Hops versus bounds.

Hops and bounds are an incredibly potent stimulus. They sit just below sprinting as one of the most effective tools for improving athleticism in contact sports like GAA, soccer, and rugby.

Hops versus bounds.

Which is better for your athletic development when time, fatigue, and recovery resources are finite in-season?

Well… unfortunately — both. You need both.

Let’s talk about hops first.

Hops are massively difficult to master.

The ground reaction forces are very high — again, just below sprinting. Because of the neuromechanical time constraints involved, hops tend to be more vertically oriented in their force vector. In order for the body to hop and then reposition for the next hop on the same limb, you need to orient vertically to buy enough time to cycle the limb back through.

This results in a higher peak force to time ratio, higher ground reaction forces, and a slightly higher rate of force development — more of a “jolt” stimulus. Because of that, hops are more demanding when returning from ankle, knee, or hip injuries.

There’s also a reasonable argument that hops transfer very well to max-velocity sprinting, given the faster ground contact times and more vertical force orientation. They’re a potent stimulus — but one that needs to be respected.

Now, bounds.

Bounds are cyclical and gait-cycle based — left to right, left to right.

The force orientation here is more horizontal, which gives them a strong transfer to acceleration because of the projection angle.

As one foot toes off, the opposite limb is already moving into position to accept load, dissipate force, and then create concentric force to propel you into the next cycle. Because of this, bounds are generally a little less demanding when returning from injury and can be scaled more easily for return-to-play athletes.

Bounds can still reach very high velocities — six, seven, even eight metres per second for some athletes. However, they come with a higher multiplanar stabilisation demand. The hip stabilisers and deep muscles — piriformis, obturator internus and externus, quadratus femoris — are working overtime to control the hip across all planes.

That makes bounds a fantastic builder of stability and neuromuscular rhythm, and arguably a slightly more “natural” transfer to sprinting because they mirror the gait cycle so closely.

So which should you choose?

As I said at the start — both.

Bounds can generally be scaled to a higher frequency. Hops usually require lower frequency due to their recovery cost.

An excellent option is cycling the two together.

For example:

2 to 3 hops on the same limb

— right, right, right — then switch left, left, left.

That final hop can be more horizontal in nature, because you know you have the opposite limb available to dissipate force over a longer ground contact, with more heel-to-toe mechanics. That last hop can be a full-send movement.

In-season

I’d aim for 50–100 metres total of hops and bounds across your microcycle.

Front-load hops earlier in the week, and bias bounds later in the week. If recovery is good, you can scale this up toward 150 metres across the week as the season progresses.

Used well, these are powerful tools for developing athleticism, robustness, multiplanar stability,and overall power — without needing huge volumes or excessive fatigue.

Potent tools. Use them wisely.