vertical jumps

[hjumper33]

Re: vertical jumps

Another interesting thing along these lines. Has anyone ever heard of the Eskimo olympics and the stand kick? The idea is to stand under a ball on a string, jump up, kick the ball, and land on the same foot you kicked with. The world record is 9'8. For those that dont think that is impressive, give it a try.

[jhc68]

Re: vertical jumps

http://vm.mtsac.edu/relays/HallFame/Brown.htm

Here's Rey Brown in a less dramatic pic doing essentially the same thing by putting a foot on a football goalpost crossbar! I saw Joe Faust do the same thing @ 45 years ago. Who could do this today? Anyone who could jump 7 six plus if they were flexible enough and trained for it, but why would they? I'd guess it takes a certain level of specialization in body mechanics, not a big trick but without the motivation to be a straddle jumper why bother?

Once learned though, swinging a lead leg is like riding a bike, it is a skill that doesn't go away. I haven't jumped seriously since 1968 nor jumped overhead since 1977 but I can still stand and kick a standard 2 meter high door jamb with no problem... it amazes the teenagers I teach and frustrates them when they can't do the same.

[det]

Re: vertical jumps

thanks gh for sharing the picture...amazing! Getting a foot 10 feet off the ground is pretty incredible, Who could do that today (or who trains to do something like that)?

[wineturtle]

Re: vertical jumps

Kickin' the rim! Jordan eat your heart out.

[gh]

Re: vertical jumps

>I remember seeing a SI photo of valerie brumel, who was only 5'10", with his
>lead leg (HJ) foot inside the basketball hoop.>>

Don't know if picture was in SI, but we ran it:

http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/assets/brumel.jpg

edited to note that Brumel was 6-3/4, not 5-10

[mrbowie]

Re: vertical jumps

Yes, I'm talking about Bill Braskey.

Big Bill Braskey. . .Goes about 7-foot 2-inches, 485.

Verticle leap? You know that statue of Paul Bunyon outside of Fargo, N. D.? For a practical joke he once bounded straight up, hung in the air long enough to write his name on Paul's probiscus, and landed light as a feather on both feet.

He once picked up Wilt Chamberlin's date at a bar when Bill was in the men's room, made love to her in the manager's office, and Chamberlin later thanked him.

Yeah, I'm talking about Bill Braskey. Who isn't?

[paulthefan]

Re: vertical jumps

I have seen the photo of Brumel.. pretty scary.. anyone jumper that would try that would probably got on a motorcycle too. I think you can find it with a google search... The most hilarious aspect of the photo are the white coated trainer/observers seemingly making copious notes on the event...




in white suits o>I remember seeing a SI photo of valerie brumel, who was only 5'10", with his
>lead leg (HJ) foot inside the basketball hoop. I don't remember if it was
>standing or with steps. He was incredibly explosive, and I believe went down
>because of an motor cycle accident.

[mal]

Re: vertical jumps

I remember seeing a SI photo of valerie brumel, who was only 5'10", with his lead leg (HJ) foot inside the basketball hoop. I don't remember if it was standing or with steps. He was incredibly explosive, and I believe went down because of an motor cycle accident.

[Kevin]

Re: vertical jumps

Regarding the high jumps by gymnasts, I recall reading this in T&FN back in the mid-70's with regard to men at Oregon State. The gymnasts were able to clear the bar at 7', using some sort of tumbling roundoff. They experienced trouble when it was too difficult to see any separation of their feet at takeoff. The experiment failed.

Does anyone else recall reading this?

[det]

Re: vertical jumps

Perg, The great thing about my hypothesis is that it is pure speculation since it will never be tested. I base it on two things. 1) except on PEDs, women are lousy jumpers (compared to men of the same height/weight). 2) If women are lousy on one leg, then they can't be much worse on two; and may be better. If one leg was so much better, then you would see more one leg take-offs in gymnastics to get better height. Again, pure speculaton, much like Wilt's jumps and other feats.

[dj]

Re: vertical jumps

>Calling Dave Johnson...hey Dave, you're the man who knows this stuff. Wasn't
>there a US gymnast or tumbler in the late 50s or early 60s who utilized a two
>foot take-off to clear a bar set at or higher than the world record at the
>time?

I don't remember the tumbling stories, but I do remember seeing a photo of an African high jumping around 8 feet in the mid-'50s. But the jumping take off was a 10-12 inch mound, and the leverage gained amplified that 10-12 inch difference.

[STL_Runner]

Re: vertical jumps

"I do realize what a 'vertical' is,
>but just like the infamous Football 40, I find it worthless to track

I agree with this. They say the vertical jump tests your explosiveness. Well, how can that be when my vertical jump is 32" and I always get murdered out of the blocks?

[Pego]

Re: vertical jumps

I do understand what you are saying, just don't understand why a slightly different physique (after all, most female high jumpers are narrow hipped, slim, tall individuals)would make a two-footed take-off superior to the one-footed one. Both genders have gone through the scissors-Western roll(Horine)-straddle-flop evolution (Balas being a notable exception). Those tumbling pixies certainly knock the wind out of me, but I am not convinced that your hypothetical girl that "outgrew" her sport would be more effective two-footed than one.

[det]

Re: vertical jumps

Pego - Without going into a bunch of physics-babble about center of gravity, vectors, etc. I will simply state: Elite men jump from 1-2 feet over their heads. Elite women jump from inches to 1 foot over their heads. Men jump very differently than women.

I agree with tafnut that a one footed take-off is the best way to get optimum height, but I'll qualify that and ad "for men."

Most women cannot get high off the ground with a one footed jump; look at all the tall college basketball players, yet very few can dunk. The only women who've been good one footers were in the Eastern Block in the 80's.

The exception to this jump to height ratio seems to be in elite women's gymnastics. There a bunch of 4'8-5'0 athletes achieve incredible heights on tumbling runs with two foot take-offs. (no the floors have no springs and you get less, not more, height off a padded floor...mondo is best for jumping because it is hard...that's another discussion).

Since we'll never know about the potential of a two footed jump (that would take a rule change) we can only speculate (like we did with the vault). Somewhere out there is a national class gymnast, an excellent tumbler, who "outgrew" her sport and stands 5'10 to 6.' I don't think it would take much to get her over 2 meters.

[Pego]

Re: vertical jumps

<I still think two legs, with the right technique, could produce interesting and possibly great results for women (but not necessarily for men).>

Could you elaborate, why there would be a gender difference?