Athletics Description, High-Jump

High-jump is a well-known Olympic sport that is the result of humans trying to fly.

At the last Olympics, in Rio, 2016, there were some incredible high-jumpers who could leap over two metres high!

To be a professional high-jumper, you need to be fit, strong and you need to have plenty of self confidence.

Reaching a high level in any kind of athletics takes dedication, passion and lots and lots of practice.

Here are a few steps on how to do a high jump…

1. Warm up your muscles by doing a few gentle stretches.
2. Now to find your dominant leg; put both your feet together and start falling forward, whichever leg you put out first is your dominant leg.
3. If your dominant leg is your right leg then you will find it easy to run from the right side when doing your run up to the jump. It is the same with your left leg.
4. Now go back to your starting point.
5. Run in a curved line from your dominant side up to the jump and lift your best leg upward and over the pole, then do the same with your second leg.
6. Practice this slowly until you get it right.
7. Now do exactly what you have just been practicing but in one fast motion.
8. Each time you practice high jump, try to get a little bit higher every time.
9. To finish stretch your leg and back muscles so you won’t injure yourself. Some of the most well known high-jump techniques include the scissor kick, which is when you kick your legs in a scissor motion, one at a time, when your jumping over the pole. While using the scissor technique, make sure to keep your body as vertical as possible because that will give your legs more room to kick over the pole.
   Another technique is the Fosbury Flop which is slightly more difficult. This tricky technique was invented by the 1968 American high jump champion, Dick Fosbury, who used this technique to get him a gold medal at the 1968 olympics. This technique involves leaping over the bar and landing on your back. This time you will make your body horizontal while you leap and it’s your choice whether you jump head first or foot first.
   If you’re a high-jump beginner, it’s a good idea to learn the scissor technique first because it will teach you the basic skills of high-jump. Although when your jumps start reaching higher and higher, then it’s probably time to learn the Fosbury Flop which will hopefully enable you to jump to even greater heights and carry your body in a more horizontal position, which should make it easier to clear the high jump pole.After doing high-jump, you really need to stretch and exercise your muscles so they don’t hurt afterwards.  It is important to warm up your muscles before doing anything physical because when your muscles haven’t warmed up then it is a lot easier to pull, jar or even tear a muscle.
   Landing can be difficult when doing high-jump because most people put all their energy into their jump and not into their landing. Ultimately you will land on your back or even better, your feet, but while you’re learning high-jump, it is really difficult to focus on landing as well as jumping. Make sure you don’t land on your head or neck though, damaging this part of your body can lead to long-term spinal injuries and brain damage. Also remember to have a crash mat underneath and beside your high-jump pole because landing straight on the ground would painful! I hope you have learnt how to do a high-jump and hopefully some good tips for when you are practicing or competing.
   Remember to trust yourself and believe in yourself, everything takes a little bit of self confidence...

This description I wrote about high jump because I really want to get better at it and I thought that if I learnt more about it while writing this description then I might learn some useful tips and techniques. I really hope you enjoyed reading my description!