How to High Jump (Track and Field)
Steps
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Gather a tape measure and some medical tape and find a high jump "pit". A bungee cord is preferable for novice jumpers since a high jump bar can hurt to land on.
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Find out what foot you are. There are two methods to do this: Lay on your stomach and then stand up or have someone push you from behind. Pay attention to which foot you put forward to stand or which one you catch yourself with. Start from the right side if your right foot went forward. If your left foot went forward, start from the left side. This is because the foot you put tends to be your dominant foot and therefore stronger. You want your strongest leg to be the one used to drive your knee up since that is where the majority of your height comes from.
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The approach. The whole approach should be about 5 to 8 strides in length with the last three making up the curve. The rest should be taken at a controlled speed with strides being similar to a bound. Gradually curve towards the high jump plane (the imaginary plane/wall created by the bar) and gain some speed. The last three strides (or six steps) should make up the curve in the approach and the last two should be the fastest. One method to find steps is to have the jumper run their steps backwards from the pit. They should start where their plant is (step 4) and run the corner quickly and then stride out once going straight. This method accounts for variability in stride length and quickness. Adjustments should always be made after the athlete is warmed up since that changes their stride. Once the steps are correct, measure two lengths: one out from the standard to where their starting mark is perpendicular and from there to their starting mark.
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The Plant. Ideally the plant, or where your non-dominant foot is when you jump, is a third of the way in towards the center of the pit and about an arm's length away from it. This lets the jumper be over the middle of the bar, which is always the lowest point since bars sag, when in the air and prevents inexperienced jumpers from accidentally hitting a standard. After the basics are learned, jumpers should work on leaning so that they are hitting their plant at about 45 degrees off the ground. (The effects of this can be seen using a pencil with the rubber side down. If the pencil is dropped at an angle to a table while moving forward, it bounces straight up. If it is vertical when released it doesn't pop up, but simply falls over.)
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The knee drive. The main focus of the plant should be a quick and powerful knee drive. The knee should come across the body, away from the pit. This is what gets the back turned towards the bar. Note that the shoulders and torso follow the knee. There shouldn't be any twisting sideways.
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The arch. The jumper should arch like there is a spike underneath them, or like they are doing a bridge in midair. Make sure that the jumper's head is back (chin up) otherwise pressure is put on the spine and the body will automatically not arch. Remember that arching stops the jumper from gaining height so it should be delayed until they can get all they can from their knee drive. The head is the steering wheel so if there are problems with arching too early, usually the head is already bent towards the pit, causing them to dive. Coming out of the arch too early is caused by lifting the head up while their torso is still over the bar.
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The landing. Raising your head causes your feet to snap up, and doesn't usually need to be taught since it is a natural reflex when falling backwards. The problem is often in trying to delay the reflex to allow rotation around the bar. The jumper should aim to land as high up on their shoulders as possible, which show that they are holding their arch and rotating correctly. This does cause them to do a backwards somersault because of the momentum so make sure they know to not have their knees together when they land or they might knee themselves in the face.
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Keep trying until you get it right! Remember to only focus on one aspect at a time to avoid 'paralysis by analysis.'
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Finished.
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