Long jump

“ The man who wants to make a long jump is much more likely to stand than the one who merely wants not to fall.
Short Directions for the Jump.—Run in normal position until within about 15 yards of the platform’s edge (not so close if running very fast) , then bring your feet level and, keeping your knees pressed together and well forwards, crouch down as low as possible. When the hands can touch the ankles draw them right back. ”

“ THE JUMP AND HALTERES Jumping is not a military exercise but an amusement of peace. It is useful, of course, at times for a soldier to be able to leap over any obstacle in his way. But the Homeric chieftain was not suitably dressed for such feats of agility, whether he went to war in Mycenaean style with his long-shadowing spear and towerlike shield reaching down to his feet, or like the later hoplite arrayed in panoply of bronze. For flight or pursuit he trusted in his chariot and horses. ”

“ In the standing long jump, well spiked shoes should be worn, for it is in reality nothing but a push against the ground, and a perfect purchase is of the greatest importance. Weights held in the hands of course greatly aid the jumper. ”

“ The Long Jump.—Speed is an important element in this feat, more important indeed than the spring. Experts take a run of from a hundred to two hundred feet as though they were running a sprint race and are going at their highest speed when they rise from the ground. When they are coming to the ground again they thrust their legs forward as far as they can, and so gain a foot or even more. ”

“ A good jumper can clear a reed the height of his own chin. For the long jump a flat stone is put in position to take off from, and the mark which counts is that made by the jumper’s feet in landing, whether he falls backwards or not. For the “jump-and-kick” [83] (nshü) the jumper makes a standing jump and while in the air kicks with both feet together at some mark such as a leaf stuck on the end of an upright spear. It is quite common for a man to be able to kick a mark as high above his head as he can reach with his hand. ”

“ The question of the long jump is more interesting, as it still forms a part of our contests. It is not certain whether the old Greeks practised the running jump, or the high jump, for we never hear of a preliminary start, or of any difficulty about “breaking trig,” as people now call it. ”

“ Those that followed, of course, tried to jump even further, and every longer jump was again marked by a line, while the short ones were left unnoticed, unless, as in the case of the Pentathlon, the object was to have several victors. Finally, the result of the various jumps was determined by long measuring chains. What the ancient writers have told us about the wonderful achievements of the Greek athletes in the long jump, sounds almost fabulous ”

“ They seem to be moving in time to the music. The fourth figure is also that of a jumper: he is in the attitude of a runner suddenly checking his pace; perhaps he is practising a long jump, and after a short run checks himself in order to swing the halteres before the spring. The upward swing is also represented on black-figured vases, but less vigorously, and with the arms raised slightly higher and somewhat bent.
Fig. 65. R.-f. kylix. Bologna. (Jüthner, Ant. Turn. 16.) ”

“ In preparing for the jump, too long a run should not be taken, and in making the spring, the feet should be placed firmly together. The whole of one’s force should be put into each effort, and care should be taken to avoid making false attempts. When once he has started, the jumper should make up his mind to go right through. Both the jumper and the short-distance runner will find that a few minutes’ daily practice with a skipping rope will greatly strengthen the legs and the fore part of the feet, on which much of the strain is placed. ”

“ M. W. Ford for the long jump championship. The inter-club contest between the London Athletic Club and the Dublin University gave him an opportunity of distinguishing himself, which he did by winning the long jump with 22 feet 2 inches, his best jump. Mr. Bulger's reputation as an athlete rests largely on his extraordinary versatility, most men finding it impossible successfully to combine high and long jumping with sprinting and hurdle work. ”

“ When a jumper comes down on his heels, instead of jumping from his toes, he is apt to make the skipping injurious by jarring his back. The players jump in turn over a long rope turned by two of the players. ”

“ The glad word is passed round the hotel one evening that some famous ski-jumper has arrived and will give an exhibition next day; and next day, accordingly, you trudge out on to the slope where the jump has been erected. This is a long steep hillside, and the platform for the jump has been put up some hundred yards from the top of it. It is a champion jumper who has arrived, and the apparatus is on the big scale. Out from the slope of the hill is this platform, built in the manner of a dormer window in a house-roof or a header-board above a pool. ”

“ Again the stiff wing blow; but this time his jump was higher; one claw gripped the shoulder, tore its way through flying feathers to the bone, while his weight dragged the big bird down. Then Quoskh shortened her neck in a great curve. Like a snake it glided over the edge of her own wing for two short, sharp down-thrusts of the deadly javelin—so quick that my eye caught only the double yellow flash of it. ”

“ At another time I crept up to an old road beyond the little deer pond, where three deer, a mother with her fawn, and a young spike-buck, were playing. They kept running up and down, leaping over the trees that lay across the road with marvelous ease and grace—that is, the two larger deer. The little fellow followed awkwardly; but he had the spring in him, and was learning rapidly to gather himself for the rise, and lift his hind feet at the top of his jump, and come down with all fours together, instead of sprawling clumsily, as a horse does. ”

“ I found out afterwards that making Meeko jump from a tree top is one of the few diversions of Indian children. I tried it myself many times with many squirrels, and found to my astonishment that a jump from any height, however great, is no concern to a squirrel, red or gray. They have a way of flattening the body and bushy tail against the air, which breaks their fall. Their bodies, and especially their bushy tails, have a curious tremulous motion, like the quiver of wings, as they come down. ”

“ They’d begin by taking great long jumps, and then, as the boys hunted them, the jumps would get shorter and shorter, and they’d be so tired that it was easy to make them sit still on the piece of wood. ”

