Dick Fosbury Changed the High Jump Forever

March 14, 2023 12:32 PM

Dick Fosbury, Olympic Gold Medal Winner in 1968, Passed Away at 76 Fosbury was known for inventing the Fosbury Flop: a technique where the athlete goes over the bar facing up and head first. In 1968, he was the only high jumper doing it and cleared 2.24m. By 1972, most of the athletes were using it. In 2014, Fosbury was a guest at The E.G. Conference, where he was interviewed by Peter Sagal about his track and field career and how his technique came to be.
posted by plinth (49 comments total)

One of my favorite childhood memories is being at a track and field meet and my Dad patiently explaining to me how the Fosbury Flop completely changed the act of high jumping. He had seen it change the sport and was just thrilled by the fact of it.
posted by chavenet at 12:36 PM on March 14, 2023 [7 favorites]

Interesting fact about the Fosbury flop; it can allow the jumper’s center of gravity to pass under the bar even as the jumper passes over it. I remember watching a classmate of mine in jr. high school practice this technique (circa 1978) and was mystified as to why he did it that way.

RIP
posted by TedW at 12:52 PM on March 14, 2023 [10 favorites]

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Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 1:00 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by KillaSeal at 1:46 PM on March 14, 2023

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I remember reading about the Mexico City Olympics which was groundbreaking in so many ways. In that story, this was a prominent feature.

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

Curved Hockey stick, maybe?
posted by indianbadger1 at 2:01 PM on March 14, 2023

There are some interesting details in his Wikipedia page:

In the late 1950s, U.S. colleges began to use bundles of soft foam rubber, usually held together by a mesh net. These bundles were not only much softer but were also elevated about three feet (0.91 m) off the ground. By the early 1960s, U.S. high schools were following the lead of the colleges in acquiring foam rubber landing pits. With the softer, elevated landing surface, Fosbury was able to land safely.

Fosbury did, however, compress a couple of vertebrae in the mid-1960s because not all high schools could afford the upgraded, foam material. Fosbury recovered from this injury.[7]

And then later:

In March 2008, Fosbury was diagnosed with stage-one lymphoma. He had surgery a month later to remove a cancerous tumor engulfing his lower vertebra. Due to concerns about the tumor's proximity to the spine, it was not completely removed and he was put on a chemotherapy regimen.[28] In March 2009, Fosbury announced that he was in remission.[29] In March 2014 he declared in an interview with the Corvallis Gazette-Times that he was "doing well" and was "clear of cancer."[5]

That the cancerous tumor happened to be "engulfing his lower vertebra" seems unlikely to be a coincidence to me. They were probably a site of chronic injury and irritation.

I suppose it would have looked like vanity for him or his loved ones to request it, but I would have liked to see him clear the bar even in death, and be buried 2.24m deep.
posted by jamjam at 2:06 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

Foiling boats have completely changed Americas Cup racing from...

This to this. The boats went from a typical speed of 8.3 kts (on a "reach" to 53 kts. You need about 22 kts to waterski, so... yeah. I think foiling boats count, at least as a technology.
posted by which_chick at 2:07 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

In tennis one handed backhands were the norm until Chris Evert and Bjorn Borg started using 2 handed backhands.
Prior to them coaches advised against it.

Wayne Gretzky playing behind the net was another.
How can you score from there?

And yeah Fosbury did change his sport. Couldn't believe it ,first time I saw it
posted by yyz at 2:23 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

I can think of a few equipment innovations (like the curved hockey stick and hydrofoil) that changed sports, but it's harder to think of a pure technique or fundamental mindset shift equivalent to the Fosbury Flop.

I would suggest the "ollie" and "kickflip" in skateboarding, such that all of modern street skateboarding has been referred to as "the house that Rodney Mullen built".

In football (soccer) apparently there was a Scottish university team in the 19th century that invented the concept of passing - before then it was a free-for-all of just kicking the ball forward whenever possible.
posted by other barry at 2:31 PM on March 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

"Aero bars" in professional cycling time-trials. Allows the rider to be in a much more aerodynamic position and ride faster for the same effort.
posted by Wild_Eep at 2:50 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

By 1972, most of the athletes were using it.

