LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Long Jump: Athletes
built 803 days ago
The long jump was one of the events of the original Olympics in Ancient Greece. The athletes carried a weight in each hand, which were called halteres. These weights would be swung forward as the athlete jumped, in order to increase momentum. It is commonly believed that the jumper would throw the weights behind him in mid-air to increase his forward momentum... halteres were held throughout the duration of the jump. Swinging them down and back at the end of the jump would change the athlete's center of gravity and allow the athlete to stretch his legs outward, increasing his distance. Most notable in the ancient sport was a man called Chionis, who in the 656BC Olympics staged a jump which was equal to 7 meters and 5 centimeters (23 feet and 1.5 inches).[2]
Source:
The long jump was one of the events of the original Olympics in Ancient Greece. The athletes carried a weight in each hand, which were called halteres. These weights would be swung forward as the athlete jumped, in order to increase momentum, and then thrown backwards whilst in mid-air, so as to help the jumper propel himself further forward. Most notable in the ancient sport was a man called Chionis, who in the 656BC Olympics staged a jump which was equal to 7 meters and 5 centimeters (23 feet and 1.5 inches) [2].
Source:
The preparation for the long jump take-off begins in the later phases of the approach run. The long jumper prepares for take off by sinking the hips and then raising the hips into the take off phase. This usually results in the next to last stride being longer than normal and the final stride being up to 25 centimetres shorter than a normal running stride. It must be emphasised that the hip sink and stride adjustment all happen in response to the athlete's postural adjustments in preparation for the take off. At take off ensure the hips are slightly forward of the shoulders.
Source:
The characteristics of relaxation, consistency and rhythm are important in developing an effective long jump run up. In practice, the athlete should strive to develop an approach that is rhythmic, relaxed and uniformly quickening as the athlete approaches the take-off board. Tension developed in the face, neck or shoulders during the run up will inhibit the ability of the athlete to create the maximum velocity necessary for great efforts. As well, that same tension will work against the effort as the athlete tries to convert from horizontal to vertical at take-off.
Source:
In performing the standing long jump, the springer stands at a line marked on the ground with his feet slightly apart. The athlete takes off and lands using both feet, swinging his arms and bending his knees to provide forward drive. In Olympic rules, the measurement taken was the longest of three tries. The jump must be repeated if the athletes falls back or uses a step at take-off.
Source:
Eleven elite female long jumpers performed six, full-effort jumps from a full-length approach run as in a competition. The takeoff was performed from a force platform and each trial was recorded with two, high-speed motion-picture cameras. The trial in which each athlete recorded her best distance; and all the trials by the one subject who had six analysable trials were analysed. Various measures of the four mechanisms were defined and values for these measures determined from digitised coordinate data obtained from the film records. Two statistical analyses were conducted -- one a cross-sectional analysis of the best trials by all eleven subjects; and the other a longitudinal analysis of the six trials by the one subject mentioned earlier. In these analyses, the measures for each mechanism were correlated with the corresponding changes in vertical velocity during the takeoff and the correlations obtained were then tested for significance.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Athletes