Straddle technique

The straddle technique was the dominant style in the high jump before the development of the Fosbury Flop. It is a successor of the western roll,[1] with which it is sometimes confused. To clarify the distinction between the two styles, we begin with a discussion of the western roll.
Description of the western roll technique

The western roll [2] is a high jump technique invented by George Horine of Stanford University, shown in the pictures above. It was used by him to set a world record of 6 ft 7 inches (2.01m) in 1912. The style was used by several world record holders between then and 1953, when Walt Davis jumped 6 ft 11 1/2 inches. Only when Charles Dumas used the straddle technique to make the first 7 ft jump, in 1956, did the western roll begin to disappear.
The crucial difference between the western roll and the various scissors styles that preceded it is in the direction of approach -- from the opposite side, so that the takeoff leg is the one nearest to the bar. The lead leg is usually kicked up vigorously, lifting the body into a layout on the side or back above the bar, with the trailing leg folded beneath the lead leg. After the bar has been crossed, the body rotates to face the ground, and the trail leg drops to enable a three-point landing on it and the hands. Thus the western roll is actually a glorified "hop" over the bar, and indeed the style is easily learned by starting with a hop and gradually strengthening the lead leg kick until the body is pulled into a layout above the bar.
The western roll was a competitive high jump style for a long time because it was easy to learn and more efficient (allowing clearance of a bar that is closer to the height of the center of mass) than all but the most contorted variants of the scissors. It also enabled a comfortable landing in the crude sand pits provided for high jumpers up until the 1950s. However, the technique is less efficient than the straddle technique, a style that evolved from the western roll when the rotation of the body was increased to the point where the bar was crossed face down.
History of the western roll
It is said that George Horine came to invent the western roll because the high jump pit at Stanford could be approached from only one side.[3] Another, perhaps more plausible, explanation is that the style was invented by the Stanford coach Edward Moulton.[4] However, neither of these stories occurs in a detailed contemporary profile of Horine, which states that Horine arrived at the style himself after many months of experimentation. [5] At any rate, the style was controversial at first, partly because of rivalry between the US east and west coasts [6] (hence the label "western" given to Horine's style). The initial objections, due to the "no diving" rule then in force, were overcome by the development of a western roll style in which the lead foot precedes the head in crossing the bar. Another western athlete, Alma Richards of Utah, won the 1912 Olympic high jump using a western roll with a more frontal, feet-first, approach.[7]
While the "no diving" rule was still in force, the world high jump record was captured by a series of western roll jumpers: George Horine (1912), Edward Beeson (1914), Harold Osborn (1924), Walter Marty (1933), and Cornelius Johnson (1936). Johnson's record (6 ft 9 3/4 inches, or 2.07m) was equalled on the same day by Dave Albritton, the first world record holder to use what we now call the straddle technique. At first, the straddle was viewed as just a variation of the western roll,[8] and indeed video of the 1936 Olympics shows Albritton using a conventional western roll at lower heights. [9] The straddle did not come to dominate the high jump until the mid-1950s, by which time it was recognized as a separate style. Walt Davis was the last western roll jumper to hold the world record.
The western roll was the catalyst for two changes in the rules of high jumping.
The first was in high jump equipment. Until the 1930s, the high jump bar rested on two pegs that projected from the back of the uprights. Consequently, the jumper could hit the bar quite hard without dislodging it, by pressing it back against the uprights. This was scarcely possible for scissors jumpers, but it was more than possible with the western roll. This loophole was exploited by Harold Osborn, among others.[10] As a result, high jump equipment was changed to ensure that the bar could be dislodged both backwards and forwards.
The other change was in the "no diving" rule, which was repealed shortly after the world record jumps of Johnson and Albritton, thus allowing the head to cross the bar before the feet. This led to a "dive" version of the western roll, which was used by the next world record holder, Melvin Walker in 1937,[11] and also by Walt Davis.
