Bermuda long jumper Tyrone Smith has lifted the lid on the reason behind his recent slump in form which has left him at the lowest ebb of his career.

Smith failed to reach the long jump finals at the World Indoor Championships last week despite the qualifying mark being well below his personal best.

But the 24-year-old is putting his recent struggles down to the problems he is having converting his 'mixed' jumping technique to the 'double hitch kick' – a method perfected by his hero Carl Lewis.

The hitch kick is similar to running in the air with the athlete moving their legs and arms in circle patterns to land further into the sand pit to achieve greater distance.

Previously Bermuda's Male Athlete of the Year used a combination of the hitch-kick and the 'hang', but his coach Tom Tellez – a former coach of track and field legend Lewis – believes Smith will be able to jump further than ever before once he has mastered his new style.

Smith knows he has to be patient while he adjusts and said his decreased levels in performance were always to be expected.

"2008 was my best year but I was a different kind of jumper then," he said.

"I used to do a combination of both the hang and the hitch kick, but last season my coach started working on the double hitch kick used by Carl Lewis and world champion Dwight Phillips.

"When we started work on that was when my performances started to actually decrease. That was to be expected and it will take a while before I can go forward again and start reaching the jumps I know I can.

"That technique (the hitch kick) and the amount of time I'm working on it is why I have not been at my best.

"I could go back to what I've done before and hit eight metres and 8.10m, or maybe if I stick with this new way there will be no telling to what I can achieve – that's what my coach keeps on telling me anyway."

Houston-based Smith said he was dismayed he was unable to perform to his best at the World Indoors in Qatar but remained optimistic about his chances at the Commonwealth Games in October.

"Obviously I didn't perform to the level I wanted to do," he said. "This has been the first championships where the qualifying mark has been less than my personal best and I had a very, very good chance of actually medalling.

"So, this has been pretty much as frustrating as I have ever felt as an athlete since I left college. In terms of why it happened that way, it's probably multi-tiered.

"To go to a major championships and to not perform even close to how I can is very frustrating."

The part-time car salesman plans to temporarily move to Southern Europe in the summer where he will tune up for the Commonwealth Games which will be held in Delhi, India.

A $10,000 grant from Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA)'s Delhi Development Fund will cover his relocations costs and enable him to immerse himself in training rather than having to 'chase the dollar' to fund his previous shoestring campaigns.

"I plan to go to Europe and I have to have that conversation with my boss. That will be the sticking point, if they will let me take a leave of absence in the summer ahead of the Commonwealth Games and go to Europe and pursue everything," he said.

"I guess at the end of the day my performances will dictate whether it works. I love this job but if I put in good performances, and my sponsorship increases, I won't have to work at Audi anymore."