Interestingly, the winner that year, Jüri Tarmak, did not use it. He was the last Olympic gold medalist who did not use the flop.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 2:50 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

The "tapping method" for playing Tetris.
posted by Wild_Eep at 2:51 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

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Some figure-skating moves are named after the person who first performed them: Axel [Paulsen], [Ulrich] Salchow, Ina Bauer, Charlotte [Oelschlägel], [Brian Boi]tano lutz. The Biellmann spin is named for Denise Biellmann, who was not the first to perform it, but did make it popular.

Likely there are more, but those are the ones I know off the top of my head.
posted by humbug at 2:52 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

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posted by JoeXIII007 at 3:41 PM on March 14, 2023

I can remember being in the 5th or 6th grade in last 60's early 70's and they set up a high jump bar (probably a metal pole in that era) and a big pad on the playground so we could all practice the Fosbury Flop.
posted by ITravelMontana at 3:46 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

The jump shot in basketball. Prior to the jump shot, the two handed chest shot was the norm.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 3:54 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

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posted by luckynerd at 4:02 PM on March 14, 2023

I can think of a few equipment innovations (like the curved hockey stick and hydrofoil) that changed sports, but it's harder to think of a pure technique or fundamental mindset shift equivalent to the Fosbury Flop.

The forward pass in American football? That's as close as I can think of, and even that involved the contributions of a handful of different people over a few years, rather than one athlete with a unique insight.
posted by fifthrider at 4:08 PM on March 14, 2023

The "tapping method" for playing Tetris.

And, more recently, rolling.
posted by fifthrider at 4:10 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

Native Americans swam using a technique now called the "front crawl" that was faster but "uncivilized" in the mindset of the era of Euro gentlemanly sporting competition. Now everyone does it when they swim freestyle.
posted by traveler_ at 4:11 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

I can think of a few equipment innovations (like the curved hockey stick and hydrofoil) that changed sports, but it's harder to think of a pure technique or fundamental mindset shift equivalent to the Fosbury Flop.

It WAS basically an equipment innovation. The flop only became possible with the introduction of foam crash mats. Before that, you had to land on a somewhat solid surface. I'm only 60 but still old enough to remember school competitions that used a layer of wood shavings. Nobody was going to flop on their back into that without injury.
posted by brachiopod at 4:25 PM on March 14, 2023 [6 favorites]

Skate skiing in cross country?
posted by Marky at 4:26 PM on March 14, 2023

He basically made it so I could high jump--I did not do well at all when I first tried it at school in like fifth grade, but I did better enough compared to my classmates that our track coach suggested I try the Fosbury Flop. Thanks to that, I was so good that over the next few years, people started telling me I could go to an Olympic training program. I loved high jumping (but yeah, the landing pit was really bad for a long time till giant foam became common) and it was one of the few things I felt I was good at as a tall, gangly adolescent, but then injuries derailed me and alas, bye-bye jumping career. He was my hero for a long time.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 4:43 PM on March 14, 2023 [11 favorites]

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In ski jumping, the primary jumping style changed in the early 1980's, and formally was recognized in the early 1990's. Before then, ski jumpers would have their skis in straight lines, under their body, in either a parallel, Windisch, or Kongsberger style. Then came Mirosław Graf, from Poland, who put his skis in a V-style when jumping, as it's more aerodynamic. (The skis are pointed outwards, resembling a 'V' shape.) Now, it's the predominant style in ski jumping.

Finally! My love of watching random sports becomes useful!
posted by spinifex23 at 4:43 PM on March 14, 2023 [5 favorites]

I TravelMontana I can remember being in the 5th or 6th grade in last 60's early 70's and they set up a high jump bar (probably a metal pole in that era) and a big pad on the playground so we could all practice the Fosbury Flop.

Oh yes, the metal high jump bar -which twanged beautifully when your FF failed.
Ours was still a wood chip landing pit, which was somewhat extremely hurty. But I mainly remember the mystery - obviously I'd watched Fosbury so many times - of doing it, without quite understanding how. You would do the run-up and think, dimly, "hang on - what the hell" but you were already starting to face backwards & voila!

I peaked, athletically, at about the age of 12. But, you know, it was enough. I could do the Fosbury! (Absolutely loved that interview).
posted by Jody Tresidder at 4:48 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

Jockeys' position and the indirectly related forward seat jumping position.
posted by sepviva at 5:02 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

> "Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?"