The straddle
Unlike the scissors or flop style of jump, where the jumper approaches the bar so as to take off from the outer foot, the straddle jumper approaches from the opposite side, so as to take off from the inner foot. In this respect the straddle resembles the western roll. However, in the western roll the jumper's side or back faces the bar; in the straddle the jumper crosses the bar face down, with legs straddling it. With this clearance position, the straddle has a mechanical advantage over the western roll, since it is possible to clear a bar that is higher relative to the jumper's center of mass. In simple terms, the western roll jumper has to raise the width of the body above the bar; the straddle jumper has only to get the thickness of the body above it.
There were two variants of the straddle: the parallel straddle and a more diving version. With the parallel straddle, head and trunk passed the bar at the same time; Charles Dumas, the first high jumper to clear 7 ft, and John Thomas (silver medal at the 1964 Olympics) used this technique. Valeriy Brumel (gold in 1964) dove a little bit, his head going over the bar before his trunk. Probably the most extreme exponent of the dive straddle was Bob Avant, who cleared 7 ft. in 1961. Avant's technique was close to a pure dive, with just a small knee lift on his lead leg.
The last world record jump with the straddle technique was Vladimir Yashchenko's 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in) in 1978.[12] (His best result was 2.35 m (7 ft 8+1⁄2 in) obtained in Milan at the 1978 European Athletics Indoor Championships). That was improved upon in 1980 by a flopper, Jacek Wszola of Poland.[13]
All of the subsequent record holders have used the Fosbury Flop, which Dick Fosbury used in his 2.24 m (7 ft 4 in) win in Mexico City in 1968.[14]
There is some debate over which of the two techniques is more efficient in clearing of the bar. Although both have advantages and disadvantages, the Fosbury flop is considered by many easier to learn, especially for younger jumpers, and thus has become the dominant technique.
In 1993, an American high jumper Steve Harkins brought back the Straddle style in the Master's [over-40] division to break the Master's World Record and then went on to beat a 'flopper' at the World Championships in Miyazaki Japan. Harkins used the 'head down first' style as did Brumel. At 6'71⁄4" at the U.S. National Championships in Bozeman, Montana; in March 1993, Harkins will be remembered as the highest jumper ever in the Master's to have used the straddle style. In Steve's prime at the US Naval Academy [1969 - 1973], he was a 7' straddle style jumper.
References
- ^ "ATLETICA - Le specialita: i salti". treccani.it. Retrieved 28 October 2012.
- ^ G.H.G. Dyson, High Jumping, 3rd edition, Amateur Athletic Association, London, 1956, page 19.
- ^ G.H.G. Dyson, High Jumping, 3rd edition, Amateur Athletic Association, London, 1956, page 2.
- ^ Dean Cromwell, The High Jump, International Sports Inc., Indianapolis, 1939, page 16.
- ^ "HORINE'S "WESTERN ROLL" LANDED HIGH JUMP TITLE; Peculiar Style of Retiring National Champion Led to Acrid Disputes Among Eastern Critics". New York Times. January 30, 1916.
- ^ "HORINE'S "WESTERN ROLL" LANDED HIGH JUMP TITLE; Peculiar Style of Retiring National Champion Led to Acrid Disputes Among Eastern Critics". New York Times. January 30, 1916.
- ^ "1896-1992 - High Jump - Olympic Story". youtube.com. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Dean Cromwell, The High Jump, International Sports Inc., Indianapolis, 1939, page 20.
- ^ "1896-1992 - High Jump - Olympic Story". youtube.com. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ^ Dean Cromwell, The High Jump, International Sports Inc., Indianapolis, 1939, page 14.
- ^ Don Canham and Phil Diamond, International Track & Field Digest, Champions on Film, Ann Arbor, 1956, page 137.
- ^ "Vladimir Yashchenko (part 1) - Last King of the straddle technique". youtube.com. Retrieved 28 october 2012.
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(help) - ^ "Jacek Wszoła - Biography". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 28 october 2012.
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(help) - ^ "Dick Fosbury - Biography". sports-reference.com. Retrieved 28 october 2012.
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External links
- High Jump - Introduction at IAAF web site