Athletes in Action

THE HIGH JC~IP. E. \ TER T 107 -T-OFF (z) s seen in Fig. I, the last tride of the run-up ends in a slight crouch, with knees bent and the heel of the jumping foot firmly grounded. The forward momentum of the run is translated into the upward momentum of the jump, by m ans of a vigorous foot-stamp, a strong upward kick of the free leg, a strong upward swing of the arms and the full extension of the wh le body, as shown in Fig. 2 opposite. ote, especially, that both legs are perfectly straight and are held locked at the knees at the instant when the tips of the toes of the take-off foot are about to leave the ground. te, also, in relation to the take-off foot, that, whereas the heel was plac d hard down (Fig. I) to start the take-off action, the jumper has made full use f a p werful ankling movement of the 1 ft foot, to get the greatest amount of power fr m the heel-check action, followed by an upwar drive from the springiness f the sole of the foot, to which the toes themsclv s contribute a final lift with a fli k-up from the gr und surface. The body should be held perfectly upright in this stage of the jump ; ither a f rward or a backward lean will have disastrou r sults. T gain proficiency in this phase f .. astern ut- ff jumping the athlete should do plenty f high kicking, ace mpani d by upv ard arm swinging, with ut allowing the toes of the jumping f ot to leave the gr und. ater on he may all w the kick and arm- swing to lift him a little way off the ground, but he must continue to let the Jumping leg hang during these practices. ext, he may set the cross-bar at 7 ft . to 8 ft . and learn to kick it off, first without 1 tting the jumping foot leave the ground and, later, with a light spring off th ground but he mu t take care to let the take-off leg hang 1 osely down as the foot of his free leg ri!e to bar-1 vel.