Part 12

It depends almost entirely on the angle of the jumper's body on landing as to whether he shall fall or keep his balance, and that angle depends absolutely on the way he makes the "Sats." Indeed, at the moment of leaving the platform and completing the "Sats," the jumper usually is almost certain whether he will stand or fall. It follows, then, that the correct execution of the "Sats" is the most important part of the jump. It is certainly the most difficult, and I think you will find it much easier to overcome its difficulty if you realise at the outset that the necessary forward tilt may be effected in two perfectly distinct ways.

The jumper may make the "Sats" either so that he leaves the platform tilted at exactly the angle at which he will land, or so that he is at right angles to the platform when leaving it and changes the angle of his body by degrees during his flight through the air. (See Fig. 46.)

These two methods are none the less distinct for the fact that the "Sats," as made by most jumpers, is a combination of the two.

By using the first method you will be far more certain of landing at the proper angle, but will barely increase the length of your jump; by the second you will be able to lengthen your jump to the utmost possible extent, but will find it exceedingly difficult at first to regulate the forward tilt accurately.

You had better, therefore, begin by practising the first method only, and keep to that until you can jump with accuracy and certainty, when you can little by little exchange it for the second one.

In order to make the "Sats" by the first method, you have, from the crouching position of the first pair of figures, merely to bring your body and thighs into line with the legs from the knees downwards; for in the crouching position this lower part of the legs is already inclined forward at about the angle at which you will have to land.

In straightening up, therefore, be most careful to keep your legs below the knees, and also your feet, absolutely motionless.

When in the crouching position make sure that your knees are forced forwards to their utmost extent, then try to imagine that they are being held immovably in this position, and that your heels are fastened firmly down to the skis. This will ensure your making the straightening movement of the "Sats" from the knees upwards only, and, if you bring your thighs and body exactly into line with the motionless lower part of the legs, will also ensure your landing at about the correct angle, or even slightly more forward, which will not matter.

As you straighten up, swing your arms forwards and upwards to help the movement, which, when you are used to it, you must try to make so smartly, and even violently, as to be almost instantaneous.

The sensation, however, will be quite different to that of an ordinary standing long jump, in which the heels leave the ground as the jumper crouches, and the spring is made from the toes. In this form of the "Sats" it is very important that some of the weight should remain on the heels, which should not be allowed to rise from the skis in the smallest degree. You will find that any pressure on the toes and lifting of the heels will, though it may seem unlikely, almost certainly tend to make you finish the "Sats" in an erect instead of an inclined position.

The accurate timing of the "Sats" is naturally most important. If it is made too late and the knees are still somewhat bent as the jumper leaves the platform (see Plate LIII.), the completion of the movement in the air will push the skis below their natural line of flight, and the jump will be shortened--not a very serious matter for the beginner. If, however, the "Sats" be made too soon, and the jumper's weight comes on his skis again before they have left the platform, he will have a nasty fall forward. This need not trouble you, for you are certain to find the greatest difficulty in managing to make the "Sats" soon enough.

The more slowly you make the movement, the sooner you will have to begin it, and the more difficulty you will have in timing it accurately, but at first if you try to make it quickly you will probably not do it correctly. I strongly advise you therefore to go through the slow and careful practising stage, not on the jumping-hill at all, but without skis, in your bedroom or anywhere else. Practise this movement at any odd moment; it will soon become mechanical, and if, before you start jumping, you have learnt to make this movement quickly and accurately, you will have made things enormously easier for yourself.

When practising the "Sats" without skis you will, of course, find that, as your weight comes on your feet again at the end of the straightening movement, you will be in the act of falling forwards. You can prevent doing so by making a quick stride forward with one foot and dropping into the Telemark position; but don't do this until the last possible moment, first making quite sure that you are perfectly straight from head to heels and inclined at a sufficient angle. See also that your feet are held quite parallel and touching each other.

So much for the first method of making the "Sats." The second is as follows. From the preparatory crouching position spring straight into the air with a free, swinging action, but as strongly as possible, at the same time giving the body a slight tilt forward, so that it becomes more and more inclined during its flight through the air. The spring is made from the toes this time, but instead of the legs being drawn up as in ordinary jumping, they should be quite straight and in line with the body as they leave the ground, and the feet should be pointed downwards, exactly parallel and close together.

This movement (the arms are swung as before) is much like that of a dive from a springboard; but while the diver's body has to make half a revolution, or pass through an angle of 180° during its flight through the air, the ski-jumper, even in the case of the most exaggerated "squirt jump" on the steepest hill, could hardly have to change his angle by more than 45°. The ski-jumper then would seem to have the easier task.

