Success in Athletics and how to obtain it

THE POLE-JUMP I I I together as the point of the pole strikes the ground. It will be readily seen, by trying this on a stationary pole, that it is much easier to swing up the body by having both hands together than it is by having them separated. Even the veriest novice must see that he can exert a much greater pull upon the pole when the hands are close together, than when they are some eighteen inches apart, in which case all the strain is on the lower hand. This act of sliding the lower hand up until it touches the upper one at the crucial second requires great determination, and can only be accomplished after a considerable amount of practice (see figs. 33 and 34 for wrong hand-hold). Then the point is thrust down into the pit; this is the psychological moment at which a good deep breath must be taken to oxygenate the blood ade– quately for the effort. The jumper must see that as he plants the pole the weight of the body is disposed directly over the take-off foot, so that he can get all his "body power" into a downward thrust of the leg to enable him to spring upwards. Now, if. the effort has been nicely timed, he will as he takes off begin to feel the pull upon his arms-he must "take the strain " in order that there may be no break in the rhythm of the movement (sketch 2, p. I I2). For the purposes of description, it is assumed that as the athlete planted the pole he took off from the left foot ; at that time another thing also happened which must be fitted into the description. As the pole was planted and the left leg was thrust down for the take-off the right leg began to swing strongly up....:_not yet with its full power, however; the knee rises first, and then the leg is straightened out until