Although plyometrics was created and developed in Russia, the term is American. In Russia, plyometrics is known as the shock method of training. It was developed by Yuri Verkhoshansky and others who, from biomechanical analyses of jumping and running activities, created specialized exercises that duplicated what occurred in the actual skill execution. For example, they found that in running, the foot is in contact with the ground for less than .1 sec, .05 sec for the landing and .05 sec for the take-off. In an attempt to duplicate these conditions, they came up with the shock method, which is typified best by the depth jump. In this exercise you step off a height, drop straight down and prepare yourself for the landing and ensuing take-off. As soon as the feet hit the ground, there is a slight cushioning or amortization phase and then you leap up as high as possible. The key to successful execution is to execute the jump in less than .15 seconds. If it goes longer than this, then it is no longer plyometric but it can still be a useful jump exercise. Thus, plyometrics includes jumps, but not all jumps are plyometric. This is an important distinction that must made since there are many plyometric books written that contain essentially jump exercises, not true plyometric exercises. The depth jump and other explosive forms of plyometric jumps are very effective in improving the athlete’s abilities in running and jumping events. As a result plyometrics is used extensively by almost all athletes. However, to be effective the exercises must be explosive, not simple jump exercises which are usually executed slowly. In the U.S., many coaches use Olympic weight training to improve the explosive power of their athletes rather than using various forms of plyometrics. There is no doubt that the Olympic lifts have great valueIn this area but for the most part ,they develop general explosive power not specific. It is interesting to note that Russian weightlifters use plyometrics to increase their abilities rather than rely only on the Olympic lifts. Explosive plyometric exercises can also be done with medicine balls, the Total Athlete System™ and other equipment. The key is to receive and repel, analogous to what occurs in jumping. You must be able to execute receiving and repelling (as for example a ball) as quickly as possible, i.e., under .15 sec. When such exercises are done slower, you may improve the eccentric component of strength which plays a role in developing greater explosiveness, but they are not as effective as when the exercises are executed at maximum speed and quickness. When using the Total Athlete System™ the key to explosive power, as in all other explosive exercises, is to execute quick reversals of movement. For more information on plyometrics see the newly released book Explosive Plyometrics. It has many sequence pictures showing how different exercises are done as well as detailed explanations of not only what takes place in explosive plyometrics but the role that it plays and how it should be executed.