Coaching and Care of Athletes

THE BROAD JUMP and with a speed jumper for height and to perfect the running– in-the-air action. As the jumper plants his foot on the take-off board the leg should be slightly flexed for the extension reaction to shoot him into the air with a full-powered leg-drive. The rock-up from heel to toes needs a great deal of practice. Maffei, of Italy, did nothing else at a walk or a trot for weeks on end before he succeeded in beat– ing 25 ft. As the toes of the right foot leave the board the left knee is picked up to hip-level, the right knee is then driven hard up to above hip-level, and the right leg drops loosely back as the left knee is picked up, as shown by Owens in Plate XLVI, Fig. I38. If no further running-in-the-air stride is to be made the right knee is now ·drawn up to the height of the left knee (Plate XLVI, Fig. I 39), the arms are lowered, the trunk is forced forward from the hips, and the legs are extended for the landing, as shown by Owens in Plate XLVI, Fig. I4o, and Plate XLVII, Fig. I4I. As the heels cut the sand of the pit the legs 'give' at the knees, the arms are swung strongly forward, and the athlete, carried forward over the fulcrum of his feet, lands on his hands, as shown by Owens in Plate XLVII, Fig. I42· Luz Long, who holds the German record of 25 ft. I r ins., is said to get a hang and a whip through of both legs in mid-air, but slow-motion films and Plate XLVII, Fig. I43, suggest that his running-in-the-air action is continuous, although of a different pattern to that used by other jumpers who employ this style. The point at which the jumper should attain maximum height in his trajectory of flight has been much debated. Charles Hoff, the Norwegian authority upon athletic technique, contends that as the jumper's take-off foot leaves the board his centre of gravity should be I 2 to I8 ins. in advance of his foot fulcrum, so that the high point may be reached two-thirds of the way through the path of flight. It is more usual to recommend the athlete to have his centre of gravity 6 ins. in front of his foot fulcrum, so that the high point ma·y be reached half-way through the trajectory. A few jumpers, taking off with the body almost vertical, have got good results by attaining height almost at once. One can find out only by experiment which style will suit the individual athlete. When the American negro E. L. Gordon won the Olympic championship in I932 at 25 ft. ! in. he attained the high point in flight I8 ft. from the take-off board. For the purpose of description it will be assumed that the 367