Why does my high jumper's plant foot point away from the bar?
A plant foot that turns away from the bar instead of pointing down the runway usually still clears, which is exactly why it goes unnoticed for seasons.
A high jumper's plant foot is supposed to land pointing roughly down the runway, in the direction the curve was carrying them. When it lands turned outward instead, toes pointing away from the bar, the jump usually still clears, which is exactly why the fault survives for seasons without anyone naming it.
Why the foot turns out in the first place
Coming off a curved approach, the body wants to keep rotating before the foot has finished planting, and an athlete who has not been taught to resist that lets the plant foot swing open to match it. It feels natural, because it is following the same rotation the curve already put the body into. The cost shows up at takeoff, not at the plant: a turned-out foot sends some of the takeoff force sideways instead of up, force the jump never gets back.
What to look for
- The plant foot's toes point noticeably away from the bar rather than down the runway, clearest on a slow-motion replay of the last step.
- The takeoff, once it happens, drifts the jumper's body slightly away from square to the bar.
- The fault is usually consistent for a given athlete rather than something that comes and goes rep to rep, which is what makes it easy to miss without film.
What the Film Room reports
The high jump setting reads hip rise as a share of the athlete's height, takeoff angle, and knee fold and extension. None of those numbers is the direction the plant foot points; that is a rotation on the ground, not a measure the Film Room's angle-and-height reads were built to catch. It shows up on the replay, to an eye that is looking for it, before it shows up in any number.
A single side-on camera set up to catch the arc of the jump often cannot also show the plant foot's rotation clearly, because the two need different angles on the same half-second. Catching both usually means a second camera, or a deliberate front-on clip of just the last step, not the standard side-on setup most gyms already use.
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Related
Why does your high jumper's plant foot never land in the same spot?
A side-on camera reads the vertical arc of a jump well and has no idea where the plant foot actually landed on the ground, which is usually the real question.
Read →Why your high jumper knocks the bar off on the way down
Legs taking the bar after the hips have cleared is a timing fault at the top, and usually a takeoff point that drifted before it.
Read →Why doesn't my high jumper's back arch over the bar?
A flat clearance over the bar usually starts well before the bar, in a plant and a shoulder position that never gave the arch anywhere to happen.
Read →