Best spectator sports

Horace

Link to video

89th

@jodi That is great, thanks!

Horace

Long jumping is also compelling.

Link to video

You can tell from the tan lines that the outfit is different when the cameras are on. That's generous of them.

taiwan_girl

Ive noticed that long jumpers always seem to hop at the beginning of their run for the first few steps before starting to run fast. I wonder why that is vs. just start running?

NobodySock

Italians brought so much to our world. They really are a notch above any other culture. Bring this back and say bye bye to MMA. I hate MMA. Bunch of heathens.

Horace

@taiwan_girl said in Best spectator sports:

Ive noticed that long jumpers always seem to hop at the beginning of their run for the first few steps before starting to run fast. I wonder why that is vs. just start running?

I was making progress on answering this question, but then the video got taken down, and now I can no longer do my research.

Jolly

@taiwan_girl said in Best spectator sports:

Ive noticed that long jumpers always seem to hop at the beginning of their run for the first few steps before starting to run fast. I wonder why that is vs. just start running?

Timing.

89th

Yeah, especially for long jumpers they have to hit that mark perfectly (I think it's like 83 feet 7 inches) so it's a timing/routine thing. I remember doing (and failing) pole vaulting in high school and it's remarkable how many small techniques are needed to result in a perfect jump. Over time, it becomes muscle memory.

For high jumpers, not that anyone asked... it's interesting. The lean back move before they start running is part-routine, and part stretch to maximize the pliability of the body. Further, and more interestingly, they run in a curved line to maximize the efficiency of converting their running/horizontal momentum into the jump momentum... it's very mathematical, I wonder if there's a good youtube video that visualizes the efficiency of running in a curved line vs directly at it (or directly parallel to it), or maybe it's just common sense.