Parkour and Free Running Training Tips

FOR YOUNG ATHLETES SPORTS ACTIVITIES CAN RESULT IN INJURIES, SOME MINOR, SOME SERIOUS AND SOME RESULTING IN LIFELONG MEDICAL PROBLEMS

Reasons for Concern
Young athletes are not merely small adults. Their bones, muscles, tendons, and ligaments are still growing, which makes them more susceptible to injury.

Growth plates - the areas of developing cartilage where bone growth occurs in youngsters - are weaker than the nearby ligaments and tendons. What is often a bruise or sprain in an adult can be a potentially serious growth plate injury in a young athlete.

"Many injuries can be prevented if young people follow a regular conditioning program with incorporated exercises designed specifically for their chosen sport".

Types of Injuries
Injuries among young athletes fall into two basic categories:

Overuse Injuries

Acute Injuries

Both types include injuries to the soft tissues (muscles and ligaments) and bones.

Acute injuries are caused by a sudden trauma. Common acute injuries among young athletes include contusions (bruises), sprains (a partial or complete tear of a ligament), strains (a partial or complete tear of a muscle or tendon) and fractures. But not all injuries are caused by a single, sudden twist, fall, or collision. A series of small injuries to immature bodies can cause minor fractures, minimal muscle tears, or progressive bone deformities, known as overuse injuries.

Other common overuse injuries occur in the heels and knees with tears in the tissue where tendons attach to the leg bone or the heel bone.

Impact sports have inherent dangers that put young athletes at special risk for severe injuries. Even with rigorous training and proper safety equipment, youngsters are at risk for severe injuries to the neck, spinal cord, and growth plates. However, following the rules of the game and using proper equipment can decrease these risks.

Diagnosis and Treatment
Young people often experience some discomfort with athletic activity. Their bones and muscles are growing, and their level of physical activity may increase with a sudden, intense interest in sports, so some aches and pains can be expected. Still, their complaints always deserve careful attention. Some injuries, if left untreated, can cause permanent damage and interfere with proper physical growth.

Whether an injury is acute or due to overuse, a young person who develops a symptom that persists or that affects his or her athletic performance should be examined by a Doctor who then may refer them to a specialist.

You should never be allowed or expected to "work through the pain."

Prompt treatment can often prevent a minor injury from becoming worse or causing permanent damage.

The basic treatment for many simple injuries is often "R.I.C.E."-Rest Ice Compression Elevation.

Treatment for a young person with any significant injury will usually involve specific recommendations for temporary or permanent adjustment in athletic activity.

Depending on the injury's severity, treatment may range from simple observation with minor changes in athletic level to a recommendation that the athletic activity be discontinued. Some combination of physical therapy, strengthening exercises, and bracing may also be prescribed.

Guidelines for Preventing Sports Injuries

Be in proper physical condition

Wear appropriate protective gear

Always warm up

Avoid continuing when very tired or in pain

Young athletes need proper training for sports
They should be encouraged to train for the sport rather than expecting the sport itself to get them into shape.

"Always warm up".

Many injuries can be prevented if young people follow a regular conditioning program with incorporated exercises designed specifically for their chosen sport.

A well-structured, closely supervised weight-training regimen may modestly help youngsters prepare for athletic activities.

A young athlete striving to meet the unrealistic expectations of others may ignore the warning signs of injury and continue to train with pain.

source: www.worldwidejam.tv

The Speed Vault is a vital move in your parkour arsenal. It's exactly what the name suggests, it's a vault at speed. In enables you to take on walls and rails as if they don't exist. Timing, balance and a high degree of nerve are paramount to perfect and efficient execution.

The key is to maintain your speed without deviating from your trajectory path, this results in one fluid motion.

STEP 1 Binary runs up to the obstacle at a constant speed, (parkour is a practice of continuous movement). He'll carry this same speed through the entire vault.

STEP 2 He's going to use his right hand for the speed vault and ensures that the length of his stride will put him exactly in the right position for launch. With practise, this process becomes an automated process. Any minor adjustments are almost impossible to detect.

