Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES Alternatively he can regard his left hip as the fulcrum of the whole evolution, and turn consciously upon it, twitching the hip from left to right when he is above the bar to expedite the speed of his roll. The hip action is shown in Plate XLII, Fig. I30, by an English Summer School student who jumped from his right foot. THE STRADDLE STYLE A full description of this style has been given already at pp. 343 and 344., so no more than a condensed recapitulation is required. The form is part Western and part natural Scissors style, for although the take-off is made from the foot nearer to the bar the landing is made on the opposite foot. Some coaches have referred to the Straddle style as an inverted Scissors jump. The chief merit of the style lies in the economy of effort in the take-off. It is believed that when D. McNaughton, Canada, R. Van Osdel, U.S.A., S. Toribino, Phillipines, and C. C.Johnson, U.S.A., tied for the Olympic title in I932 at 6 ft. 5~ ins. victory went ultimately to the Canadian because, in the two hours' jump-offwhich took place before the tie could be decided, his style, approximating closely to the StraddleJump, proved less exhausting than the Western and Eastern forms used by his opponents. The important points of technique in the Straddle style are an approach run of eight progressive strides; a concentrated take– off at an angle of 45° with the bar at a point about 20 ins. away from it; a high, sweeping kick of the free leg (right leg if the jumper springs from his left foot) to bring the knee up to chin– level and the foot as high as possible, a definite lift of the shoulders, accompanying the swing of the arms, to aid upward perpendicular momentum of the body ; a well-gathered position as the right leg and right arm pass over the bar (Plate XL, Fig. I I g) ; a care– fully timed turn over the bar (Plate XL, Figs. I 20 and I 2 I) ; and a hard kick-up behind of the take-off leg, as shown in Plate XLI, Fig. I22. (N.B. When the photo comprising Plate XLI, Fig. I22, was taken in I9I I I took off from the right foot.) Many athletes fail in this style through starting the turn over the bar too soon: the turn should not be started until the right knee is just above the level ofthe bar. Others make a wrong choice between shooting the take-off leg up and back in the final phase of clearance and swinging up the take-off leg, with the lower leg loose and flexed at the knee, as shown in Plate XLI, Fig. I22. 354