Broad Jump Stick: A Complete Guide
Also called Jump and Stick, Broad Jump Hold
Quick Intro
Broad Jump Stick, also called Jump and Stick, is a jump-and-land drill performed by jumping for horizontal distance and holding the landing position completely motionless for a full second or two afterward. The held landing makes it balance training too, and it needs No Equipment. Unlike a standard broad jump, which allows a small hop or step to settle after landing, this exercise treats any extra movement to regain balance as a sign the rep didn’t count.
Equipment Needed
Broad Jump Stick needs No Equipment and only enough open floor space to jump and land safely.
Why Broad Jump Stick Matters
Holding the landing motionless asks the deep core (transverse abdominis) to brace the whole trunk while the glutes (gluteus maximus) and front of the thigh (quadriceps, rectus femoris) absorb the landing force without any follow-up movement to correct for imbalance. The back of the thigh (hamstrings, biceps femoris) and calf (gastrocnemius and soleus) finish that same absorption, holding the position rather than releasing it into another jump. Power is the main demand, with balance close behind, since the landing has to be frozen and not allowed to flow into another movement. Strength comes with it.
When to Do It
Because holding a still landing depends on full focus and fresh legs, this exercise fits early in a session, right after a general warm-up and before other lower-body work. It also works well as a dedicated landing-control drill, separate from heavier jump training.
Anyone with a current knee, ankle or hip condition should approach this carefully, since the entire exercise concentrates force into a single landing that has to be held, not absorbed and released. A standard Broad Jump, with a normal reset after landing, should already feel controlled before adding the hold.
Getting Ready
A general warm-up followed by a set of standard Broad Jumps confirms the basic jumping-for-distance pattern is solid before adding a held landing. A few slow single-leg balance holds, checking that a still, quiet stance feels stable, are worth doing before asking the same stillness of a landing after a full jump.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Setup. Stand with the feet shoulder-width apart, facing the direction of the jump.
Load. Bend the knees and hips, swinging the arms back to load the jump.
Jump. Drive forward and up off both legs, swinging the arms forward.
Land and stick. Land with the hips low and knees bent, freezing the position completely the instant the feet touch down.
Hold. Hold that exact landing position, completely still, for a full one to two seconds before resetting.
How Many, How Often
Broad Jump Stick is dosed by a small number of fresh attempts, since holding a still landing depends on full focus that fatigue quickly erodes.
| Level | Where you’re at | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| Beginner | New to holding a still landing | 2 to 3 sets of 3 reps, resting fully between reps and accepting a shorter, more conservative jump distance. |
| Intermediate | The landing holds still for a full second without extra movement | 3 sets of 4 reps, resting 60 to 90 seconds between sets. |
| Advanced | Distance increases while the landing still freezes completely | 3 to 4 sets of 5 reps, only chasing further distance once every landing sticks without a single extra movement. |
Any hop, step or arm-flail to regain balance after landing means the rep wasn’t stuck, and matters more here than how far the jump traveled.
Modifications and Variations
Broad Jump Stick pairs with one alternative and one harder step.
Depth Drop trains a closely related landing-absorption skill using a completely different technique, stepping off an elevated surface instead of jumping for horizontal distance first. Broad Jump removes the held landing, allowing a normal small step or hop to settle after the jump instead.
Progression path: Broad Jump as the standard-landing foundation, then this exercise once a controlled, still landing can be held on demand.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Allowing a small step or hop to settle the landing. Even a small extra movement to regain balance means the landing wasn’t stuck, missing the entire point of the drill. Treating any follow-up movement as a failed rep, not a minor imperfection, keeps the standard clear.
Chasing distance at the cost of the hold. Jumping for maximum distance before the landing can reliably freeze in place trades a good rep for a wasted one. Scaling distance back to whatever still allows a still landing matters more than how far the jump travels.
Releasing the hold too early. Letting the position break after less than a full second undercuts the deceleration control this exercise is meant to build. Counting out a full one to two seconds of stillness before resetting is what makes the hold count.
After Your Set
The glutes, quadriceps and deep core absorb repeated bracing load through a full set of held landings. Lying on the back and drawing one straight leg upward, holding gently behind the knee or calf, releases the back of that same thigh. A downward-facing stretch, hands and feet on the floor with the hips lifted and heels reaching down, releases the calves that held every landing.
Going Deeper
This exercise fits early in a session, right after a general warm-up, or as a dedicated landing-control drill on its own, separate from heavier jump training that doesn’t ask for the same held stillness. It pairs naturally with other balance-focused work.
Progress here tends to stall when the hold quietly gets shorter or shakier even though jump distance keeps increasing. That’s usually a sign distance has outpaced what the landing can currently control, and pulling distance back until the hold is still again typically restores progress faster than pushing through an unstable one.
Someone new to this exercise typically needs a solid base of standard Broad Jumps and comfortable single-leg balance before holding a completely still landing becomes the safe next step.
How to Know You’re Improving
- The landing freezes immediately, with no extra hop or step
- The hold lasts a full one to two seconds without any wobble
- Jump distance can increase while the hold stays just as still
- The same still landing can be repeated consistently across a full set
Watching how still the landing holds, not just how far the jump travels, is the way to judge progress here.
Muscles Worked
- Rectus Femoris (one of the quadriceps at the front of the thigh, extending the knee for distance then yielding to hold the landing)
- Gluteus Maximus (the largest glute muscle, driving the hips forward and then locking the landing position)
- Biceps Femoris (the outer hamstring at the back of the thigh, decelerating the hip so the position can be held still)
- Gastrocnemius (the larger calf muscle nearer the surface, pushing off and then slowing the ankle on contact)
- Soleus (a deeper calf muscle beneath the gastrocnemius, holding the ankle steady through the stuck landing)
- Transverse Abdominis (a deep core muscle that wraps around the torso like a corset, bracing the trunk so the landing can be frozen on the first contact)
FAQ
Why does even a small hop after landing count as a failed rep? Because the entire purpose of this exercise is training the ability to absorb a landing’s force and stop it completely, and any follow-up movement means that control wasn’t achieved on that rep.
Is this the same as Depth Drop? They train a related skill, absorbing a landing without redirecting it into another jump, but this exercise starts from a horizontal broad jump while Depth Drop starts by stepping off an elevated surface.
How long should the hold last? A full one to two seconds of stillness. Releasing the position sooner than that undercuts the deceleration control the exercise is meant to build.
Why does balance matter almost as much as power in this exercise? Because freezing a landing completely still demands stability on top of the force needed to produce the jump itself, a different emphasis from a standard broad jump that allows a small settling step.
This is part of the jump-and-land family, a landing-control alternative to Depth Drop and the held-landing counterpart to Broad Jump.