THE KNACK OF JUMPING.

Otago Witness, Issue 2676, 28 June 1905, Page 53

THE KNACK OF JUMPING.

(By O. B. Fry.)

HIGH JUMPING.

Of .high jumping there is no ultimate theory. 'It is a matter of pure spring, combined with a kind of gymnastic adroitness in managing the limbs and body in the air so that ©very part of them, as it successively tops the bar, tops it clear. A high jumper, at least one of good class, dees not bounce over the bar in a lump — he slithers, shoots, or rolls over it. There is a great knack in how -the limbs and) body- are- manoeuvred over the bar, after sheer spring has given them all tihe rise it- can. But before this, there is knack in taking-off at the exact spot that allows the body to be at the top of its rise neither just too soon nor jtist too late, but precisely at the proper moment. A high jumper's so-called run-up ia not for the sake of forward impetus as in the case of the long jump ; rather it is a. preparatory process of overcoming inertia, and of winding up the muscles for the spring. If you watch a jumper approaching you see his whole being, body and mind, is, feeling after, manoeuvring for, the crouch that immediately precedes the spring. Indeed, a good high jumper, as a rule, spring* up much too- straight from the ground for mere forward impetus to avail him at all. The- reason -«, man can jump so much higher with a run-up than from a standing position is that the run-up gives him a power, which the standing position does not. of collecting himself into the full force of his spring. It is quite true that some jumpers, and good ones, make quite a flying leap, taking-off rather far away, and landing far on the other side, but this style is exceptional with those who clear sf"t Bin and ov.t.

It must be explained that there are two quite distinct methods of high jumping. One is usually called the "sideways" method, the other ths "straight." In th© first, approaching the bar at a mere or less acute; angle, the jumper lakes off facing almost parallel with the bar. and, at the top of his .rise, lifts first one leg then the other over : he, as it were, sits on the bar without touching it, so that, in the middle of the jump, he is straddlewise over it. In the second the jumper rune straight for the bar, and lifts, himself straight .at it, so that both his tegs clear it in front of his body. There arc some jumpers whose style is neither the one nor the other, but a mixture of both ; but in general the dia< motion is clear enough.

The knack of laking-off at the proper distance in order that the top of the rise may be just o\er the bar resembles the knack of timing a oricket ball — it cannot be explained. Sideways jumpers, as a rule, find no difficulty in taking-off, but straight jumpers! are always liable to take-off too far away, and have always to be on their guard against this mistake.

But the moift interesting' knack in high jumping — on© which distinguishes some of the finest straight jumpers — is the knack of body leverage in tits aiv. WJien a Jumper has flung himself high up legs first at the bar, his body, as a rule, is higher than Ihis leg's, or, at most, level with them; but if he possesses by nature, or can acquire by arc, th>3 knaok of body leverage, he -c<uz shoot his legs higher than, his body, and then, having slipped them over the bar, can lever up his trunk with tha muscles of his back, using hi® hips as a fuleruni In a certain degree this body leverage resembles the "wriggle" in thelong- jump. American jumpers cultivate the knack with incessant care ; and the best of them succeed by its aid in adding several .inches to the natural limit of the ris/e given them by sheer spring. It is not improbable that the discovery and cultivation of mid-air body leverage explains why the standard of" the best high jumping has impioved to decidedly in America. There is no reason why the jumpers of earlier days should be credited with less power of actual spring than those of today.

Another instance of knack is exhibited in skilful landing after a hig-h jump. It may strike you that once clear o-ver the bar the jumper ha? finished his task, and that tha manner of his landing, provided it doos not hurt him, matter? nothing at all. But this is not the case. For if * jumper is not sure of falling neatly tod

comfortably on his feet, this feeling- of uncertainty baulks him in his ■effort t< clear the ba,r. When you remember that in clearing, say, sft Biu a juniper must assume a position in the air which, unless corrected in his subsequent fall, will bring him to the ground in a sprawl, you realise that the anticipation of any miscarriage is likely to disturb him. To fall otherwise than on the feet fiom such a height is more than unpleasant. If a batsman, in driving a ball, anticipated he might possibly hit himself on the head at the end of the stroke, he would not -awing his bat with the complete confidence and accuracy required for a hard hit. Similarly it is difficult for a juniper to put his whole power into a jump when he mistrusts the manner of his landing. Perhaps those jumpers land with the most comfort who ha-ve "the knack of so turning tihemselves in the air as to come down facing the bar, but this almost acrobatic feat calls for no little physical adroitness of a kind that is quite unconHected with actual power of soring.

POLE JUMPING. Pole-jumping is evidently not a matter of sheer spring only, but of leverage also.

obtained from first the pole and then from the back, arras, and wrists. No one would miss the fact that it requires considerableknack. On the contrary, you are rather likely to under-estimate the amount of pure high jumping involved in the apparently gymnastic effort of lifting the body over the bar by means of the pole. Certainly there •is a great knack in combining pure spring wi-bh pole leverage in such a way as to gain full advantage from both Then, too, wben the pole reaches the perpendicular the jumper has to maintain its equilibrium for an appreciable time while ho swings himself horizontally over the bar. This is not at all easy, even when the hold on the pole is level with the bar, and it is less easy still when the bar is above the Lold. and the jumper has to lift himself higher th;m his hands. Perhaps in this iatter feat there is rnorg knack thanin any part of the pole-jump. But knack is also required in letting go of the pole in such a. way as to prevent it falling , against, and displacing, the bar ; and also, as in the high jump, mi so managing the drop as to avoid discomfort and shock.