SOARING HIGHER

Evening Star, Issue 21879, 16 November 1934, Page 15

SOARING HIGHER

STYLES IN JUMPING EVOLUTION OF NEW METHODS A. century ago there were high jumpers who could clear the bar at six feet. These old-time high flyers didn’t know or care much about high-jumping styles, but they owned legs that had plenty ot natural spring in them (says an •American sports publication). . All of them used the old scissors style of jumping. Approaching the bar from one side, they took, off from the foot away from the bar, kicked up the inside foot as they left the ground, cleared the bar in a dignified sitting position, and landed on both feet. If. a youngster of to-day who never had seen a good high jumper in action arid who never had read anything about the event, should suddenly decide to become a high jumper, the odds are a hundred to one that he would use that same old scissors. Jumpers of to-day have just as much, and no more, natural spring as had the jumpers of a hundred years ago. Using the old style of jumping, the best ot them would be doing in the neighbourhood of six feet. Instead of which, our best jumpers - are capable of doing six feet eight inches or over. The only reason the jumpers to-day soar eight inches higher than did the jumpers of a hundred years ago is that they -have studied their event and evolved jumping methods which are much more efficient than was the old scissors. Mike Sweeney, who for almost forty years has beeri physical director at Hill School, was the first jumper to do something about improving the scissors. A fine all-round athlete and gymnast while a New York schoolboy, he soon won fame after he began to specialise in high jumping. ■ In 1895, in the New- York A. 0.Londou A.C. track meet—the first international track and field meet held since the ancient Olympic Games—-he set a world mark of 6ft 5 5-Biu. This mark stood for eighteen years. Sweeney, who was five feet nine inches tall, won success by developing what now is called the Eastern style of high jumping. Approaching the bar from the front, lie took off from his left foot, at the same moment throwing his right leg upward'. Then, at the end of his upward leap, he turned his body on its left the layout that is so important a feature of all modern jumping styles—and crossed the bar. Le Roy Brown, of Dartmouth, thirty years later, won championships using a style much like Sweeney’s, pick Landon, Johnny Murphy, and Clint Larson all used variations of the Sweeney style. George Spitz,- one of the top-flight present-day jumpers, uses almost the same form as did the talented Mike. Mike Sweeney developed a new jumping style to establish his record. George Horine, of Stanford University, developed another new style to break it. His style was called the Western roll. Horine approached the bar from the left, took off with bis left foot, and as ho left the ground kicked bis right leg upward and snapped his left leg up against it. Then he straightened his body in the layout and rolled over the bar, being almost face downwards as li© crossed. Harold Osborn, who established a world record of 6ft Biin in 1924, a record which stood for almost ten years, used a variation of Horine’s form. So did Bob King, who won the Olympic title at Amsterdam, and Duncan M‘Nalighten, who won at Los Angeles. Walter Marty, the holder of the present world record of 6ft B|in, is another Western roller, whose form is derived from that of Horine. It really doesn’t make much difference which of the modern styles a jumper uses, provided he selects one that suits him and learns to use it well.