The red flag goes up and nobody tells you why. That happens in high school pits every weekend, and it is fixable, because there are only about eight ways to foul a long jump. Since 1 November 2021, World Athletics decides the take-off foul on a vertical plane rather than a footprint in the plasticine. NFHS still writes it as the shoe extending over the foul line, which lands in the same place most of the time. The rest of the fouls happen after you leave the board, and those are the ones athletes never see coming.
World Athletics TR 30.1.1 now calls a failure if any part of your take-off shoe or foot breaks the vertical plane of the take-off line before you lose contact with the ground. You no longer have to leave a mark in the plasticine. The plasticine edge is cut at 90 degrees instead of the old 45 to make that call cleaner. Shot put draws its equivalent line at the stop board, described in what counts as a legal throw in shot put.
TR 30.1.5 and TR 30.2 say your first contact outside the sand has to be farther from the take-off line than your nearest mark. Step back toward the board on the way out and the jump dies. Walking back through the sand is legal once you have exited correctly, which surprises almost everybody. Why you are fouling in the first place is a separate diagnosis, handled in why am I fouling in long jump.
You get one minute from when your name is called, under the World Athletics field event table in TR 25.17 and under NFHS 6-2-2. Time spent adjusting a check mark counts. A run-through that never becomes a purposeful attempt is charged as an unsuccessful trial under NFHS 6-7-3f. The rest of the procedure, from the tape to the rounding, is in the measurement rules.
Most take-off fouls start six strides out, not at the board. Film one approach from the side and AI shows you where the stride pattern breaks down, so you move your check mark on evidence instead of guessing.
Follow up in chat and ask questions. The AI remembers your analysis and speaks the language of long jump coaching.
The order matters. Fixing the check mark before you fix the approach just moves the problem.
Ask the judge. A plane foul at the board and a foul on the way out of the pit have nothing in common, and athletes routinely chase the wrong one for a whole season.
Walk it heel to toe from the take-off line to your start, and write the number down. If you never measured it, you do not have an approach, you have a habit.
Have someone mark your foot placement six steps before take-off across three run-throughs. Consistency there predicts the board far better than anything you do in the last two steps.
Reaching or chopping at the board costs distance and creates the next foul. Shift the whole approach back 15 to 20 cm and re-run it before you touch anything else.
Land, then step or fall forward and leave the pit ahead of your nearest mark. Rehearse it in warm-ups so it survives the moment you land a personal best and lose your balance.
World Athletics and NFHS agree on most of these. Where the wording genuinely differs, both columns are shown.
| What you did | World Athletics | NFHS (US high school) |
|---|---|---|
| Shoe breaks the plane of the take-off line | Failure, TR 30.1.1 | Foul, 6-7-3a |
| Run through the board without jumping | Failure if the plane is broken, TR 30.1.1 | Foul, 6-7-3b |
| Take off entirely from outside the end of the board | Failure, TR 30.1.2 | Take-off must be behind the foul line or its extension |
| Part of the shoe overhangs the end of the board, behind the line | Not a failure, TR 30.1.2 | Not addressed directly by NFHS text; treated as legal by the same logic as 6-7-3a (interpretation, not a quoted rule) |
| Any form of somersault in the run-up or the jump | Failure, TR 30.1.3 | Foul, head must stay in superior position, 6-7-3c |
| Touch the runway or ground outside the pit before landing | Failure, TR 30.1.4 | Foul, must land in the pit, 6-7-3e |
| Landing contact outside the pit, closer to the board than your mark | Failure, TR 30.1.5 | Foul, 6-7-3e |
| Exit the pit past your nearest mark, back toward the board | Failure, TR 30.1.6 and TR 30.2 | Foul, 6-7-3e |
| No purposeful attempt inside the time limit | Failure, TR 25.17, one minute | Foul, 6-7-3f, one minute |
| Walk back through the sand after exiting correctly | Legal | Legal |
Common questions athletes and coaches ask about this topic.
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