Bounding is running in flying leaps — every step a jump, every landing a launch. It’s the most running-like of all jump training, which is why sprinters live on it: it turns leg strength directly into stride power. Skips are its friendlier cousins; together they’re a complete session.
Jump rules apply, same as morning power: grass, fresh legs, never two jump days in a row, and stop while it still feels springy. About fifteen to twenty metres of space.
Warm up first — running drills is the perfect lead-in.
What each part is:
- skips for height — a running skip, driving the knee and pushing the ground away hard. tall in the air, big arm drive. height, not speed.
- skips for distance — the same skip stretched long and low. cover ground; each contact quick and springy.
- pogos — two-footed bounces on the spot, knees nearly straight, all ankle. quick off the ground — imagine the ground is hot.
- bounds — leap from one foot to the other in long flying steps. chest up, full arm swing, each landing rolling straight into the next leap.
Spring beats effort here: if the contacts start feeling flat and heavy, the session is over — that’s the signal, not the clock.
progression. distance per bound, not more bounds. when bounds feel smooth, finish one set straight into a ten-metre sprint — power you can’t use in a run is only half the prize.
background: how much training is too much?