“ No matter what it is, the danger behind is worse. Go on, go on!" Insistence was in the air. The doe felt it and bounded aside. The crust had softened in the sun, and she plunged through it when she struck, cr-r-runch, cr-r-runch, up to her sides at every jump. The others followed, just swinging their heads for a look and a sniff at me, springing from hole to hole in the snow, and making but a single track. A dozen jumps and they struck another path and turned into it, running as before down the ridge. ”

“ Something was telling me to hurry, hurry; that the big buck I had so often hunted was in my power at last, and that, if I would square accounts, I must beat the dogs, though they were nearer to him now than I. The excitement of a new kind of hunt, a hunt to save, not to kill, was tingling all over me when I circled a dense thicket of firs with a rush, and there he lay, up to his shoulders in the snow before me.
He had taken his last jump. The splendid strength which had carried him so far was spent now to the last ounce. ”

“ The standing two, three, five and ten jumps are merely repetitions of the single jump, care being taken to land with the proper balance to begin the next leap. The record for two jumps without weights is 22 ft. ”

“ You may read a dozen volumes about jumping, Tom, but a dozen jumps will teach you a dozen times as much as the printer's ink. And remember that a standing or an irregular jump, even if small, or that the leap of a pony, is harder to sit than a well-timed jump of twice the dimensions on a full grown horse. I have been nearly dismounted in teaching a new horse much oftener than in the hunting-field. It is only when your horse comes down, or when a bad jumper rushes at his fence and then swerves or refuses suddenly, that there is any grave danger of a fall in riding to hounds. ”

“ Moreover, the balance, when helped in this way, never improves, but remains permanently bad.
Correct position, narrow track, complete command of the different swings—all those things, in fact, which distinguish good style from bad—mean economy of force, and are therefore eminently practical. To say that jumping is a useless accomplishment may at first sight appear justifiable. In one sense there is not much practical use in jumping, for occasions are not very often met with in the course of a tour where a jump is the only way, or even the safest way, out of a difficulty. ”

“ Begin with a few jumps about twelve feet or so, taking your run for them slowly, starting about twenty yards off and quickening in the last few strides. The great object to be guarded against is taking off to far from the mark, or getting out of step in the run; this can only be obviated by practicing at a certain distance until the necessary swing of the last few strides is acquired. The run to the jump cannot be too fast; in the air the legs should be raised as in going over a high jump, and thrown as far forward on landing as can be done with both heels close together. ”

“ The jumper, who starts some distance up the hill, descends at top speed, stoops as he nears the take-off and launches himself into the air with all his force. He maintains an erect position until he reaches the ground, alighting with bended knees, on both feet, one a little in advance of the other, and “giving” with his legs to overcome the force of the fall and to preserve his balance. Another feature is double jumping, performed by two persons hand in hand. ”

“ The form of the standing high is the same, except that the jumper stands about a foot away from the bar, side turned toward it. As in the broad jump, she may gather speed by swinging the arms and rocking on the toes until strength is summoned for the spring. The feet must not leave the ground until the spring is made. ”

“ Although called "Jumpers," they only jump in a minority of the experiments, the word jumping really including all such phenomena as lifting the shoulders, raising the hands, striking, throwing, crying, and tumbling. Jumpers have been known to fall head over heels over an embankment on which they were sitting, on suddenly hearing the whistle of a locomotive ”

“ The act of the jump itself is where the greatest effort of muscle and nerve is required. Just before coming to the take-off, say at the last step, the athlete should gather himself together and crouch as low as his great speed will permit, and bring his jumping foot down as hard as possible upon the take-off, at the same time throwing his hands forward and upward. ”

“ As he comes down the jumper should hold his feet as far forward as he can, in order to gain every inch that is to be had, and he should also keep his head and arms forward, so as not to lose his equilibrium and fall backward, thus making his jump void. ”

“ Others were practising the broad and standing jump; and close by the apparatus used for the high jump was in constant use, the crossbar falling from the uprights again and again, as some aspirant’s foot caught in going over. ”

“ Then the word is given, and, steadying himself on his two sticks he points his skis straight down towards the jump. He shoves off with his sticks, leaving them standing in the snow (for no jumper uses sticks when he jumps, which would be highly dangerous) , and at swiftly accelerating speed glides down the slope. As he approaches the jumping-platform he crouches low, and just as he traverses it he springs upwards and forwards into the air. High above your head, a veritable flying man, he soars, with all the impetus that his run and his spring have given him. ”

“ The standing high jump is rarely seen in regular athletic meetings. The jumper stands sideways to the bar with his arms extended upwards. He then swings his arms down slowly, bending his knees at the same time, and, giving his arms a violent upward swing, springs from the ground. As the body rises the arms are brought down, one leg is thrown over the bar, and the other pulled, almost jerked, after it. The record for the standing high jump without weights is 6 ft., by J. Darby in 1892. ”

“ Phayllus of Croton is accredited with jumping the incredible distance of 55 feet, and we have the authority of Eustache and Tzetzes that this jump is genuine. In the writings of many Greek and Roman historians are chronicled jumps of about 50 feet by the athletes; if they are true, the modern jumpers have greatly degenerated. ”

“ After the athlete has become more or less a master of his event, he will find that half a dozen jumps, two or three times a week, will be enough to keep him in practice, and I should advise him by all means to rest for three or four days before going into a contest. When the time for jumping at a field-meeting arrives, never try to do the best work on the first jump. Be satisfied to make your marks well and to catch the take-off squarely. ”

“ But having once reached the platform, the spring must be made: otherwise the would-be jumper will merely flow stickily, so to speak, over the edge, bury the toes of his skis in the snow, and certainly have a bad fall. But, indeed, the nerves must be in good condition, for the platform, approaching it from above, looks exactly like a cliff’s edge, and, jutting out as it does from the slope, it entirely conceals the slope below it: your eye tells you that you are merely leaping over the end of all things. ”