High jump: from the scissors to the Fosbury flop

1Why this matters

The high jump asks one question: how do you turn a run into height? In 1968 an American student, Dick Fosbury, answered it in a way the Olympics had never seen. He went over the bar head first, on his back, and won the Olympic gold medal. Almost every high jumper now uses his "Fosbury flop". You will learn why it works, and a safer technique, the scissors, for school sessions without a deep landing mat.

2The rules

• You must take off from one foot.
• A jump is a failure if you knock the bar off, or touch the ground or landing area beyond the bar before clearing it.
• You may start at any height the judges offer, or pass (skip) a height.
• Three consecutive failures, at one height or across several, eliminate you.
• The winner clears the greatest height. For a tie, the countback applies: first, fewest failures at the height where the tie happened; then, fewest failures in the whole competition.

3The scissors (use it when there is no deep landing mat)

1. Approach from the side at about 30° to 40° to the bar, with 5 to 7 strides.
2. Take off from the foot farther from the bar.
3. Swing the leg nearer the bar (the lead leg) straight up and over.
4. Follow with the take-off leg in a scissor action, keeping the trunk upright.
5. Land on the lead foot, then the other foot, on a mat or in sand.

4The Fosbury flop (only onto a proper high-jump landing mat)

1. J-shaped approach: 8 to 10 strides, the first few in a straight line and the last four or five on a curve, leaning away from the bar.
2. Take-off: plant the foot farther from the bar and drive the other knee up with one or both arms. The knee drive turns your back to the bar.
3. Bar clearance: head and shoulders go over first. Arch your back over the bar, hips up.
4. Legs: as your hips pass the bar, tuck your chin and kick your legs up and over.
5. Landing: land on your upper back and shoulders in the middle of the mat.

5Why the flop works

A jumper's take-off decides how high the centre of gravity can rise. In the scissors, the upright body must pass completely above the bar, so the centre of gravity has to rise well above it. In the flop, the body is draped round the bar in an arch. Head, back, hips and legs cross it one after another, while the centre of gravity itself can stay at or even just below bar height. Same take-off, higher bar.

Worked example: reading a high-jump card

O = cleared, X = failure, – = passed.

Result: 1st Umutoni, 2nd Mutesi, 3rd Keza. Step 2 (total failures) is only needed if step 1 still leaves a tie. Note that Umutoni's miss at 1.30 m did not matter.

Practice

Solution. No. The rules require a take-off from one foot.

Solution. No. Her last three attempts (X, X at 1.30 m, then X at 1.35 m, which she moved up to) are three consecutive failures, so she is eliminated with 1.25 m.

Solution. Step 1 ties (0 failures each at 1.50 m). Step 2: B has fewer total failures, so B places higher.

Solution. The jumper lands on the upper back and shoulders, falling from above bar height. Only a deep, soft high-jump mat protects the neck and spine.