Best spectator sports

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.