The spitball in baseball, until it was made illegal.
posted by kyrademon at 5:19 PM on March 14, 2023

Speaking of baseball....one could argue that the newly introduced Pitch Clock is changing the game. Whether it's for the best or for the worst remains to be seen - but in the meantime? There's certainly a bit of chaos being caused by it.

(It has made baseball riveting for me, as I watch to see the anarchy unfold.)
posted by spinifex23 at 5:32 PM on March 14, 2023 [1 favorite]

Kickers kicking soccer style instead of direct to toe in american football
posted by sandmanwv at 5:42 PM on March 14, 2023 [4 favorites]

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

In tennis, the ability to jump into a serve and land in the court proper, inside the baseline. Previously, a player had to keep one foot behind the baseline through the entire service motion.

It probably changed the game less than the advent of modern racquets and strings, but it definitely compounded their impact.
posted by Caxton1476 at 5:56 PM on March 14, 2023

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I remember my father (who was very negative on mainstream team sports, but OK with track & field and very big on physics) explaining the center of mass thing to me. Many times. I didn't get it, though I think it probably kicked around in the back of my head and helped out with high school physics comprehension when we were doing spherical cows.

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

I went looking for info on Kareem's skyhook (unstoppable but not widely copied) and this article about it mentions Tim Hardaway's "killer crossover" and Steph Curry's willingness to shoot from well beyond the 3-point line as technique changers that have had a big impact on the game. I remember Magic Johnson saying he learned from another player to make a pass to a teammate at the instant the teammate's defender turned their head, letting him safely pass into very tight coverage.

None of these are on the same level of the flop, but I do love these little techniques that have documented inventors (or at least popularizers.) The fact fact that thousands of very talented, motivated, competitive people can do something for decades and be best in the world at it and still have stuff to learn makes me happy for some reason.
posted by mark k at 5:56 PM on March 14, 2023 [2 favorites]

I was going to say overhand free throw shooting in basketball, but then remembered that underhand is equally, if not more, accurate, and just fell out of favor because it looks silly.
posted by staggernation at 6:31 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

The enemy's gate is down.
posted by ActingTheGoat at 7:01 PM on March 14, 2023 [3 favorites]

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

In cycling there's the supertuck position where a rider sits on the top tube, or flying superman position where you lay flat face down on your saddle fully extended for high speed aerodynamic descents that are counterintuitively faster than pedaling due to how much more aero it is, but I think UCI banned it from competition, as it does.

In surfing - hydrofoil surfboards. It's rapidly developing and blowing up as the biggest thing to hit surfing since the invention of foam and fiberglass surf boards, including adoption by big wave surfing legends like Laird Hamilton.

But it's not just for big waves. A foiled surfboard allows you to catch and surf tiny swells that barely have even formed into breaking waves yet, and you can "pump" your board and foil in open water to just cruise around like you have a powered surfboard.

This is turning 10-30 second rides into 5-10 minute rides where riders can fly around and hit up multiple breaks at the same general area and even loop back to catch breaks more than once.

But that's just the start of it. I think the current record for foil surfing is something like 10-12 hours of continuous riding and staying up on their board.

Not only is this going to open up new breaks and beaches to ride but it's also probably going to dominate big wave surfing because of how much faster it is and how a foiled surfboard just floats over the chop in the water.

Of course like any good innovation there's been pushback from the traditional surfing community saying it's not "pure" surfing, but considering the modern state of big wave surfing with tow-in riding and the fact that you have notable old timers and surfing legends getting into developing foiling it's going to be an interesting time for surfing as this new style of riding gets further developed and adopted.
posted by loquacious at 2:27 AM on March 15, 2023 [5 favorites]

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brachiopod: The flop only became possible with the introduction of foam crash mats.

A similar thing happened in soccer. In the first decade of this century, innovations in pitch management made soccer pitches much smoother than they had been before. In the Spanish league various teams realized that this made passing the football along the ground much more accurate than it had been, which allowed for a different style of play, based around keeping possession. This is known in the English speaking world a “tiki taka”, but the Spanish name translates to something like “position play”. The club FC Barcelona had, for a long time, made passing accuracy and ball receiving a priority in their academy. The coach of the youth team, a former midfielder named Pep Guardiola, realized that he had the makings of something special and, once he’d been promoted to first team manager, used his youth group, and other equally skilled players, to change completely how to play soccer, and win every trophy available in his first year of professional management. These innovations are now the basis of the professional game.
posted by Kattullus at 3:55 AM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Is it perhaps a bit of a shame that traditional high jump hasn’t been retained as a separate event?
posted by Phanx at 7:17 AM on March 15, 2023

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When I was in high school we were doing high jump, I jumped and cleared the bar, and the teacher said I had a 'promising Fosbury Flop'. And I thought, 'is that good?'

