Sports science is usually greatly beneficial to individual athletes. A better understanding of the biological and chemical aspects of the human body can help an athlete nutrition (nourish) themselves better, and can aid with fitness etc.
However, physics can help play a role too. Take the Fosbury flop, for instance. A method created entirely by random fluke (jumping over a pole vaulting bar backwards instead of the traditional pre-70’s forward) that allows the centre of mass to travel under the bar whilst the athlete travels above it. This means that per KJ of energy expired, an athlete can jump higher jumping this way than he can leaping forwards.
My question is, just how much difference can it make in jump-height if different angles are used for the jump? 10%? Does it make that much of a difference if, for example, the limbs of the person are thrown forward and backwards, and can it be quantitatively calculated?
I’m wondering this b/c I thought if an athletes technique is (via physics) improved to suit his/her particular style of performance, how much more can they actually improve? Do we know the limits of what can be done?
And I know this last one is a crackingly stupid question, but why is it impossible for a human being to jump over say, 10 feet? Isn’t there a method we can use to “recycle” the energy that we are initially using to lift off, so that it keeps getting re-transmitted up and down the legs until they have left off - producing a more powerful leap?
It’s much more complex than a matter of energy. I’m not sure what you mean by “recycling” energy. Humans can only exert force by contracting muscles to move the skeleton. A joint can be flexed or extended, that’s it. Running or riding a bycycle use cycles of flexion and extension but nothing is being recyled. Not sure how this coule be applied to a high jump in any other way than the runup that jumpers already do.
A trampoline sounds like a reasonable approximation of what you’re asking about. Some of the kinetic energy you give yourself with your first leap gets stored elastically in the springs of the trampoline, and if you time your second jump properly you can get a good portion of it back.
