Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

THE STANDING JUMPS velops the legs) and the spring as well; but the putting and the throwing must be done as frequently with the left hand as the right, or the muscular de– velopment will be uneven, and this, for the standing long-jumper at any rate, is distinctly bad. THE STANDING HIGH-JUMP The most important thing for the standing high– jumper to learn is to kick the leg to a considerable height as the other (take-off) leg leaves the ground. This is gradually worked up to by standing on the take-off foo~, and kicking as high as possible with the other leg without letting the body move from its upright position. This also teaches the jumper to separate his legs well. Later, after the athlete has learned to retain his equilibrium while kicking high, he may try the kick at the same time as he makes a little spring from the floor, to gain confidence for the real effort which will come later; but in this he must at first be careful, for the very fact of kicking up tends to raise the whole body, so that, if he does not watch his balance, it is more than likely that the back of his head will meet the ground with consider– able force. Kicking, "the splits," and the hurdler's exercises of "storking" with either leg alternately, will also help him, as will the other hurdler's exercise of laying the leg flat upon the table and pressing the body down over it; but this also will have to be done with each leg alter– nately. It is an excellent exercise, as it stretches the muscles at the back of the thigh and enables the jumper to get each leg in turn straight over and in the same straight line with the bar, that is to say, parallel to, but above it (see Exercises in Appendix).