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By Patrick Lefler
Manifestations of innovation come in many sizes and shapes, but most are the result of attempts to exploit changes in the environment. In the area of track and field, the 1960s were a period of unusually rapid change due to the introduction of high-tech, lightweight materials that were used in everything from running shoes to vaulting poles—and as the environment changed, innovation followed with new techniques for running and throwing. But perhaps the most significant innovation during this period had nothing to do with these high-tech changes; rather, it was the result of a simple (and very low-tech) change in the composition of the landing surface that high jumpers used to cushion their falls after jumping.
Up until the early 1960s, the landing surface for most high jump venues was piles of sand or sawdust. Because of this, high jumpers all used similar techniques—the Straddle, the Western Roll or the Scissors Jump—designed to give the jumper the best opportunity to clear the bar and land on his or her feet after the jump was completed. This was essential to prevent injury because the landing surfaces had one thing in common: they were hard—not soft—and landing on anything other than one’s feet was the surest way to get a back or neck injury. But as the decade progressed and an increased emphasis of safety permeated the sport, deeper piles of foam replaced the hard sandpits and sawdust. With this safety change, the sport of high jump became ripe for innovation.
Enter Dick Fosbury. As a 16-year-old high jumper from Medford, Oregon, Fosbury was a below-average jumper who used the Straddle technique. Hungry to improve, Fosbury began experimenting with his technique and over the next two years improved his height from 5 feet to 6 feet 7 inches. His secret? A new technique that allowed Fosbury to go over the bar backwards, headfirst, curving his body over the bar and kicking his legs up in the air at the end of the jump. This required him to land on his back, but he was able to land safely thanks to the new deep foam matting. This new technique was dubbed “the Fosbury Flop.”
Fosbury enrolled at Oregon State University in 1965, and by 1968 he had used his new technique to win the NCAA championship and qualify at the Olympic trials. At the Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record at 7 feet 4.25 inches, displaying the potential of the new technique. Despite the initial skeptical reactions from the high jumping community, the “Fosbury Flop” quickly gained acceptance.
Here’s how Oregon State University’s alumni magazine described Fosbury’s Olympic moment:
In the summer between his junior and senior years, 1968, Oregon Stater Dick Fosbury won the high jump gold medal at the Olympic Games in Mexico City.
Any medal won at the Olympics is an outstanding achievement, but this particular medal was and is unique in the annals of American sports.
Most significant, however, from the standpoint of sports history and the Olympic drama of the moment, was the way in which Fosbury won this event…by demonstrating to the work a new and different way of conquering high bars…up-and-over backwards, knees, chest and face to the sky, the “Fosbury Flop”!
Journalists covering the game went nuts over the new technique, devoting more space and adjectives to the young man from Corvallis than to most of the other individual medal winners. They realized immediately they were watching a sport being completely revolutionized.
One wrote: “The high jump (competition) provided a sensation of a special and totally unexpected kind. Dick Fosbury, USA, showed an astonished world a brand-new way to jump better and higher. He invented and perfected it himself and there’s an indication that many jumpers, novices and world-class alike, will begin copying what has been named the ‘Fosbury Flop.’ It isn’t easy to describe in words…one has to see it in action. Fosbury’s new Olympic record speaks a clear language. This flop is no flop.”
In a later interview with Jody Zarkos of the Sun Valley (ID) Guide, Fosbury expressed surprise over the impact of his innovative technique:
“I adapted an antiquated style and modernized it to something that was efficient. I didn’t know anyone else in the world would be able to use it and I never imagined it would revolutionize the event.”
Almost immediately after Fosbury won gold in Mexico City, the Fosbury flop became the most popular style among high jumpers worldwide. By 1978, every elite jumper was using the technique. As the world record for the high jump has progressed since then, all record jumps have been made using Fosbury’s innovative style. Even today, it’s rare to see any jumper—man or woman, elite or non-elite—use a style other than the Fosbury Flop.
Sometimes it takes a change in the external environment—in this case, the advent of softer, deeper foam mating in the landing pit—for innovation to thrive. During the mid-1960s, Dick Fosbury took advantage of this change to give the world his famous and innovative “Fosbury Flop.”
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Patrick Lefler is the founder of The Spruance Group; a management consulting firm that helps growing companies grow dramatically faster. He is a former Marine Corps officer and a graduate of both Annapolis and The Wharton School. The Spruance Group acts as a trusted partner by offering unbiased advice and providing unique solutions to help clients solve their most pressing product strategy needs. For more information, visit www.spruancegroup.com or contact Patrick at: plefler@spruancegroup.com |