Q: What did they land on before mats?

A: Yesterday's post got me thinking... I wouldn't want to jump over a wall and land on a pile of rocks! I mean, I guess in competition you could pile up leaves or something else that would absorb some of the shock of landing, but that would have to be one big pile of leaves! As it turns out, high jumpers didn't always land on their backs. In fact, the Fosbury Flop (the style of high jumping that most of us have seen), didn't even become popular until the late 60's. Prior to that, most jumpers used the Straddle technique / Western Roll, Eastern cut-off, or simply Scissors-Jumped to clear the bar. So, why did it takes athletes so long to "discover" this style of jumping? Well... because prior to the advent of deep foam matting, jumpers landed in sandpits or low piles of matting, so they either had to land very carefully or on their feet!