POSE IN PRESS A collection of articles about Pose Method and Dr.Romanov in various publications.
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| Michael Roberts, 28, a former standout triple jumper for Tower Hill, has adjusted his style to jump farther and has a goal of making the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. (Photo courtesy of Michael Roberts) |
DELAWARE ONLINE (US)
November 13, 2007
For triple jumper, it's not just the jump
by Brian Smith Special to The News Journal
Local star Roberts uses running technique to work toward Olympics
For years, Michael Roberts blew people away with his triple jump performances by concentrating on the jumping portion. It seems reasonable -- it's the triple jump, so Roberts always tried to jump as far as he could.
The philosophy earned him the Delaware high school record while he was a student at Tower Hill School, and helped make him the state boys track and field MVP as a senior in 1998. It got him a scholarship to Seton Hall University, where he was an All-American in the event and placed eighth in the NCAA Championships.
But despite all that success, Roberts has changed his philosophy. And strangely enough, by doing so the 28-year-old now is jumping farther than ever. His new outlook on the sport has him in the early stages of what he hopes will lead to an Olympic medal next summer.
Roberts, a jumping coach at Padua Academy, recently started training in preparation for the U.S. Olympic trials, which will be in July. The preparation comes after Roberts had a bit of a revelation over the summer while watching Great Britain's Jonathan Edwards, who holds the world record in the triple jump at 18.29 meters, which is 60 feet.
"He looks like a magician when he's jumping," Roberts said. "And I wondered how someone can actually jump 60 feet. So, I started playing around in practice one day, and I just tried to copy off of him. I just relaxed, and all of a sudden I was jumping farther than I was before."
Roberts thought about it, and realized it wasn't about jumping -- it was about running.
"I'm using speed instead of trying to jump," he said. "Before, I was trying to jump 56 feet, and that's impossible. If you use your speed and just try to get off the ground quickly, all of a sudden your speed takes you there. So, the idea is when I jump far, it feels like I'm running from my point of view. What I've done is I've changed my perspective and whole outlook on the triple jump."
Before the change, Roberts was jumping 54 feet. With his new approach, this past season he posted an unofficial jump of 56 feet. Now, presented with the opportunity of an entire winter of training with his new perspective, he's set a goal of 58 feet. His belief is that attaining that goal will put him in the top three at the Olympic trials, which would earn him a U.S. Olympic spot for the Beijing Games.
"Fifty-eight feet puts me in elite company," he said. "That's among the best jumpers in the world, maybe the best jumpers ever, considering 60 feet is the world record. The ultimate goal is to make the Olympic team. So, that's what I'm working toward. Considering I had a 56 unofficial last year, 58 feet to me is very attainable."
Right after Roberts decided to take the new approach, he met running coach Tracy Peal, who is an instructor in the Pose Method of running -- the kind of running Roberts was starting to explore.
"I first met Michael at the Mount Pleasant track while I was working with another client," Peal said. "I was observing him running, and for a guy that was very fast, I could actually hear him coming down the track. One of the things I noticed is that you don't hear them when they're running, based on the principles that I teach. So, as I was speaking to my client, Michael overheard what we were talking about. When my client left, we got into a conversation on what I teach and what I could help him with."
Roberts' current preparation consists of the preliminary steps toward competing in an event like the Olympic trials.
"What I'm doing now, I call it base training," Roberts said. "I am going on runs and I've been in the pool, and I've started doing weight work. Right now, it's light weights with a lot of reps. As the season goes on, everything gets shorter and faster. So, the weight room gets heavier but the reps go down to four and five reps, and I start doing faster stuff on the track and long runs start becoming shorter sprints."
Peal is optimistic that Roberts will be able to accomplish his goal.
"Michael's very talented," Peal said. "I think his strengths are the physical tools needed to be world-class. I have no doubt that if he follows our program and does what he needs to do in preparation that he'll do extremely well. He jumped very well just after a little bit of work that we did.
"We're looking at the world record, because that's what our philosophy is. [Michael] is very intelligent, intuitive, a hard worker, the type of person who will easily follow our lead and get the results all of us are looking for."
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