Protective gear for high jump (Closed for comments)
Comments about this discussion:
Started
Hi,
Every single year there are always a lot of riders with complaints about the mendatory protective gear for high jump.
The current rulebook lists that all riders must be wearing these protective gears in order to compete:
-helmet
-gloves
-knee pads
Considering high jump is a hop done from flat ground, back to flat ground, I do not understand why all this equipment would be mandatory. While we don't require any protective gear for flatland, why should we for high jump?
Knee pads:
-reduce the amplitude of movement
-reduce the comfort of rider
-additionnal weight
Gloves:
-Reduce the feeling of the handle or seat
-Reduce the grip on the handle or seat
helmet:
-additionnal weight
-comfort
We have to keep in mind here that the riders are trying to achieve their personal best, or even the world's. Every centimeter counts. I also want to add most riders don't usually ride with gloves, and adding them only for competitions really makes it weird and different and the rider has to adapt.
p.s. I am only creating a conversaiton here for HIGH jump and not LONG jump... We have to understand high jump and long jump are fundamentaly different, one requires high speed, the other does not.
-Emile
Comment
This proposal belongs in the Jumps committee. Please recreate it there. This discussion will be closed here.