Apply an Inclined Track to Enhance the Performance of Fosbury Flop High Jump Athletes

Abstract

Background and Aim: The high jump was a dominant sport in China, with three athletes breaking the world record five times. However, in the following period, the high jump performance of Chinese athletes showed a declining trend, and the gap with the world’s best high jump athletes was obvious. Many studies have shown that speed ability is the main influence factor of the high jump, to change the current situation of the Chinese Fosbury flop high jump sport, this study designed an inclined track to improve the speed ability of athletes, to achieve the purpose of improving performance. This paper aims to apply the inclined track to improve Fosbury flop high jumpers’ speed ability. Materials and Methods: 10 experts were selected for this study and interviewed to determine the test metrics. An inclined track was designed and made, and 5 experts conducted IOC tests on the inclined track. In addition, 5 Fosbury flop high jumpers from Xi'an Physical Education University were selected for the study to experiment. t-test independent was performed on the technical index data using a computer software package. Results: The research results show that: (1) Inclined track had a high validity (IOC=.97) and safety for training. And (2) Comparison within 5 high jumpers found that all of the variables (Velocity of center of gravity, Step lengths for the last 2 steps, Step lengths for the last 1 step) were significant (*P<.05). Conclusion: The research suggests that the inclined track is a valid and safe training method. Additionally, the study found significant differences in key variables among high jumpers, emphasizing the importance of these factors in high jump performance.