aged 14 to 16 with about 5 years of long jump training were randomised to complex training (lifts paired with jumps) or lifting alone: three 30-minute sessions a week for 8 weeks, after a 4-week phase learning the movements, on top of three 90-minute technique sessions and two sprint sessions a week. The complex group's programme:

• Weeks 1 and 2: back squats at 60% of their best for 8 to 12 reps, then 10 vertical jumps; Romanian deadlifts at 60% for 8 to 12, then 10 box jumps onto 30 cm; 60 to 90 seconds between the lift and the jumps, and 2 to 3 minutes between sets.
• Weeks 3 to 5: 65% to 70% for 8 to 12, with 10 to 12 depth jumps from 40 cm and bounds.
• Weeks 6 to 8: 80% for 6 to 12 reps, with single-leg and alternate-leg bounds, and power cleans at 80% for 6 to 12 reps. That's the trial's dose: our power clean guide uses far fewer reps, and our workout doesn't copy it.
• Results: vertical jump 39.2 to 45.3 cm (up 15.6%) against 39.5 to 41.7 cm (up 5.7%); mid-thigh pull up 12.6% against 7.2%; squat up 17.6% against 15.5%; standing long jump up 8.7% against 3.7%. The groups' final results differed significantly only for the vertical jump and the mid-thigh pull. It's a small trial in teenage boys.

Source 13

Plyometrics set by reactive strengthEmerging evidence

In a randomised crossover trial in 27 national-level male junior jumpers and sprinters, 19 weeks of plyometrics with the drop height and volume set by each athlete's reactive strength improved the 60 m and the standing triple jump more than traditional plyometrics, and the group that trained as usual didn't improve over the whole trial. After the first 8 weeks, though, the usual-training group had improved its standing long jump as much as either plyometric group.

Source 30

Olympic lifts

Weightlifting raised jump height about as much as jump training, as our power clean guide explains, where it's taught from the hang with light weights and a coach.

The pole vault (our reading)

We found no strength or conditioning trial in vaulters. Vaulting needs sprint speed, grip and pulling strength, and the trunk control to turn upside down on the pole; our gymnastics conditioning workout trains hollow and arch holds. Faster approaches and late stride adjustments went with more past injuries, so a consistent approach is a safety skill as well as a performance one.

Source 19

The high jump and triple jump

We found no randomised training trial in high jumpers or triple jumpers. Triple jumpers' bounding fits the evidence that forward jumps improve sprinting.

Source 31

Peaking (our suggestion)

We found no taper study in jumpers. The guidance for strength and power sports is a 2- to 3-week taper with training volume cut by 40% to 60% and the intensity kept. In the last week, keep a few short, fast jumps and full approaches, and drop heavy lifting 3 to 5 days out.

Source 32

Fitting it in (our suggestion)

Preparation: 2 technique sessions with a coach, 2 jump sessions as in our jump guide, 2 strength sessions such as our strength and landing workout, and sprint work, with jump and lifting days 48 to 72 hours apart. Count full-approach jumps and vaults.

Competition season: 1 strength session early in the week and fewer full approaches, as above. Young jumpers: no triple jump in competition before under-16, and the growth-spurt advice in the backs section below.

Source 8

World Athletics' landing areasStrong evidence

World Athletics' Technical Rules (Book C, last modified 1 July 2026):

• The landing area must be at least 6 m long behind the zero line (excluding the front pieces) × 6 m wide × 0.8 m high at top competitions, with front pieces at least 2 m long, and at least 5 m × 5 m × 0.8 m at other competitions.
• The bases and lower parts of the uprights must be padded, and an athlete may place padding around the box, which organisers provide at top competitions.
• The bar's pegs may sit on arms fixed to the uprights "to lessen the chance of injury to an athlete by their falling on the feet of the uprights".

Source 7

UK AthleticsStrong evidence

Both World Athletics standards apply to competition in the UK, and pole vault beds of UK Athletics' pre-2020 specification are still acceptable.

Source 8

UK safety guidance for competitions (2018)Strong evidence

Safe Athletics, from UK Athletics and the home country federations:

• "No vaulting should be allowed to commence unless ALL the pads and padding are in place", including the padding around the box and on the uprights.
• Landing beds 800 mm deep.
• Any hard surface within 5 m of the box to the front and sides, and 7 m behind it, covered with impact-absorbing material.
• "A track meeting should not be an unsupervised pole vault practice session for inexperienced athletes", and "Beware of falling poles".

