Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES Working from the postulate that the old-fashioned and per– fectly natural 'Scissors' action provides the fundamental principle of 'high jumping, which requires plenty of spring and accurate timing, we find ourselves faced with four definitely separate styles calling for the introduction of some form of lay-out to meet the requirements of a more recently discovered basic principle which demands that the athlete should bring the heavy parts of the upper body down to the level of his centre of gravity in effecting bar clearance. All four styles, when properly executed, fulfil the five important conditions: (I) That the foot from which the sprmg IS made shall be planted squarely under the body at the instant of taking off. (2) That the foot action in the take-off shall comprise a roll, or rock-up, from the heel to the toes. (3) That the take-off leg shall be fully straightened when the spring is made. (4) That the body shall be propelled vertically upward from the take-off. (5) That the hips must rise to bar-level before the lay-out is instituted. The styles vary in that two of them-( a) the Back Lay-out and (b) the Eastern Cut-off-adhere to the principles of the natural 'Scissors' jumper, who takes off from the foot farther from the bar, whereas in the other two-(c) the Western Roll and (d) the Straddle Jump-the spring is made from the foot nearer to the bar. The approach run for the four styles of jumping and how to stabilize them may conveniently be dealt with here. Speaking generally, a jumper taking off from the left foot will approach the bar from the right in the Back Lay-out style at an angle of 45°, from the right or from directly in front in the Eastern Cut-off style, and from the left at an angle of 45°, or less, in the Western Roll and Straddle styles. Do not be dogmatic about the angle of approach. It should suit the individual, and may vary for a left-foot jumper from centre to extreme right in the Back Lay-out and Eastern styles and from centre to extreme left in the Western and Straddle styles. The approach run usually varies in distance from 35 ft. to 42 ft. for all styles, and in speed according to the style. In all styles four strides at one-third sprinting speed bring the jumper to his 348