IADMS Miami 2000   [back to the Category]

Functional Jump Training Program for Dancers   [read the french version]

Author :   Alan Kroll, M.S., A.T.C.

Author: Alan Kroll, M.S., A.T.C., Sportcare, New York, NY, USA

One of the most valued qualities that a dancer possesses is the ability to jump. For generations audiences have been thrilled and captivated by a dancer’s ability to elevate with grace and power. As practitioners in the area of performing arts medicine, our ability to use the science of training and conditioning provides us with the tools to create functional programs that help improve the dancer’s ability to jump.
The program to be presented incorporates current physiological principles including plyometrics, unstable surfaces and functional dance-specific movement patterns adapted to create a structural program of jump training and conditioning for dancers. This program will include guidelines for ACL rehabilitation and various other knee, foot, ankle, and lower leg pathologies. It will also include practical guidelines for creating a conditioning program for dancers of all ages and levels.

Specific Guidelines for Rehabilitation and Conditioning:
1. Jump training can begin for ACL reconstruction when other functional activities begin, normally at month five.
2. Activities should mimic steps and leaps done in class and performance to affect as much transfer as possible.
3. All new movements that are an increase in difficulty should be done braced first.
4. Traditional plyometrics (box drill, tuck jumps, etc.) can be introduced as needed.
5. Sequences should run 45 to 60 seconds to illicit an anaerobic effect.
6. Take your dancers away from the mirror.
7. Prompt your dancers to work quickly during plyometrics not in rhythm.
8. Increase the level of difficulty as needed. Remember dancers have a tremendous capacity for work.
9. Balance activities should be done at the end of sequences. Increase the level of difficulty as needed.
10. Use unstable surfaces as much as possible.
11. Work at both slow and fast speeds. Strength and speed are trained independently.
12. Don’t forget these are conditioning exercises, not just for rehabilitation. Think young dancers.
13. Emphasize landing especially with rehab patients.
14. When transitioning a dancer to class or rehearsal, do the more difficult activities in the clinic first.
15. The idea is to return the dancer to participation stronger than he/she was prior to injury.

This is the abstract of a paper presented at the Tenth Annual Meeting of the International Association for Dance Medicine and Science, held 27-29 October 2000 in Miami, Florida, USA. All rights are reserved by the individual author(s).