Athletics of To-Day 1929

- - -------~ - Athletics of To-day straight ahead at the take-off, so that they pass well under and beyond the crossbar which ultimately they will go over. It follows therefore that this action can only be used at great heights, when time is allowed for the feet to come in from their forward swing and back to the pole side of the bar ; otherwise the standards must be moved further away from the take-off mark and slideway. At great heights it will be found that the feet reach their highest point well above the level of the bar, before the pole is perpendicular. When the leg swing is finished and the feet are as high as it is possible to fling them, the hands and the pole are pulled in to the shoulder, or face, according to the athlete's body rise. This concludes the upward and forward swing effort; both legs are now fully extended, but separated in a V shape. If the man has taken off from his left foot, then the left leg will be thrown straight out, and the right leg, rather higher than the left, will be bent at the knee, because a turning movement already has commenced. This leg shoot will have raised the feet a little higher, and the left leg is next kicked hard back to the right, while the right leg kicks forward and to the left. This double kick action brings the vaulter round so that he is in a face downwards position and looking right down on to the slideway (see picture No. 2, late 36, of Rydberg, the wedi h vaulter, who is just completing the turning movement but has allowed the pole to get away from his neck). The completion of the leg action is most beautifully shown in o. 3, Plate 36. No one but a great gymnast could maintain such perfect balance and body control as is here display d. ote th way in which the body is partly arched, that the hands and head are till b low the bar. The 1 ft hand, it work done, has released its hold in the next picture ( o. 4, late 36), the left arm is being lifted over the bar, and the right arm is com– pleting the pu h up; remember that the right hand ha had the upper hold the whole time. From this po iti n the 1 gs would be snapped down in the tt jack-knif " fini h, or the mov ment can be completed with a secondary double kick nd accompanying arm action, as shown by F. H. Sturdy