Jumping movement: art in psychics 

Eduardo A. González Falcón

Jumping or the motion of lifting a mechanical system through the air along a ballistic trajectory is a body movement that has also intrigued me. For decades I had been jumping in different sports and have always wondered why it is so versatile. Our bodies are the mechanical system as described by the meaning and we move along a trajectory just as a projectile, so there are all kinds of jumping forms which result in different distances. In volleyball and basketball some jumping movements are completely vertical, which are called vertical leap and they are created by the human body as a upward force in a same line with different height above the ground. Just as most power and mechanic systems, jumping requires great power and force in order to surpass the bodies’ gravitational force to the ground. Many people have asked me why I can jump higher than most with less difficulty, its simple the greater the speed and force the greater the power. So a skinny 150 pound body that has the same leg strength as a 200 pound body would be more likely to jump higher due to its less weight force on the ground. The other aspect which most people don’t see when jumping is the speed in which you create the force. Like in most extreme sports, the greater the velocity of a skateboard or motorbike the more distance they are going to travel and more “airtime” they are going get. Those kinetic basics are the same in the human body; the clear reason why long jump athletes start their jump approach by running a short distance with great velocity. 

I visualize jumping as watching spring, the greater velocity and force done the more “pop” it is going to have and the higher and longer it will go. To find the force of a spring we calculate F=Kx where K is a constant and x is the distant vector. The same in the human body, the force to jump upward is determined by the k, which is the force constant depending on the material it is composed by (in human body visualize less mass as more powerful material due to explanation of less weight carried by object) and it also depends on the x which is the distance it can stretch. That is the reason why high jump athletes and ballerinas jump so high with so much flexibility; their muscles are normally larger, thinner and can stretch easier. It is scientifically proved that a person jumps higher when their muscles are warm and stretched because their reaction time when their bodies undergo a change in the downward/upward motion is less. Also they will more potential energy stored having greater velocity and force in that moment. 

Another great questioning the basketball dunking world is the theory behind vertical leap time or as they call it “hangtime”. Why athletes like the great Michael Jordan appear to fly when they jump. All objects, in this case people have the same gravitational acceleration when they are falling to the ground which is 9.81 meters per seconds square, so appearing to have greater projectile airtime is a question of vertical displacement in the x direction with an initial jumping angle involved. A basketball superstar that has a 50 inch vertical can be less time in the air than Jordan by the only reason of the initial distance it takes off. Running then jumping from a far distance like 15 ft at a 45 degree angle will cause greater air time than elevating from a standstill position. For me the jumping movement is a great locomotive motion which I see it as an art form that involves different physics and biomechanics explanation. The ability and creative way the human uses different jumping forms is why it gives It such a versatile form of motion which it is expressed with emotions and requires great talent. Extreme sports have greatly benefited in the creation of innovative materials in their respective mechanical systems, for example skateboards which were invented no more than a century ago, have evolved greatly and the continuous research for more environmental and productive wood material will continue to go on so  the human raises the bar higher and higher each time.