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So I went to my daughter's gymnastics event today and came away thinking about the high jump...

Following a couple of back hand-springs, some of these athletes pop off the ground pretty high with a two foot take off. I realize that the floor is spring-loaded, but I'll bet even off a track surface, somebody could launch pretty high...even higher than 8 feet with a tightly tucked back flip or two before landing.

If the goal of track and field is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible, or jump as far as possible, or throw as far as possible, why limit ourselves to a one footed take-off in the high jump when a two footed take off may create higher records?

I'm sure there is some aspect of a safety factor here, but it seems a little restrictive. Kind of like race walking...get from here to there as fast as possible. Oh, but you can't run. Just wondering about the history of the one-foot jump rule.

ifavault
www.inflightathletics.com

As far as I know, the one-foot rule was put in place precisely to prevent the type of flipping/springing jumping you are suggesting. I think it may have even been done in response to some jumpers actually clearing heights in such a way.

Part of me agrees with you that all methods should be fair game, the goal of athletics being to push human limits. I especially agree when you compare the rule to race walk, which virtually everyone in the sport agrees is a total embarrassment. Still, there's part of me that likes the rule as it keeps high jump consistent and more track-oriented rather than gymnastics-oriented. Springing and flipping jumps would drastically change the event in a non-uniform way--many amateurs simply would never be able to learn it safely. I don't know about this one...I'm divided.

I do know one thing though. If two-foot takeoffs were allowed, at the elite level they would soon do to the flop what the flop did to the roll. I used to train with an ex-gymnast who was also a decent high jumper, with a PB of 1.90m at a height of probably 1.78-1.80. After practice one day he took his shoes off, put the bar up to something stupidly high like 2.20m and said "check this out." I thought he was just trying to hit the bar with his head or something. He moved on a straight line perpendicular to the bar, taking maybe four skipping steps then did a roundoff into a back handspring into a back layout flip and then sprung over the bar in what was sort of a slower back layout flip, where he went feet-first and piked over the bar a lot like a PV clearance. And he CRUSHED it. He looked like he had hip height on 2.40-2.50ish. It was bananas...