After coaching hundreds of clients in my Singapore personal training gym to excel in the standing broad jump (SBJ), here are 11 reasons that cause Singapore men and women to fail the standing broad jump.

Poor Technique

No Routine

• The SBJ is a test. It is the same every time. Just like a basketball player shooting a free throw. All the best free throw shooters have a routine that they follow that makes each and every shot the same. This gives them consistently good results.
• The same is true of the SBJ. When you step up to the line, you need to have a system of knowing what you will do, where you will look, how you will ready yourself and how you will jump and land.

Too much swinging/rocking

• Swinging is a bad idea. You will see many people swing their arms back and forth in and out perhaps 5-8 times before jumping. The jump itself is a single powerful event and we want to use a single, powerful swing to generate force with the arms. In fact in a maximal effort jump, the arms account for up to 15% of the final result! So the way to do this is one hard, forceful swing.

No “throw-down” and slow change of direction

• To get a maximal jump, we want to use what is known as the “stretch shortening cycle” or SSC. This is the springy property of your body. Just as in any other spring, we get the greatest rebound effect when we quickly compress the spring, then let it bounce up. That is what we do in our SBJ technique. We THROW ourselves down quickly and forcefully, and the immediately change direction and explode off the mat. It takes great strength to change direction from down to up quickly, and that is one area which we need to train both from a technique standpoint, as well as from a strength standpoint.

Poor jump angle

• Most people simply jump at too low an angle.

Poor use of hips (using thighs too much)

• Most people start their jump with their knees “forward” using their thigh muscles. In fact we need to use the more powerful muscles of the hips and butt, rather than the thighs to get maximal power and distance. To do that we need to change our jumping posture from “knees forward” to “buttocks backward”.

Poor arm swing

• As mentioned earlier the arms account for a significant portion of the jump power and distance. We need to swing our arms up hard and high. As high as elbows touching our ears. That is far higher than most people swing their arms. To get this position consistently, we need to have good posture in our upper backs and our shoulders. (Yup! Posture again!)

Incomplete hip, knee and ankle extension

• Some people stop short of full “triple extension”. That means the ankles, knees and hips extend in a coordinated fashion to blast the body upward and forward. This is a inter-muscle timing issue and can be trained.

Poor landings leading to injury

• Some of the landings I have witnessed at IPPT tests make me cringe! Legs and arms flailing all over… Remember that you must be able to land safely. This is a function of strength also because you need eccentric or “lowering” strength to land safely just like you need “concentric” or lifting strength to jump well.

Insufficient physical attributes

Overweight

• This is a no brainer. Like I mentioned in the section on overall physical attributes, being overweight really hurts. In the SBJ even more so than in other events. When I say overweight I mean fat. Anything more than 10% body fat is going to hinder your jumping. If you are anywhere higher than 10% at the moment, I can confidently say that losing fat (while keeping the same muscle mass) will improve your jumping.

Insufficient power in legs

• You are too weak to jump far. Being stronger almost guarantees a better jump. In fact, strength is the attribute that we work on most during our IPPT training or personal training sessions.

Insufficient arm and shoulder power

• Remember that arm power is critical in jump distance. It is worth about 15% of the jump distance. We need to train the arm swing and shoulder strength as if it is a critical component of the SBJ. (Which it is)

There we go! 11 reasons why people in Singapore fail NAPFA or IPPT in the standing broad jump (SBJ).

Here is another video of me jumping over a 160cm hurdle with room to spare! I’m not naturally “gifted” at jumping but by eliminating the mistakes shown above, as well as with consistent and correct training. Even a “regular” guy like me can do it.

Here is a video of me jumping 298cm:)

Let’s talk about jumping technique. If you believe there is a best way to kick a soccer ball, to shoot a basketball, to throw a baseball, to start a sprint, to tackle an opponent, to jump a hurdle, then you have to believe that there is a best way to perform the standing broad jump.

It is VERY helpful to video yourself jumping. Every camera or handphone has a video function so no excuses.

