Morgan Lake talks teaching, method, and chasing 2 meters
In 2021, Morgan Lake discovered herself with out a coach as her current coach was suspended. She requested Robbie Grabarz – a former Olympic silver medallist – to assist her to the Tokyo Video games. What began as seeing him a couple of times per week developed into him being her coach in 2022
Morgan says of their working relationship: “Clearly, he’s bought that championship mindset, having received an Olympic medal and being a European champion. He’s been there and completed it, and I feel for me it’s then simpler for me to have the ability to give over that belief is often because I’m pondering, ‘OK, he’s completed it earlier than,’ and that he wouldn’t have me do one thing which he didn’t suppose labored. So, I feel the belief ingredient is a extremely massive factor for the mindset of going to a championship. Simply the truth that it needs to be slightly bit completely different to another competitors. It’s: ‘The place can you discover these little good points once you get to the championships?’ Many ladies can be leaping the identical heights, be it related degree, or how you retain calm and relaxed via these championships.
“And for me, one of many greatest issues that Robbie helped me with final season was being calm on the majors. I bought my opening excessive on the third try in qualifying in Budapest, which was such a nerve-wracking second, however for that third try, he stated, ‘Simply breathe and keep calm and simply leap it.’ And I feel after that I used to be OK. I’m making it out to be a giant factor, and a lot stress that it’s only a excessive leap on the finish of the day. You’re it’s doing the identical factor you follow to do. So, I feel mentality is the most important factor”.
I find it irresistible once you ask a discipline athlete about their method, they usually appear like they might discuss all of it day! Morgan had loads to say about method and coaching. “My method has modified loads, and I didn’t actually understand it, however I used to be wanting again at movies from the Rio Olympics, and I used to be unrecognizable. At the moment, I went off a rolling begin; I name it a brief strategy now. That’s a great rolling 8-7 or eight stride strategy. My operating seems to be completely different. I used to be coaching as a heptathlete in 2016, so I didn’t have as a lot time to work on the technical aspect of the run-up. It was just about simply pure pace and energy, however now I feel it’s much more about rhythm, and I assume I simply have extra time to work on that technical ingredient. I didn’t understand it had modified that a lot. Nevertheless it undoubtedly has. Even wanting again at 2018, once I determined to go from a standing 10-stride strategy, simply the best way I assault bars now’s so completely different from again then, and that’s once I bought my silver medal within the 2018 Commonwealth Video games in Gold Coast. So, I didn’t understand how a lot it modified till I seemed again over time, but it surely undoubtedly has.
“In winter, my coaching is tremendous diverse, nearly like heptathlon coaching. So we’ll do longer endurance grass runs, a variety of cardio work, very first thing simply to get our health up, basic conditioning and hurdles. I like winter coaching. Then, as soon as we begin leaping, I’ll in all probability leap about twice per week and do S&C thrice per week. After which I do bounding plyometric stuff with Aston Moore and the lengthy jumpers – together with Jazz Sawyers and KJT – as soon as per week. So, it’s fairly good and diverse, and it’s not all about simply the technical aspect of the excessive leap. In the case of summer time, it’s much more targeted on the ability of the excessive leap”.
For ladies excessive jumpers, 2m is the holy grail. Morgan has been shut however has not fairly bought there. The closest was 1.99 indoors in Hustopeče, Czech Republic, final 12 months. She has cleared 1.97 4 occasions, together with for 4th place within the 2023 World Champs, and completed three 1.95s, together with the 2017 London World Champs. She did 1.95 on the Tokyo Olympics qualifying however couldn’t compete within the ultimate. How shut does she suppose she is to 2m – and does it matter?
“It’s a bizarre one. I feel as quickly as I jumped 1.90 once I was, I feel,16, I’ve been, ‘proper. The following purpose is 2 meters. For the final 10-11 years, I’ve thought I may leap 2 meters. And I imply, each single 12 months, I feel I’m shut. Final 12 months was undoubtedly the closest I’ve come to it with the 1.99; I had a number of makes an attempt at 2:01. I feel I’ll have tried it twice or thrice final season, and it by no means felt like I wasn’t shut. I feel it’s a kind of issues that can occur naturally. I feel it’s a kind of issues that can happen in a championship or in a high-level competitors the place I’m not chasing it. Once I’m simply making an attempt to attempt to win. I’m making an attempt to medal. And I do know that to be up there, I should leap these heights. I do suppose it’s undoubtedly in me. It’s simply extra a case of when? As a result of the distinction between 1.99 and two meters is totally nothing. Simply gotta get via the heights. This time final 12 months I used to be perhaps chasing it an excessive amount of, so I’d nearly be excited about leaping 2 metres earlier than I even cleared 1.90. You possibly can decide any peak within the excessive leap and pole vault. You can simply go into a contest, begin at 2 meters, and take 3 makes an attempt! I feel it’s one factor that’s gonna must occur.
In 2014, Morgan received gold within the World U20 heptathlon and got here sixth within the World Indoors Pentathlon. I puzzled if she fancied a crack on the Olympic heptathlon and excessive leap in Paris: “They’re on the identical day. So it could be a bit arduous!”
She added: “There have been undoubtedly a number of years the place I used to be actually rethinking if I had made the proper determination simply to do the excessive leap: or ought to I return to the heptathlon? I’ve been actually proud of my determination for the final couple of years. However I’ve at all times stated I’d like to do a pentathlon once more. I feel doing a full heptathlon could be a bit troublesome, however doing a pentathlon once more, perhaps subsequent 12 months or the 12 months after, as soon as Paris is out of the best way. Simply because the pentathlon coaching is loads simpler. Nicely, it’s not simpler, but it surely’s higher for my excessive leap when it’s 60 hurdles, or javelin and 200m. The brief energy coaching would solely ever assist my excessive leap. So I’ll do a pentathlon in the future, however in all probability to not the extent I’ve been at on the world stage”.
