Jumping is when a quizzer uses his/her legs and bum to move in a up or forward motion that triggers his/her electronic light on the quizmaster console, and if (s)he is the first person to jump (s)he has the opportunity to answer the question asked. Jumping is done by each quizzer on every team, trying to be the first person to jump and thus have the ability to answer the question and earn team and individual points.
Below you will find valuable Jumping tips from a CBQ quizzer, Peter. Thank you for your words and advice!
Jumping
Between questions it is a good idea to check your pad to make sure its working and to find out where the “click” is, the best way to do that is to find your light on the board and sit slowly until it turns off, when it does sit just a tiny bit lower so that your light won’t go off if you shake a little while waiting for the question. Depending on the chair you may be able to keep most of your weight on your thighs, while keeping the pad to the back of the chair, to make it easier to stay in this position it helps to lean forward so that most of your weight is on your thighs and feet, often having your elbows on your knees makes it easier to support your weight. A good way to practice this is to have someone stand behind your chair while you find your “click”, they should be able to pull the chair out from under you, and slide it back without you falling down.
Lip Reading
When the quizmaster is asking the question it is important to watch his mouth, even if you aren’t a professional lip reader it is often possible to get the next letter or even a syllable more than what is said, this can easily make the difference between answering a question correctly or not. This gets more important as you get more confident and start jumping faster, but it is important to start right away so that you get in the habit of it, and figure out how lip read. The other benefit is that most people can focus better when they are watching the quizmaster speak than when they are staring at the ground.
Answering
When you are answering the question it often helps to quote the verse or the verses around where the question is asked from, (either in your head or outloud) often for a interrogative or multiple answer this is all that you need to do. Even if you know what the answer is without quoting the verse, you are less likely to make a simple mistake like saying “Paul” instead of “Peter”. For situation questions it is still a good idea to quote the verse (ouloud) as the verse might say the answer before the question.