High Jumpers: Advantage of Jumping Technique

[zak8000]

i was just reading through a textbook when i came across this question.high jumpers can go over a bar in such a way that their center of mass goes under the bar even though every part of a jumpers body must go over the bar. why is this an advantage for a high jumper to jump this way?

 

[Dr Lots-o'watts]

I would phrase it like this: first, they jump so as to lift their center of mass as high as they possibly can, then they move their body such that each part of their body successively goes over their center of mass (upside-down "U").