The difficulty is that, whereas the diver wants to land (?) head first, the ski-jumper would rather not, and instinctively shrinks from the slight effort in that direction which is necessary.

The remarks in the description of the first method as to timing, &c., hold good here, and it is equally possible and advisable in this case to practise without skis. When doing so you should, after your spring into the air, land on the ground on tiptoe, tilted as much forward as possible, with your feet just where they left the ground, and absolutely parallel to and touching each other. A fall is avoided as before by dropping into the Telemark position.

When the "Sats" is made very suddenly and energetically in this way, the jumper may notice a tendency not merely to give an insufficient forward tilt to his body as he springs, but even to tilt it slightly backwards, so that he lands on his back with his skis in the air; and this in spite of the fact that he may quite have overcome his nervousness and desire to shrink back.

I think it may be worth while to explain this.

A man in making a standing jump, or a dive, raises his heels and throws his weight on his toes _as he crouches_ for the spring, _i.e._ _before_ he begins the upward movement of the spring itself. In this way his centre of gravity is brought exactly above the point from which he will push off.

A ski-jumper as he crouches for the spring keeps his foot flat on the ski and his centre of gravity over the middle of his foot, instead of over the toes. If, then, from this position he suddenly springs directly upwards, the final pressure of the toes, which are farther forward than his centre of gravity, will tend to tilt him backwards. To avoid this tendency, try, in the crouching position, to keep your weight as far forward as possible (not, however, raising the heels, which would make you too unsteady) and make your spring slightly forwards as well as upwards. When practising, without skis, either method of making the "Sats," always start the movement from the crouching position of Plate LII., and be sure that it is correct in every detail before you make the spring.

Remember that it is impossible to increase the length of a jump on skis by springing forward as you would for a standing long jump, for you can, of course, get no purchase for the backward push. Even in the first method of making the "Sats," although the body should shoot forwards, the push of the feet is almost entirely downwards. The "Sats," in fact, when it is a jump at all, is a high jump only. Any pronounced attempt to make it a long jump will result in a fall.

_Position in the Air_ (Plate L., &c.).--Having completed the movement of the "Sats," do not alter the position of your body and legs, but hold yourself perfectly erect during your flight through the air, your feet and skis being perfectly level (_i.e._ neither ahead of the other), close together, and exactly parallel. The skis must as soon as possible be brought parallel to the slope below you, and therefore your feet must be pointed downwards, if they are not so already, and the toes must be pressed down to prevent the heels of the skis from dropping, as they are very apt to do.

A jumper when in the air generally swings his arms round and round. Now the dog cannot wag its tail much without the tail wagging its dog a little, and as the jumper is moving freely through space his shoulder-muscles cannot swing his arms round in one direction without at the same time swinging him--_i.e._ his body and legs as a whole--round in the other, though the movement of his body and legs will be much slower, as their mass is much greater, than that of the arms.

If, then, he is not tilted far enough forward, the jumper can, by swinging his arms in a forward-upward-backward-downward direction, make the rest of himself revolve slowly in the opposite direction on the axis of his shoulder-joints, and so tilt himself gradually forward; or, if his forward tilt is too great--which is not very likely--he can reduce it by swinging his arms round the other way.

_Landing._--You should land in the above position, with the feet level, close together, and pointed well down, so that the skis strike the ground with their whole surface simultaneously, not with their heels first. Although the legs should be kept straight during most of the flight through the air, they should be bent slightly just _before_ you touch the snow.

In bending them _be sure to press the knees together_, for to do so will ensure that, on landing, the skis are level, close together, and parallel; and also, which is equally important, that they strike the snow flat, and not edged slightly outwards, as they are apt to do if the feet only are held together.

This bringing together of the knees is therefore the greatest help to landing steadily, and if you remember to do it you need not think about bending the legs, for when his knees are touching and his feet parallel it is impossible for a man of normal build to keep his legs straight. I strongly advise you to include this movement in your practice of the "Sats" (2nd method) without skis.

As you feel the ground, _but not before_, drop smartly into Telemark position, with the weight well forward. This helps to diminish the shock, and also, of course, the chance of a fall backwards or forwards. It is such a help to the balance that when you have got into the habit of it, you will be inclined to begin the forward stride in the air. Be careful to avoid doing so, for, if you do, you may strike the snow with one ski sooner than with the other, which will very likely upset you. There is the same danger if you land with your skis apart instead of close together.