Source 9

Athletes' own checksStrong evidence

Athletics Northern Ireland's safety advice for athletes:

• Keep a fibreglass pole protected with a proper pole bung, and don't use one in an old-fashioned box with a vertical back.
• "Always use a pole appropriate to your age, weight and strength": a pole bending more than 90° is being overstressed.
• Avoid dropping the pole after your vault.

Source 27

US rulesStrong evidence

The 2003 US school and college rules enlarged the landing pad and required box-collar padding, as Boden 2012 reports them. An Ohio association memo from 2009 reproduces the US high school rule that a vaulter's weight must be at or below the pole's rating, a rule dating from 1995. From 2026, US high school rules require padding on hard surfaces raised above ground level near the landing area.

Sources 6, 33, 34

Learning to vault (our suggestion)

Learn with a qualified coach, on a full bed with the box and upright padding in place, from short run-ups and with a pole suited to your weight. Aim to land in the middle of the bed, and never vault alone.

Long and triple jump pitsStrong evidence

The rules and the guidance:

• World Athletics: the pit 2.75 m to 3 m wide, "filled with soft damp sand, the top surface of which shall be level with the take-off board".
• UK safety guidance: sand dug over and loosened to at least 30 cm, because "compacted/shallow sand is the most frequent cause of injury"; raked every 10 jumps; nothing within 1 m of the sides or 2 m behind; and the next jumper doesn't start until the last one has cleared the pit.

Sources 7, 9

High jump bedsStrong evidence

The rules and the guidance:

• World Athletics: a landing area at least 6 m × 4 m × 0.7 m at top competitions and 5 m × 3 m × 0.7 m at others.
• UK safety guidance: practice or competition "should never be allowed on a bed that does not meet current UKA specifications" (3 m long, 5 m wide and 0.6 m deep), with hard surfaces within 2 m covered and uprights that can't topple inwards.
• Athletics Northern Ireland: "Never attempt Fosbury Flop style High jump, except onto a suitable landing area, under the direction of a competent coach."

Sources 7, 9, 27

Landings (our suggestion)

Learn each landing with a coach: feet first into the pit in the long and triple jump, and on your back in the middle of the bed in the high jump and pole vault, never head or neck first.

How commonEmerging evidence

Spondylolysis was found in 28.6% of 21 male vaulters scanned, a third of US college vaulters' lower back injuries were spondylolysis, and pooled studies put these defects in about 12% of track and field athletes.

Sources 10, 11, 21

What helps

Our spondylolisthesis guide describes a trial in which teenagers with an active stress fracture did better starting physiotherapy straight away, out of the painful sport, than resting first. Our gymnastics page gives British Gymnastics' growth-spurt advice, the closest guidance for growing vaulters and high jumpers: modify training, go back to basics, and maintain rather than push flexibility. The NHS says to see a GP for lower back pain that doesn't go away after 3 to 4 weeks.

Source 35

In practice (our suggestion)

Count vaults and full-approach jumps, cut them during growth spurts, and treat back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, or is worse arching back, as a reason to see a GP or a sports physiotherapist.

UK Athletics' rules, from 1 April 2026Strong evidence

Under-14s can't compete in the triple jump, and the event limits on our sprinting page apply to every event. Under-10s and under-12s sit outside the formal rules, in multi-event run, jump and throw formats. We found no minimum age for the pole vault in UK Athletics' rules.

Sources 8, 36, 37

Early success predicts littleEmerging evidence

Only 10% to 25% of Italy's top adult long and high jumpers had been top-level at 16, and about 60% of the top 16-year-olds didn't stay at the top (women's high jump was the exception). In the World Athletics database, only 8% of boys and 16% of girls in the world's top 50 at 16 reached the senior top 50; the early stars levelled off from about 20, while the top seniors kept improving to 26 or 27.

Sources 38, 39

Load and growthEmerging evidence

Young Australian elite athletes who got injured had trained harder at 13 to 14. Judge young jumpers by how they're improving, not by results, and cut jumping during growth spurts (our reading).

Source 40

Everyone: seven questions

The PAR-Q+ (Physical Activity Readiness Questionnaire for Everyone) asks about a heart condition or high blood pressure, chest pain, dizziness or losing consciousness, other long-term conditions and their medicines, a bone or joint problem that activity could make worse, and being told to exercise only under supervision. If you answer yes to any, check with your doctor or a qualified exercise professional first.

