Where you plant relative to the bar decides the shape of your jump. Take off too far away and your arc peaks before the bar, so you are already coming down as you cross and you clip it on the way over. Take off too close and you drive into the bar. The takeoff point is set by your approach, not by reaching at the end. Here is why yours is too far out and how to fix it.
If your run-up carries you past the ideal plant point, you reach for the bar from too far out. The curve should deliver you to a takeoff roughly an arm's length from the bar, in line with the near upright. A run-up that drifts toward the bar late pushes the plant too far away.
Sensing the bar is close, some jumpers stretch the last step out to plant early, which lands them too far away and too flat. The last step should be quick and under you, not a long reach. The takeoff comes to you off a good curve. You do not go hunting for it.
Too gentle a curve, or one that straightens out at the end, sends you at the bar from too far back and at a bad angle. A proper J-curve tightens into takeoff and turns your momentum up, planting you the right distance out. Fixing the arc usually fixes the takeoff distance.
Takeoff distance is hard to judge in the moment and obvious on video. Film from the side, the AI marks your plant point relative to the bar and the near upright, and shows whether your arc is peaking before the bar, so you know whether to fix your approach length or your curve.
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Take off the right distance out and your arc peaks over the bar. Take off too far away and the arc peaks early, so you are descending onto the bar at the crossing.
Common questions athletes and coaches ask about this topic.
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