Rowing and Track Athletics (extract)

CHAPTER IX THE JUMPS AND THE POLE-VAULT IN the jumping events " form " is an element almost as important as "spring" and "sand." A high jumper must master the technique of clearing the bar if he hopes to do justice to his strength and courage, and, other things being equal, from four to six inches may be added to the height he can jump merely by changing from a natural, haphazard to a "scientific" method. The broad jumper must have spring and he must have speed, but if he does not know how to strike the take-off squarely and with perfect confidence, his physical advantages will go to naught. The pole-vault, although not strictly a jumping event in the same sense that the high and broad jump are, is obvi– ously a "trick " event, and one in which form is a prime essential. The importance of "sand" in jumping is some– thing which a great many people are likely to belittle or quite forget. Jumping seems to be a quiet, one-man sort of amusement, freed from the clash and strain of contest, where a fighting edge 1s of comparatively little account. As a matter 360