Some posts are too good to not repost! Here is a very common sensical post from world renowned coach Mike Boyle.
Here’s my second repost of the same blog. Obviously not seen by enough coaches yet!
The top box in the stack is either a 36 or 42 inch plyo box.
If you have one, please put it away. In fact, unless you are training some great athletes, put your 30 inch box away too. I have dubbed the big plyo boxes “Idiot Boxes”. Idiot boxes are jumped on by young men ( it is always young men) looking to show off. I have begun to refer to them as “skin donors”. I can tell you something for sure. If CSI showed up and dusted the high plyo boxes for DNA most of these boxes would test positive. There was a time when my athletes and I were foolish just like everyone else and did these foolish exercises. After coaching a few “skin donors” I realized that what mattered was the movement of the center of mass, not the height of the box. I no longer own a 36” box but, own lots of 18’s, 24’s and a few 30’s.
Our rule is simple. Jimmy Radcliffe said it best; “jump and land from the same position”. This means that take off and landing should look identical. If you jump from a ½ squat, land in a half squat.
I could post a few videos but, don’t want to get sued. Just Youtube “box jumps” if you want to see foolishness in action.
And please, don’t stack up a bunch of stuff to jump on. That’s even dumber. I just saw an article with a multi-million dollar athlete jumping on a collection of boxes and plates. Try to explain that during your deposition.
Remember, jump and land from the same position.
Mike Boyle
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