STEP 3 The last step before takeoff. Binary will be using his right hand and therefore taking off from his right foot, the foot closest to the obstacle. You may have your favourite, but always practise your weaker side as much, if not more, than your stronger side. You'll be opening yourself for more options in your run.

STEP 4 If you look at the height of Binary's head, it will remain at the same height throughout the entire movement, even though the landing position of this vault was 30cm above the takeoff point. His right hand makes contact but does not carry the weight of his body. It's merely applies enough force to lift his legs.

STEP 5 You need to get your body low and your legs parallel with the surface. Do not loose speed. This is where drilling movements and vaults can help improve your technique.

STEP 6 Binary's head has remained level and his body comes back down on his leading right foot. No unnecessary energy has been expelled and he exits the vault at exactly the same speed as he entered it. Beautiful!

The Roll is one of the most fundamental parkour moves and one which has to practiced over and over again to get right.

The primary function of the roll is to absorb downward energy after a jump that would normally be stacked onto your ankles. You can't hit the ground from any sort of height and expect your ankles to take that sort of punishment. That's why the roll is so vital.

Perfect rolls can take months to master. You need confidence to execute them so if you're new to parkour, find an area of grass or carpet to practice.

STEP 1 Brad hits the deck. Straight away he's looking at his path of trajectory so he knows exactly where to place his hands. Picking the correct spot for your hands to make contact with the ground is vital for the perfect roll.

STEP 2 Brad's hands are left of the trajectory path. This frees up space for his right shoulder to come into play.

STEP 3 By drawing an imaginary rule from Brad's right shoulder down to his left hip you can see the line on his back that will be making contact with the trajectory path.

STEP 4 Mid Roll. Brad begins to prepare for his exit by tucking his left foot in. This makes a gap for his right plant foot.

STEP 5 Brad's plant foot is in the perfect position to exit the roll.

STEP 6 Using the energy of his forward momentum, Brad can easily exit the roll and power-up to continue his run. Effortless and efficient.

By Andi

In the UK there has been a trend to find a funky name for every movement, and whenever you change a little thing in that movement, find a new name for it.

But the idea of the Parkour is not to perform pre-defined movement, but to know the abilities of your body and adapt to every obstacle.

In this tutorial I will help you to understand the way that the naming of movements was originally done, by the pioneers of parkour.

When you see a picnic table, what do you think about? I bet, most of you will think 'diving kong'. Or a pingpong table will have the same effect. - have you ever rolled over it? Have you ever jumped over it? or to add a little more efficiency and control, jumped up, placed a step on the table, and kept going?

Have you ever tried to do a fast forward lazyvault over it? (I'm using the FRscum terms here so all of you know what I mean). Have you ever thought about other techniques to overcome this obstacle, than the ones you see in vids every day (dash, speed, or kong)?

Many of you will answer 'no'.

Parkour is not performing preset techniques. I remember back when I was in UF, we discussed Catleaps, and some people said its 'wrong' when you land with only 1 foot on the wall. "WRONG". As if parkour was about performing techniques in a right way, like gymnastics.

But my friends.. it isn't. Parkour is about your individual movement. What you prefer, what feels better for you, what makes you faster and efficient.

The following techniques should build a solid base for you to be able to overcome obstacles, and on this basis you should start to adapt to each obstacle on its own, do what is neccesary.

I was in vienna (Austria) training with some guys, and there was this wall, but the top of the wall (where you would put your hands when vaulting) was not straight like ---- but a bit sloped like \ (but not that extreme, maybe 30°) and this one guy said 'ah that wall is bad', I asked why, and he said 'you can't vault it well'. That is the perfect example. You dont need to vault it. you can jump it, you can diving roll it, you can take a step on it, etc... there is always other ways to deal with everything, the keyword is ADAPT.

These movements are just basic movements. You have to adapt them, for every obstacle, every situation. you will prefer some, and you might not like some. you should find out what you are capable of, and train it, so your individual movement becomes more and more effective.

I hope this helps some people.
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andi