We never did high jump again, or at least I didn't, so I remained unconvinced until several years later until I learned what a Fosbury Flop *was*, and realised I had been complimented.
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 8:14 AM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

What high jumpers are able to acheive with Fosbury's technique is just mind boggling. I go to some world class meets and my mind is never not boggled.

A revolutionary change in both equipment and technique is the fiberglass pole in the vault. The vaulter ascends feet first and their center of mass passes under the bar. I grew up in a place where elite vaulters have trained since the 1970s and have been able to stand beside the pit to watch 19 foot vaults. Words fail me.
posted by neuron at 9:29 AM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Are there similar techniques in other sports that completely changed the game?

In cricket the switch from underarm bowling to round-arm (1830s) and overarm (1860s) wasn't immediate but completely transformed the game.
posted by Hogshead at 11:59 AM on March 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

And the coming of spin bowling...?
posted by Grangousier at 1:06 PM on March 15, 2023

I think spin bowling goes back well into the C19th, but the spread of reverse swing since the 80s might be a more recent example of a technique change in cricket that wasn’t driven by technological change.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:03 PM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

But it - spin bowling - is another example of a rapid transition from "what devilry is this?" to just the way people did things, isn't it?
posted by Grangousier at 2:06 PM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Incidentally, I know it would be madness to lower them, but I really think the big pile of padding reduces the visual impact of the high jump. It just doesn’t look like they’re jumping as insanely high as they actually are.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:06 PM on March 15, 2023

But it - spin bowling - is another example of a rapid transition from "what devilry is this?" to just the way people did things, isn't it?

You’re probably right! I don’t know enough about that period of cricket.
posted by Bloxworth Snout at 2:09 PM on March 15, 2023

Is it perhaps a bit of a shame that traditional high jump hasn’t been retained as a separate event?

There isn't really "a" traditional high jump. You had the scissors and eastern cut-off, which were replaced by the Western roll, and then the straddle jump was perfected. All of these were subject to their own personal variations, so one jumper's straddle could look quite different from another's.

You can't do what we do for swimming, because the straddle is more of a small family of similar jump techniques bound by a common theme, unlike the breaststroke which is a specific thing and if you do a variation you are not doing the breaststroke any more.

What I would like to see is an elimination of the rule that requires you take off from one foot. Why? Just... why? I'd also like a "free style" class, where you can do hand-springs or whatever on the approach.
posted by It's Never Lurgi at 6:18 PM on March 15, 2023

Well, 'hand-springs or whatever on the approach' changed quite a few of the skillsets in gymnastics. Especially the vault, but also mounts on the beam.
posted by mephisjo at 8:39 PM on March 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Funny you should mention breaststroke, because a variation on it (overarm recovery) is how we got butterfly.

In the 30s, swimmers figured out an over-water recovery was faster, and at the time it was ok by the rules of breaststroke. But by the 50s the swimming authorities decided that butterfly needed to be made its own event, and the under-water recovery was codified for breaststroke.

So sure somebody could have made a rule about how far your back can be turned towards the bar when you take off; turn too far and you’re not doing high jump anymore, you’re doing the Fosbury butterfly.
posted by nat at 9:23 PM on March 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

The "Fosbury flop" was not unique. Canadian high jumper Debbie Brill developed the same technique at almost the same time:
Wikipedia She developed her style of jumping as a preteen on the family farm when her father made a landing pit containing foam rubber. Fifty years later she described it as "a natural extension of what my body was telling me to do. It was physical intuition; it wasn't anything taught."[2] The technique, which involved jumping over the bar with her face to the sky and landing on her back, was dubbed the "Brill bend". Her clubmates thought it was unique until they learned that an older American athlete, Dick Fosbury, was becoming known for using the same technique.
posted by e-man at 9:47 PM on March 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

The action of the fosbury flop is actually pretty impressive. Try it yourself onto a bed or something. I have a hard time describing it as 'feeling natural', though it is very possible that multiple people were able to 'discover' it simultaneously.
posted by The_Vegetables at 8:27 AM on March 16, 2023