As the skis strike the snow, they bend in the middle and each makes a depression in the snow. From the deepest part of the hindmost of these depressions to the edge of the platform is the measure of the jump. The record stands at present at 47 metres (154 feet); you will do well if you jump a tenth of this distance without falling by the end of your first day's practice.

As you drop into the Telemark position, keep the ankles and knees well inwards and let the pressure be rather on the inside of the foot, or your skis may run apart and upset you.

Only run in Telemark position until you are certain that you have your balance. You should, if possible, make a merely momentary dip and then straighten up smartly and finish your run in the normal position, stopping yourself on the level by a swing or a jump round as soon as you can.

GENERAL HINTS

Ski-jumping to the ordinarily constituted person who tries it for the first time is extremely alarming. Although when the whole of the hillside is of the same steepness he may from the starting-point see something of the lower part of the slope, the exact spot on which he will land is nearly always hidden from the jumper until just before he reaches the edge of the platform, and even from that point it is still invisible if the platform is built back from the edge of a steep slope. When the lower part of the jumping-hill is steeper than the upper, as it nearly always is, the platform, seen from above, appears to be projecting over the edge of a cliff.

This at first gives all but exceptionally bold spirits an irresistible desire to shrink back on approaching it, and it usually takes one some time to overcome this desire, even after realising that there is practically no danger at all. Even when the jumper feels no fear his natural disinclination to make his spring until he can see where he is going to land will for some time tend to make him defer the "Sats" until too late.

The instinct to shrink back is, at any rate at first, the principal difficulty in ski-jumping, and I think you will find that the best way to overcome it is, in a sense, to give way to it--that is, to start under conditions which are as little alarming as possible and to increase the difficulty by very slow degrees.

Begin by making very short jumps on a quite moderate slope, no steeper below than above the platform, which must be quite low and long.

The fact of the slope being a gentle one does actually add to the difficulty of standing, but only to a very slight extent if the platform is quite low; and this form of hill is so much the least alarming, that I advise you to choose it for your first attempts.

Then make the same kind of jump on a fairly steep slope.

Then build your platform, still quite low, rather back from the edge of as steep a slope as you can find, the slope above it being a moderate one. Begin here with quite small jumps, and gradually start farther and farther back until you can make, with fair certainty of standing, as long a jump as the form of the hill and platform will permit; taking care, of course, that the lower slope is of ample length, _and that there is no sudden change of angle where it joins the level_, for this causes really bad falls.

After this you can make things more difficult for yourself in various ways, such as increasing the height of the platform, or building it at the very edge of a steep slope instead of rather back from it, or making it point upwards so as to form a "squirt jump."

"A squirt jump" on a moderate slope is excellent practice. The considerable difference in angle between the platform and the alighting ground makes it necessary for the learner to throw himself well forward in making the "Sats," and the fact that he drops from a good height on to comparatively flat ground makes the shock sufficient to compel him to bend his knees and take the Telemark position on landing. Only jumps of a few yards should be made in this way, however. The shock is too great for safety if the drop is a really long one.

On no account allow yourself to forsake easy hills for more difficult ones until on the former you can make your jumps _in perfect style, correct to the smallest detail_.

It is only by acquiring an absolutely perfect style that you can make anything but the smallest and easiest jumps with any certainty of standing, and for this reason the only way to gain confidence is to improve your style.

It may be a fine moral discipline to force yourself over jumps of an alarming size from the very first, but it will not make you a better jumper; for if you are very nervous you will be able to think of nothing until the jump is finished, and so will learn nothing and have no better prospect of standing at the twentieth jump than at the first.

After a course of this it is not unlikely that the last state of your nerve will be worse than the first.

It is a good thing to jump occasionally on big hills almost from the first if you can do so without feeling very nervous, but do not give up small jumps until your style is perfect, otherwise it never will be.

In Norway the style of the jump is considered as important as, if not more so than, its length. At a competition a jumper receives marks according to the manner in which he performs each stage of the jump--the approach, the "Sats," the flight through the air, the landing, the rest of the run, and the swing at the finish. Under certain circumstances even a fall is not considered greatly to a jumper's discredit. If, for instance, a man makes a jump in good style and is evidently steady on landing, but, after running a few yards, loses his balance on a bad bit of ground, he may score higher than a man who jumps rather farther and finishes without falling, but does so in very bad style. I do not mean to say that merely dribbling over the edge in a graceful attitude is encouraged, for to jump as hard as possible is part of good style, and to receive any consideration a jump must, as to length, be within reasonable distance of the maximum allowed by the form of the hill and platform.

