OCR PE Unit 6.2

Athletics Based Sport - High Jump

Skills

High Jump is a sport that requires a huge amount of skill, precision and determination. Here are some of the skills that are needed in high jump -

Speed - on your approach to the bar you need to build up speed and momentum. it is important that you build up more speed if you are a smaller person

Agility - agility is needed in high jump for every step of the technique in which you are using. You need agility when you are jumping the bar, clearing the bar, and curving your run in your approach to the bar

Strength - you need strength in high jump when you are are jumping. You need both strength along with power to accelerate over the bar

Aggression - on the approach to the bar an aggressive run up is the best run up

Precision - is required when you are approaching the bar, turning at an angle to the bar and clearing it. Precise movements is the key to a good jump

Drive - you need drive to claer the bar

Here are some athletes demonstrating these skills -

Blanka Vlasic clearing the bar

Javier Sotomayer clearing the bar

Amy Acuff run up

Yelena Slesarenko take off

Techniques

Skills and techniques are different in high jump. The four main techniques are The Western Roll, The Fosbury Flop, The Scissors and The Eastern Cut - Off. Here is information on these techniques -

The most popular technique used nowadays is the Fosbury Flop, invented by the Olympic champion Dick Fosbury in 1968.

This method begins with a straight run to build up as much speed as possible. Then, athletes curve their run towards the centre of the bar (lowest point). The speed of the approach varies from athlete to athlete however the smaller the athlete, the faster the run - up.

On the second to last stride, athletes lower their hips and move their arms backwards behind their body. As the take - off foot touches the ground the athletes body should be angled away from the bar. The free leg is driven upwards and often reaches a 90 degrees angle, which ensures that the athletes body rotates towards the bar.


Athletes then swing their arms forwrds and upwards with the shoulder of the arm closest to the bar kept as high as possible.The athletes arch their back and during the clearance of the bar the free leg drops slightly.

As soon as the hips have cleared the bar, the athlete brings their legs over the bar and land naturally on their back. This technique requires absolute precision and some common mistakes are jumping slightly too early or over arching your back.

The Scissors begins with the approach being in a straight line at 30 - 50 degrees to the bar, jumping the lowest point (usually the centre). The run - up is not a sprint.

At the take - off the drive leg is held straight and swung into the air to clear the bar. Athletes tend to land on their feet during this technique, therefore sand or a soft mat is provided as a landing area.

The approach in the Eastern cut - off technique is the same as the scissors jump. At take - off the leg nearer the bar is swung into the air and as the hips rise the athlete lies back facing upwards. The take - off leg has to be swung up to the bar and during take - off, athletes have to drive their arms into the air to create more momentum.

Foam matting is provided for landing which prevents injury to the athletes back or neck.

The Western roll is a well known version of the straddle jump. The Western roll is a technique in which a roll style jump is used. One leg is swung up first, followed by the body of the athlete. In this technique the bar passes underneath the athletes body.

Some coaching points are -

• Always warm up with heel flicks, high knees and high skips
• Get used to arching your back
• Begin with the bar low and gradually work up
• Do not jump constantly
• Precision is key
• Work very hard
• Always be determined to beat your personal best (PB)

Some drills that are used in high jump are -

• Straight Start

The Straight Start drill is a drill that requires you only taking a 3, 5 or 10 step run up directly straight on to the bar.

• Full Approach with Scissor Jump drill

This drill begins with a straight approach to the bar and ends with a scissors jump rather than a fosbury flop. This improves the take off skills.

• Standing Bar Clearance

This drill is similar to standing high jump however you begin with a slow jog in towrads the bar, turn at 180 degrees and arch your back. Take off and clear the bar. This drill improves bar clearance and gets athletes into the habit of arching their back.


Tactics

The main tactic in high jump is entering the competition at a certain stage. Some more confident athletes will pass on lower heights and enter the competition later, to reduce the risk of a failure at an earlier stage. This could benefit them in the long run as if they have a tie with a competitor, the person with the least failed attempts at earlier heights would be declared the winner.

Here is a table to illustrate this - <><> <><><>  <><><>  <><><>  <><><>  <><><>  <><><> 

Height (m)	Competitor A	Competitor B
1.86	---	XO
1.88	---	---
1.90	O	O
1.92	O	O
1.94	XO	XO
1.96	XXX	XXX

Key

Pass -          ---

Failure -       O

Success -     X

In this example competitior A wouls win as they had less failed attempts than Competitor B.

Strategies Many athletes have their own, unique technique. As well as this they use their own stratergies. The four main steps in high jump are the approach, the curve, the take off and the clearance. Every athlete has a technique that is individual such as they decide the length of their paces etc. Not only do athletes only have their own technique some can jump higher than others, so this is also a factor that can affect a good jump.