Coaching and Care of Athletes

- COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES ' Scissors' style, is perhaps nearest to the natural form of jumping we will discuss its technique first. THE BACK LAY-OUT STYLE This form represents perhaps the most obvious modification of the natural 'Scissors' jump, in which the athlete rises straight into the air from a left-foot take-off, made at an angle of 45° with the bar, throws the right leg up stiffly, following up this action with a stiff swing of the left leg. In the natural 'Scissors' style the body remains upright throughout the jump, and the landing is made on the right foot. ' For the benefit of high jumpers generally we may ignore the fact that Clinton Larson, U.S.A., using the Back Lay-out style, approached the bar with a 20 yds. run at tremendous speed. All that is needed by the majority of athletes is a run sufficiently fast to maintain enough momentum to propel the body over the bar, to which it is raised by the athlete's spring. In the Back Lay-out style the athlete gathers himself on the last two strides, but, as is not the case in other styles, he lengthens the last stride for the purpose of giving greater freedom and power to the upward swing of his right leg in the jump. In the take-off the heel-stamp and rock-up on the toes, the forward and upward swing of the arms, and the swing-up of the right leg should all synchronize. The swing-up of the right leg must carry the foot as high as possible. The body, with trunk upright, rises vertically at an angle of 45 ° with the bar, and when the hips are at bar-level (Plate XLII, Fig. 128) both legs are shot straight out, the head and shoulders are dropped sharply back, and the hips are raised with a hard upward jerk. An upward swing of the left leg com– pletes the clearance, while an upward swing of the right arm lifts the back and shoulders clear of the bar. This combination of actions brings the jumper into the position shown in Plate XLII, Fig. r2g. The athlete then has two alternatives to sav<i: himself from landing flat on his back. He can drop the left arm and leg, at the same time carrying his right arm across his chest and turning his head to the left. In this case his body will turn to face the bar, and he will land on his left hand. and foot before rolling on to the front of his body. Alternatively he can, having cleared the bar, turn away from it by dropping his right arm and leg as he turns his head to the right and pushes his left arm across 35°