Sports

The real advantage is that jumping off the leg farthest from the bar allows deeper knee flexation & a lowering of the center of mass toward the jump force.
I was a left footed jumper, so I ran the "J" shaped approach from the right side of the pit.
This allows the other leg to be thrust up getting the knee up, moving the center of mass up at the start of the arc.
The biggest advantage to the flop is it more efficiently uses the overall momentum of the approach to convert it to vertical launch,, without losing much of the lateral motion..
Fosbury didn't actually invent it, but he did greatly refine it and absolutely popularized it.
I switched after my freshman year of high school. That year I was 5'1" and had a best of 5'6.5". After I switched I was 5'4" and cleared 6' 1". Went from 5.5 inches above my height to 9".
Of course, I got stronger with a maturing body, but I had nowhere to practice. My HS had no track.
My 3rd year (and last before college) I was 5'7", and cleared 6'6" several times. Never made 6'7" though.
At state, everyone who beat me was 6'2" or taller.
Now, nearly all world class high jumpers, men & women, are tall.
There's a technical advantage there, too. The higher the center of mass starts, the better.