Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

64 SUCCESS IN ATHLETICS Even such small details as the building up of the neck-muscles should not be neglected by the standing - high-jumper, for at one stage of the jump the proper bending of the head away from the bar aids the jumper in lifting the take-off leg over the bar. Among other things, he should swing the clubs lustily during those exercises which come with a straight swing from the shoulder. Shadow-jumping is also to be highly re– commended-little leaps without a bar to cross, bending the body and flinging the limbs all ways, so that per– fect cont"r ol of all the movements may be learned. The long-legged_man has the advantage, in that his hips, upon which all the movements hang, are always nearer to the height of the bar than are those of the shorter man ; consequently he arrives at the crucial point in the jump with less expenditure of energy than does the other man. The accepted theory is that the standing high-jumper, in taking off (for the purposes of description we will assume that he stands with his right side to the bar), kicks the right leg into the air as high as possible directly the feet leave the ground. Whether this is so or not is open to considerable doubt. From a set of cinematograph pictures, which have been taken of a very prominent standing high-jumper, it would appear that the movement is different. In view of the foregoing, it is thought advisable to describe the evolutions first in accordance with the generally accepted theory, and then as it would appear to take place from the cinematograph. 1. The Generally Accepted Theory.- The jumper stands with his side to the bar so far away from it that, standing with the hand resting on the hip and the arm bent outwards, the elbow will be under or