Calculation of the True Value of a High Jump Using a Computer Graphics Model

The true value of a high jump is the maximum height that the athlete would have been able to clear cleanly, and its value generally is not known. If the bar is knocked down, the jump is ruled a foul and the athlete receives no credit, although a hypothetical bar set at a lower height would have been cleared successfully. If the bar stays up, the athlete is credited with the height of the bar. This is also misleading: If the bar is cleared with room to spare, the height of the bar is an underestimate of the true value of the performance; if the bar is bent down during the bar clearance but does not fall, the height of the bar is an overestimate of the maximum height that would have been cleared cleanly. This is an important shortcoming for the evaluation of high jumping technique, because the researcher is left without the most important criterion measure for the value of the performance. A method involving threedimensional (3D) film analysis, curvilinear interpolation and computer graphics was devised for the solution of the problem. A test showed that the method yielded reasonably close estimates.