Sources 41, 42

Young vaulters and jumpers with back pain

Back pain that lasts more than a couple of weeks, or is worse arching back, needs a GP or sports physiotherapist, as our spondylolisthesis guide explains: stress fractures of the lower back are common in vaulters. The NHS says to see a GP for lower back pain that doesn't go away after 3 to 4 weeks.

Sources 10, 11, 35

Anyone starting the pole vault

Catastrophic injuries come from landing off the bed or in the box, and landing injuries clustered in less experienced vaulters. Vault only with a coach, on a full, padded, correctly placed bed, with a pole suited to your weight and strength.

Sources 6, 18, 9, 27

Anyone learning the flop

Only onto a proper landing area, with a competent coach, as Athletics Northern Ireland says.

Source 27

Pain below the kneecap or in the Achilles that builds with jumping

See our jumper's knee and Achilles guides, and keep tendon pain at 3 out of 10 or less while you load it.

Sources 12, 20

Growing jumpers with knee or heel pain

Osgood-Schlatter, Sinding-Larsen-Johansson and Sever's disease are common at this age: our guide to each explains what to do, and our gymnastics page gives the growth-spurt advice.

Bone pain in the midfoot

The navicular is a high-risk site for stress fractures. Stop jumping: our stress fracture guide says these sites need prompt assessment, often with a scan.

Sources 15, 22

Pregnant

The NHS says not to do sports where there's a risk of falling or bumping your tummy. The jumps and the vault carry that risk (our reading); talk to your midwife.

Source 43

After a concussion

No competition before day 21 under the UK guidelines. Our concussion guide explains the graduated return.

Source 44

A head injury: call 999

The NHS says to call 999 if someone has hit their head and:

• Has been knocked out and hasn't woken up.
• Has fallen from a height of more than 1 metre or 5 stairs, such as a fall from a vault or a high jump.
• Has a fit (seizure).
• Has problems with their vision or hearing, or clear fluid coming from their ears or nose.
• Has new numbness or weakness in any part of their body.

Source 45

Suspected concussion

Off the runway: if in doubt, sit them out. No return that day, and an assessment within 24 hours by a healthcare professional or NHS 111. Athletics has no concussion rule of its own in the UK, so the UK guidelines apply, with no competition before day 21.

Sources 44, 45

A neck injury after a fall

Don't move them: the UK guidelines say someone with a suspected neck injury should be moved only by healthcare professionals with the right training. Call 999 (our suggestion).

Source 44

Back pain with leg, bladder or bowel symptoms

Call 999 or go to A&E for back pain with pain, tingling, weakness or numbness in both legs, loss of feeling around your genitals or anus, or changes in your bladder or bowels, or back pain that started after a serious accident.

Source 46

A knee injury

Get advice from NHS 111 if you can't move your knee or put any weight on it, it's badly swollen or has changed shape, or it locks, gives way or painfully clicks.

Source 47

An ankle injury

Call 999 or go to A&E if you heard a crack, the ankle has changed shape or points at an odd angle, it's numb or tingling, or the skin has changed colour or is cold. Get help from NHS 111 if you can't put any weight on it or walk more than a few steps.

Source 48

"Bigger landing pads solved pole vault safety"Emerging evidence

After the 2003 US rules enlarged pads, injuries from landing off the pad fell sharply, but injuries from landing in or around the box tripled, often where box padding was missing.

Source 6

"A helmet makes pole vaulting safe"Mixed evidence

None of the injured vaulters in the US series wore one, and the authors thought helmets warranted, but a fall from 3 m onto a hard surface would exceed a helmet's protection, and no study has measured their effect.

Source 6

"Long jump is all about the legs"Emerging evidence

Distance rose with run-up speed in an elite long jumper, and vault height with run-up speed in a vaulter: sprint speed matters as much as spring.

Sources 1, 2

"Jumping wrecks your knees"Mixed evidence

Jumper's knee is common in jump sports, but it's a tendon overload problem that responds to staged loading, as our jumper's knee guide explains, and whether jump volume causes it is uncertain.

Sources 12, 20

"Back pain in young jumpers is just a strain"Emerging evidence

Spondylolysis was found in 28.6% of 21 vaulters scanned and in a third of college vaulters' lower back injuries. Back pain that lasts needs checking.

Sources 10, 11

"Talented young jumpers should specialise early"Emerging evidence

Only 8% of boys and 16% of girls in the world's top 50 at 16 reached the senior top 50, and the top seniors kept improving into their mid-twenties.

Sources 39, 38