Every run-up can be measured with Optojump and with a phone clip. STPO sets the next rep, tailored to each athlete: step by step, with audio-visual cues of time and space. Done for you, with you, or by you. The same Optojump then checks it.
Decoded from public video. Each contact is a range of frames, not a single frame. The last 6 steps are the key steps; the second-to-last and last are read on their own.
| Step | Frames | Step time (ms) | Step length (m) | Phase | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ≤f82–88 | ≥320 | — | — | touchdown hidden by the camera cut |
| 2 | f98–102 | 280 | — | — | — |
| 3 | f112–116 | 280 | — | — | — |
| 4 | f126–128 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 5 | f138–142 | 280 | — | — | — |
| 6 | f152–154 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 7 | f164–168 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 8 | f176–180 | 280 | — | — | — |
| 9 | f190–192 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 10 | f202–206 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 11 | f214–218 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 12 | f226–230 | 240 | — | — | — |
| 13 | f238–242 | 240 | — | last 6 | — |
| 14 | f250–254 | 240 | — | last 6 | — |
| 15 | f262–266 | 200 | — | last 6 | short step: on-the-fly adjustment? (to confirm) |
| 16 | f272–276 | 240 | — | last 6 | — |
| 17 | f284–288 | 200 | — | second-to-last | — |
| 18 | f294–298 | — | — | last | take-off · in the air from f300 |
Rai clip at a real 25 frames per second: each frame is 40 ms, so a single step is ±40 ms. Steps 13–18 were redone on a second clip at 50 fps (Eurosport): the block means hold. The dose is set from the blocks, not from single steps.
| Block | Steps | Mean step time (ms) | Error | Step length (m) | Speed (m/s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | 2→8 | 260 | ±7 | — | — |
| Middle | 8→12 | 250 | ±10 | — | — |
| Last 6, first 4 | 12→16 | 232 | ±11 | ≈2.4 estimate | ≈10.4–10.8 estimate |
| Last 2 | 16→18 | 218 | ±12 | last step longer | — |
| Whole run-up | 2→18 | 245 | ±2.5 | — | — |
The last 6 steps are quicker than the rest: the gap is more than twice the error, so it is real. It is the step rate rising over the last steps. Step length estimated with the shoe as a ruler and his height (1.84 m): to confirm with marks on the track.
From a short run-up to 18 steps, in small doses. Space first (cones and marks set the step length), then time (clicks set each contact). The athlete moves up a rung only with the rhythm held and correct technique.
| Rung | Steps | Speed (% of today) | Clicks, last 6 (ms per step) | Ground marks (m) | Reps | Check |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 · short run-up | 6 (steps 13→18) | 90 | 258 ×4 · 242 ×2 | ≈2.4 estimate | 2 | Optojump |
| 2 | 10 (steps 9→18) | 95 | 244 ×4 · 229 ×2 | ≈2.4 | 2 | Optojump |
| 3 | 14 (steps 5→18) | 95 | 244 ×4 · 229 ×2 | ≈2.4 | 2 | Optojump |
| 4 · full run-up | 18 | 100 | 232 ×4 · 218 ×2 (blocks 260 · 250 · 232 · 218) | ≈2.4 last 6 · last step longer | 2 | Optojump |
| 5 · no cue | 18 | 100 | cue off | same marks | 1 | Optojump |
Each rung starts with a 3-2-1 count-in and GO on the downbeat. The no-cue reps inside each block show whether the rhythm stays. Sample values: on each athlete they are set from his first clip, and they can change a lot. The last rung, with no cue, shows whether the rhythm stayed.
Both clips show one step of about 200 ms inside the last 6, but at different places. The steps next to it compensate, and the block means stay stable. That is an athlete steering the run-up to the board as he runs (Lee, Lishman and Thomson, 1982). STPO trains exactly this: the cue sets the rhythm, and the athlete adjusts and corrects himself, inside the rep.
To confirm: decode the other jumps of the same final.
What STPO adds to the tools your staff already uses, with no new hardware.
| Before (1990s–2000s) | Today (FIDAL 2024–26) | With STPO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What is measured | Photocells, stopwatch, the coach's eye | Optojump in every region, photocells, video | The same tools, plus a phone over the whole run |
| Space | Fixed cones and ground marks | Step lengths where the bars lie | Distances and cones that change rep by rep |
| Time | The coach's voice | Fixed metronome: one beat for every step | A time for each step and each phase, in audio and video |
| Skill | The right movement, in words | The movement reviewed on video, afterwards | The movement trained at game speed, inside the rep |
| Correction | The coach corrects after the rep | Corrected afterwards, from the numbers | The athlete adjusts and corrects himself, in real time, on the cue |
| Challenge and drive | Identical reps, "no pain, no gain" | One load for the whole group; numbers come later | Tailored levels: the challenge rises as soon as the athlete is ready. The precondition for flow, with a videogame boost |
| Check | The competition result | Optojump | Optojump: STPO sets, Optojump checks |
Three stages, with rules set in advance.
The rep as set: steps, time per step, ground marks.
What the athlete does in the session, with the audio-visual cues.
The same rhythm without the cue, then in competition.
Send us one clip, or one Optojump file, of an athlete you choose.
In about 3 working days we send back the decode and the next reps, in your units. No cost, as the start of working together.
Carlo Bressan · 7 years with the Italian women's national basketball teams: Olympic, senior and youth. Signed letter from Yuri Verkhoshansky on the method, handed over in person by Natalia Verkhoshansky, with whom he worked at national-team retreats. · carlobressan.com