Track Athletics in Detail (extract)

7° TRACK ATHLETICS IN DETAIL through the air, the feetbeing well ahead of the trunk, buthe armsand the headheld so far for­ ward that they will bring the body along, too, as soon as the feet dig into the soft earth below. The feet should be keptwell together on landing in thejumping-box, and a good broad jumper will never allow himself to fall forward on his hands, but will always resume his erect position, and walk out of the soft earth instead of rolling out. In field competitions the jump is measured from the outer edge of the sunken board which marks the take-off, on a line perpendicular to it, to thenearest break in the groundmade by any part of the person of the competitor. If the jumper oversteps the take-off, or scratch-line, as it is called, and makes a mark in the earth on the farther side of it, his jump is registeredas a foul, but counts nevertheless as a trial. Training for broad jumping consists mostly of hard practice in sprinting short distances, say from seventy-five to ahundred yards.This is to acquire the highest speed for the run. High jumping should also be practised, but the athlete should not attempt to become proficient in the number of inches he can clear, but rather in the form with which he covers a reasonable height. A spin now and then over the hurdles will also do a great deal towards improving a broad jumpers form. After the athlete has become ore or less a master of his event, he will findthat halfa dozen