Those who jump farthest, however, almost invariably jump in the best style, and a very long standing jump in really bad style is sure to be a fluke; so that in rewarding the most accurate jumpers the Norwegians probably reward those who in the aggregate have jumped the greatest distances, whatever their performance on any single occasion may be.

I agree, however, with Mr. Richardson in thinking that this system is likely to lead to too much stress being laid on the purely ornamental side of style, and that on the whole it would be much better to consider only the length of the jump and whether the jumper stands or falls on landing. Always bearing in mind, then, that it is only a means to the end of jumping as far and of landing as steadily as possible, do your utmost to improve your style, watch for faults, and get other people to criticise you as well. Check at the outset any tendency to acquire any of the following bad habits:--

In the crouching position before the "Sats":

Separating your feet or knees; only bending slightly, instead of crouching quite low.

In the "Sats":

Making a feeble, timid effort, and not straightening out completely, instead of springing smartly and vigorously to an erect position, with body and legs in a perfectly straight line.

In the air:

Bending at the hips or knees; separating the skis, not keeping them parallel and in the same plane; letting their heels drop; not keeping the feet level; not bringing the knees together before landing.

Landing:

Landing with the skis apart, or edged outwards, or not parallel, or with one more ahead than the other; letting their heels touch the snow first; landing with straight legs (or very bent ones); not dropping into Telemark position.

There is a method of jumping known in Norway as the "traekke op," in which, during the flight through the air, the feet are drawn up as close as possible to the body, which is bent forward. This diminishes the resistance of the air and perhaps slightly increases the length of the jump, but is considerably more difficult than the upright method, because it has a greater tendency to make the jumper land leaning backwards, or with the knees and feet separated so that the skis are pointed apart, or with the legs so much bent that they are liable to collapse from the shock.

In Norway this method is generally considered less good style than the other.

If you wish to try it you had better make the "Sats" in the ordinary way, straightening out completely before you begin to draw up the legs, and almost completely again before landing. Be sure also, in lifting the feet, to raise the toes well in order to avoid any risk of plunging the points of your skis into the snow on landing.

It is very good practice for the balance to make jumps in this way when you cross small undulations in the course of a run, or even when the ground is quite smooth. You will then, of course, have to draw up your feet the moment you leave the ground. Be careful, by holding your _knees_ together, to keep your skis from pointing outwards as you land.

An expert when running fast can in this way jump a low fence or, to be precise, an obstacle 2 feet or so high.

In spite of all that I have said about the necessity for taking it gradually, and keeping off big hills at first, you need not be afraid of hurting yourself much, no matter how far you may jump, provided the hill and platform be properly arranged, for in that case an accident is almost impossible. You are far more likely to meet with one when running at a comparatively low speed on tour, if the snow is soft and deep.

To be able to jump even moderately well will enormously improve your running generally, and will give you a confidence and dash that can hardly be acquired in any other way.

It is an excellent plan for the beginner to practise all the motions of jumping while running down a slope, without any platform, and at first without even a change of gradient. Make a mark on the ground; run towards it, crouching; make the "Sats" as you reach it, springing into the air if possible; drop into Telemark position, and straighten up again. Practise this until on a slope where there is a slight change of gradient you can make a jump of 3 or 4 yards steadily, and you will find things come much easier when you try from a platform.

Finally, let me remind you of the childish plan that I have already advocated, of pretending that you want to go faster than you are actually moving. You can now pretend that you want to stay in the air as long as possible--unless you really want to, which is unlikely at first.

The man who wants to make a long jump is much more likely to stand than the one who merely wants not to fall.

_Short Directions for the Jump._--Run in normal position until within about 15 yards of the platform's edge (not so close if running very fast), then bring your feet level and, _keeping your knees pressed together_ and well forwards, crouch down as low as possible. When the hands can touch the ankles draw them right back.

Just before reaching the edge of the platform make the "Sats" by either of the following methods:--

1. Without raising the heels or moving the feet or legs below the knees, swing your arms forward and upward and straighten yourself smartly until your body and thighs are in a line with the lower part of the legs. You will then, if you have moved from the knees only, be leaning well forward.

2. Swinging the arms as before, spring vigorously almost straight upwards from the platform, giving the body a slight forward tilting motion as you do so, and straightening out completely from head to foot, but this time raising the heels and finishing the spring from the toes.

On completing the "Sats," hold the erect position during the flight through the air, keeping the feet level and close together and the skis parallel to each other and to the slope below.