Coaching and Care of Athletes

THE HIGH JUMP you can overcome the novice's natural disinclination to let his head and shoulders go down to the side in a full lay-out. To overcome this purely psychological disability it is best, after the preliminary reaction test jump has been made, to have the athlete stand facing the bar, which is raised r8 ins. to 2 ft. He should spring from both feet to begin with, and, when he is above the bar, fall to the side of his usual take-off leg. That is to say, if a man springs naturaily from his left foot instruct him to fall to the left, and vice versa. Then let him jump at the same height, approaching the bar at a walk, then a trot, and, taking off from his left foot, if that is his normal take-off foot, spring over the bar and fall to his left. Stabilize his take-off mark and approach run, as described already. The line of ·approach and the positioning of the take– off foot are at an angle of 45 ° with the bar, more or less, and the take-off mark is usually located 3 ft . 3 ins. to 3 ft. 6 ins. in front ofthe bar. Let the runner approach and put his left foot down at an angle of 45°, and, without jumping, kick his right leg up in a direction slightly to the right of his line of approach. In this way you will teach him from the start to avoid jumping into the bar. Next set the bar at a fair height and have him jump, not to clear it, but merely to drive his body up so that the hips rise to bar-level with the trunk upright. In this practice make him drive up the right knee, instead of kicking up the right foot. You can in due course decide whether he is to use the right-knee lift or right-leg swing to aid the rise of the body from the ground. The next thing to be decided is whether the athlete will the better effect clearance with a slow, continuous roll or by means of a quick backward jerk of the underneath hip when he is above the bar (Plate XLII, Fig. 130). The American Pacific Coast jumpers Horine and Beeson, who were contemporaries and who both cleared 6 ft. 7 ins., differed in that Horine used a slow, continuous roll that landed him well out into the pit, whereas Beeson used the quick hip-action turn when above the bar, so that he landed directly under the bar, or close to it. To test your novice raise the bar to a height he is certain to clear, and tell him to use a steady, slow roll and no hip action. Then try him out with the quick-turn-on-the-under-hip action, and decide which style is likely to suit him. In Plate XLII, Fig. 130, a student at the English Summer 357