Technique can also be called inter muscular coordination – coordination between muscles in the smooth execution of the movement. If you are not strong enough you can see it because you will not be able to perform the technique correctly. Also, if your parents locked you up as a child and did not let you play outside… this will be more challenging as well. This kind of coordination is developed below the age of 12. However in my personal training and sports performance business, I have helped even the least coordinated person do well in the Standing Broad Jump (SBJ).

First, select your foot-ware. Funny as this may sound, you need to have the smallest shoe that is comfortable. You want to have one that grips the ground well, is light, and does not allow any “slippage” of your foot inside the shoe. This is a minor but significant point because any the foot transfers all the forces to the ground and your training will be wasted if all your energy is lost through loose foot-ware. Needless to say, tighten your laces as tight as you can all around your foot.

NOTE: If the mat is slippery, put a little sweet drink on the base of your shoe for extra grip.

Step 1: Stand with your feel shoulder width apart, toes just behind the line.

Step 2: Get onto your tiptoes and put your arms straight up, yes this will take a bit of balance. Don’t worry you don’t need to hold this position long.

Step 3: This one is where I see the most problems (well there are many problems but this one is the biggest) – Many people like to sway here, back and forth, up and down… NO NO NO.

From the arms overhead position, swing them DOWN – fast and hard! At the same time dropping into a half squat (butt back, whole body leaning forward as if you are sitting down on a chair but the entire posture is now leaning forward)

Step 4: Immediately after hitting the bottom of the half squat, throw your arms up and extend your body fully like a spring (ankles, knees, hip all extend) – Look straight ahead not down, launch at about a 40 deg angle (most people launch at too low an angle).

Remember arms are 15% of jumping power so extend them “elbows touch ears” all the way up!

In step 4 we will be able to see if you are strong enough to perform the SBJ well. You must be able to instantly reverse direction from throwing yourself down, into a maximum jump. This reverse is close to instant with strong people but for those who are not strong enough it seems a gentle and fluid transition. NO. It should look forceful and explosive.

Step 5: Swing your legs forward and prepare for landing.

Step 6: Absorb the landing with a bending of knees

Technique is something that needs to be practiced and corrected. So you do need to take video of yourself and see if you are doing things correctly.

Before we begin, I will say up front that this is going to be the longest and largest section of the manual by far.

The SBJ tests “Power of lower limb extensor muscles” according to the MINDEF website.

But to do really well in the Standing Broad Jump (if you are not gifted for it) is the hardest thing to accomplish in the IPPT test.

Let’s get serious about training the most asked about, most talked about and possibly the most failed station in the entire IPPT world.

The SBJ is the most complex to train due to technique. It also takes the longest time to train because it is a power and strength test and these attributes develop MUCH more slowly than endurance.

Endurance for events such as the sit-up (torso muscle endurance) and the 2.4km run (leg and cardiovascular system endurance) is developed in weeks. Strength and power takes months and years.

In your army days you have met people who cut 3-4 minutes off their 2.4km run timings during 10-12 weeks of basic military training. But how many have you met that gained 30cm or more (same percentage improvement) in their SBJ during those 12 weeks? Not many.

Another problem is that strength and power decrease as we get older if we don’t do anything to maintain it. Sad but true. That’s just the way it its.

Get old, we lose muscle if we don’t train so we get weaker, have less strength and power and that leads to poor jumpin.

But with good training it can be done. I had a client who was not overweight or fat, 68kg at 170cm height. He was fairly muscular, and he had been running and lifting weights for the past year. He was what most people would certainly consider healthy.

He did well in all the other stations. Something like 8-10 chinups, no problems with sit-ups and a decent shuttle run and 2.4 timing.

But his broad jump was a surprisingly low 180cm!

With the correct kind of training both for strength, power as well as for jumping technique he took his IPPT five weeks after starting our coaching and jumped 36cm further.

Just like all other tests, the broad jump can be “studied for” and dominated. And as Singapore’s top personal trainer and health expert, I will share some tips on this IPPT-training website. These tips have helped hundreds of my clients get results in weeks, that would never have happened if they had no coaching or guidance.