Ennis hopes change in technique will change her fortunes

JESS Ennis hopes a simple case of swapping right for left could help her put aside the disappointment of missing last year's Olympics.

CONFIDENT: Jess Ennis hopes subtle changes in technique will reap dividends at this summer's IAAF World Championship in Berlin (Adidas)

Ennis - who finished fourth in the heptathlon at the 2007 World Championships in Osaka - will make her comeback at next month's Multistars event in Italy, the first leg of the IAAF Combined Events Challenge.

It's a return to the meeting that launched her career when she won in 2007, although careful observers will notice a subtle difference in her long jump technique.

"I have switched my take off foot for the long jump to reduce the impacts and the stress on my ankle," said Ennis, who sustained a treble stress fracture while competing in Gotzis last year.

"I sat down with my coach and a doctor and we worked out what would be best for me. We decided on that because taking off on my right foot in the long-jump and the high-jump was too much for it

"It was difficult at first but normally a right-handed person like me should take off on their left foot anyway, so I have started to get to grips with it.

"It's a wise decision and I am really confident that, when I come to compete in Italy, it won't hinder me at all.

"Denise Lewis changed her take off foot from left to right and then back to left and it didn't do her any harm, so I'm sure it will be OK for me."

With Carolina Kluft focused on new challenges and Lyudmila Blonska finally drummed out of the sport after another failed drugs test, the pressure is on Ennis to become heptathlon's new fresh-faced star.

But the memories of last year's injury disappointment still linger.

"Beijing will always be with me, I'd trained so hard, so to have it all taken away from me so quickly was terrible," said Ennis, who returned to action at the Northern Senior Championships in January.

"It will stay with me forever but it is about taking the positives from any situation.  In terms of the goals for the year and what I can expect from it, I'm a little bit unsure.

"But having said that, the big goal is qualifying for the World Championships in Berlin, being injury-free when I get there and then win a medal.

"Before I had the injury I was confident that I could compete with the best in the world and with a couple of them gone, that should give me an even better chance."

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NICK CLOWES