Should The High Jump Be Changed?

Put the bar at 8'4"... jump over it. :shrugshoulders:

The way the high jump is done is more entertaining. It keeps getter harder, as the weaker athletes get knocked out. Last man standing is the winner.

So is the long jump, but the long jump your longest jump is going to be recorded (as long as you're not Ivan Pedroso jumping for a Mercedes in Italy with some doucheiano standing by the wind gage)

Barb wire pole. Snake filled landing pit.

The only thing I'd change is setting a standard for the maximum number of clerks, officials, and workers at each high jump event. At too many jumps I've done, the entire host track team volunteers to work the pits and crowds up the jumpers. Also too many USATF Certified Officials are allowed at the event, double and triple clerking, and re-checking, re-measuring, etc. Sometimes theres 8-12 USATF Certified Officials at the bar when they only need a few. Other times all 12 are double checking every jumper and mark recorded, yelling out how much time we have. More often than not they are chattering away bragging about what they did in Vietnam and ruining our concentration. Someone has to explain to the USATF Certified Officials that the party is back at the hotel after the meet, and not at the high jump while we're competing.

You are correct. With technology you could easily record the actual height of every jump. It would take away from the drama of the event but, I'd say, recording the performance is primary.

Though I think there is an argument for measuring the highest point of the jump, I feel that part of the event is in the jumping over, not just in attaining a greater altitude. It's more a contest of who can jump over the highest object than who can just hit the highest point with their pelvis.

I agree the the presence of the bar makes for far more entertaining competition than would some kind of laser measurement

Yes and we should change all the sprints to flying intervals, I'm sick of the 100m "world record" being nearly a full second slower than a relay leg.

You could simply use invisible beams (like at door entries) at every 1/4 inch and the highest one not broken in the "wall of beams" would indicate the height of the jump.

the bigger question to me is...why is the one-footed takeoff mandated? Why not two feet? A gymnast could bound down the runway and probably clear 10 feet easy - why is that not legal, as long as new safety systems are developed.

Seems arbitrary the way the rules are now.

But I like the idea of a bar rather than electronic beams - it's a great show.

Manchester wrote:

The way the high jump is done is more entertaining. It keeps getter harder, as the weaker athletes get knocked out. Last man standing is the winner.

Yes, plus there is the fatigue factor. My school has 10th grader who went 6'6.

The more you jump, the more tired you get, so strategy of when to come in, when to pass, comes in to play.

Loot wrote:

Go look at Barshim's jump last year in New York. A monster leap that looked at least a good 8'4", AT LEAST. The bar was set at 7'10" however.

The long jump is a little more pure, if you hit a Beamon it will go down. There is wind and foul. (I like putting a giant windbreaker behind the runway, although it will block some audience, as for fouls mark their take off point within a jumping "zone")

But for High jump you are stuck where the bar is. Maybe something like how they measure vertical leap. I dunno, but it's frustrating to think that the high leap ever is not recorded. Any ideas?

Taking away the bar would destroy the most spectator friendly event in track and field. There is also something neat about trying to jump over something as opposed to just jumping. It is similar to how you perform better in a distance event Shen you have competition.

No, no, and no.

No. As other posters have pointed out, the long jump is a spectator-friendly event with lots of drama. There is no point in watching the long jump.

No. You wipe away the history. People in previous eras have cleared the bar with room to spare too. So an eight foot jump in this era isn't necessarily better than in the past.

No. If you really thought you were capable of 8'4" then you could choose a relatively minor meet and start at 8'0" or something just to go for the record.

agip wrote:

A gymnast could bound down the runway and probably clear 10 feet easy - why is that not legal, as long as new safety systems are developed.

re: gymnasts

you do realize that gymnastics floors have springs, don't you?

Angry Willy wrote:

agip wrote:

A gymnast could bound down the runway and probably clear 10 feet easy - why is that not legal, as long as new safety systems are developed.

re: gymnasts

you do realize that gymnastics floors have springs, don't you?

yeah the more I think of it the more impractical a two footed HJ would be

Angry Willy wrote:

agip wrote:

A gymnast could bound down the runway and probably clear 10 feet easy - why is that not legal, as long as new safety systems are developed.

re: gymnasts

you do realize that gymnastics floors have springs, don't you?

This topic has been done a couple of times over on the T&F News board. I'm not convinced that a the WR could be surpassed by a gymnast, but i think it is possible (10 feet I can't imagine, but it would be easy on a spring floor...even easier on a trampoline). I'd love to see a few tumblers make a serious attempt at jumping over 8 feet on a high jump apron, but it would really be a different type of event at that point. How about making a two-foot takeoff legal, but outlawing touching the track surface with your hands once the approach starts? The technique wouldn't change in that case.

I'm for keeping events the way they are. Part of the long jump is mastering your approach so that you hit the board. A 100 meter sprinter needs to learn to react gun and perfect his start from the blocks.

You must keep the bar ,

But for fan friendly entertainment add a laser system that would also measure the highest "bar sized " clearance

The bar still determines the winner , but knowledge of the best jump stirs things up a bit.

Also

Have the Ladies slow mo jumps on a jumbo-tron !

NOTHING ON EARTH (IN SPORTS) AS SEXY AS THAT ARCHING BEAUTY GOING OVER THE BAR !!!!! ahhhhhhh

well here's a video of what they claim is a 3.12 meter jump (10.25 feet) by a tumbler. Can't tell what the floor is like - if it is springy or has a trampoline or if it is actually 3.12 meters in the first place.

I'm pretty sure a gymnast could beat the standard WR by quite a bit - but I have no proof.

That is pretty impressive.