Trivia question (but I’m not sure I have the right answer)

[lonewolf]

I concede the superiority of the flop. I regret I never learned it. My career concluded 15 years before foam rubber and the flop was invented. I was not really a HJer but in the 1940s straddling 8 inches above my height was respectable and scored points. Now guys my height (5-9) routinely jump 7 feet...and don't even place.

[jc203]

:-) I managed to straddle for about forty years of my life and never felt "crotch threatened" whereas prior to foam landing pits flopping was in the same risk category as tuariki's long jump style!
I believe the straddle is the more naturally intuitive technique. If you were faced with a barrier to climb over you'd certainly try to get your shoulders up and over the top, then get one leg over and roll to finish, while climbing up to do a backbend and drop headfirst would be counter intuitive and the last thing anyone would try.
Example: This kid fence climbing is modeling great straddle position by way of pure instinct.
Instinctive Mode to Scale a High Barrier....jpeg

[dukehjsteve]

We former Straddlers are, and should always be, The Chosen People.

[tandfman]

I concede the superiority of the flop.

I don't doubt the superiority of the flop, for the jumper. You can jump higher that way. For the spectator, I think the straddle is superior aesthetically.

[Trickstat]

As a spectator at the 1990 European and 1993 World Champs, I will say that it seemed to me that the spectators were probably more fascinated and entertained by Christian Schenk using the straddle in the Decathlon HJ than they were by the fact that he was jumping higher than all his competitors.