Suttle Vrs. Feofanova

[vaultfan]

A very interesting comparison of the vaulting styles between Kelly Suttle and Swetlana Feofanova is located at .
http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... anova.html

Feofanova uses a jump/plant takeoff while Suttle uses a plant/jump method.

I’ve made a rather substantial effort to provide an explanation of the free takeoff style used by Feofanova and many other European vaulters at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thepolevaultplant/

Hopefully this information will be of interest. And, hopefully, many of you will be interested in discussing this pole vaulting concept further.

[Bruce Caldwell]

THIS IS THE METHOD written for years in my Elusive Bar book I & II and in the Bill Falk book and videos on Taking the mystery out of fiberglass vaulting. (1-5 Editions)
We both have been advocates of this method we called EUROPEAN STYLE or Swing Vaulting.

This European method allows the vaulter to store energy in the swing and then into the pole. (A more efficient way of energy transfer.)
Producing a moving higher bending pole and a moving higher swinging vaulter. A higher bend in the pole will promote better recoil and a better directional return force, all things being executed well the force will return upward.
Far too many Americans try this but tend to be flat at the take off and press with the bottom hand forward to keep the hips from committing. This kills the swing forcing them to drive hard faster to overpower the vault or the pole itself. Many feel they have to drive the pole at the take-off to store energy in the pole. But the swing is a better energy converter than the back of a vaulter or the front arm.

If you study this technique those who have mastered the take-off press upward with the bottom hand, elongating the swing pendulium of the vaulter, with the force of the upward take-off angle behind them.
What appears to be effortless is really storing energy into the pole at a later time period allow the vaulter to swing-through faster.

A pole will time better, recoil better, and the ability to hold higher will result as you master the method. (Less strain on the hands, shoulders, etc)

HOW to adapt this to HIGH SCHOOL VAULTERS?
On a High school level to adapt to this method of jumping you need to allow the hip drag found in most young vaulters to evolve into a power swing up.
Utilize swinging to bend the pole rather than bending the pole at the take-off.
A higher bend means you will not have to put as much tape on the butt of your pole as it will not be jammed up against the back of the box as much.

The true double pendulum is initiated one pendulum the pole and the other the vaulter, timing them for the best push off.
Moving the pole to vertical as you swing through storing energy in the pole and when you stop storing energy you have almost swung upside down as it starts to recoil, the pole is also moving to vertical you will pull through with the pole using the power of the vaulter swing and the power of the pole swing blended.
This will give you the best vault energy return and you will soon be using much bigger poles and moving your grip up one fist at a time keeping the same timing.

Dave Roberts premier vaulter and former World Record Holder once described the vault as if you are running down a hill, (must have been a few down hill runways LOL) and you see a tree limb, you jump to the tree limb, and what happens????
Your body swings through and upward!
It is the same in the vault accept you keep the pole rising at every point in the vault.

A humorous note:
[quote]I remember studying vaults of Kjell Issakson Swedish vaulter back in 1972. One of the problems he had was when he used a similar EUROPEAN technique like this, his pole would bend a negative bend then flip back and it was very necessary for him to time the strike against the back of the box.
At the time he was being solicited to use the banana pole by Skypole that was pre-bent (by at least 3â€Â

[wacky274]

As this is something I have discussed in detail with my coach, one of the better examples of this takeoff method would be best shown my dimitri markov's 595 vault on www.stabhochsprung.com. In this vault, his left hand moves forward and up, and his right elbow comes through andhands goes straight up his body. If you pay even closer attention, at his last "right" step, his pole is practically perfectly horizontal. Another point worth noting is that if you go frame by frame through this vault you will not see a bend truly start until his toe has just left the ground. Just my thoughts on this subject. Please comment if you disagree with this example in anyway as i'm very interested in hearing different sides of this argument.

[wacky274]

also, vaultfan, thanks for the articles, i found them very interesting.

[Bruce Caldwell]

Yes Vaultfan thanks for all your Quality post and information.

[OUvaulterUSAF]

Not that I'm an expert but this is highly recommended reading on the jump/plant take off.

[baggettpv]

Oh, so the argument starts again. I believe these same thoughts came out after Petrovs article in 1986(?) that prompted the discussion then. When I asked him about it he said it wasn't the spot of takeoff but the action occuring at takeoff.
If you watch Bubka at the 88 Olympics you will see him about 1 - 2' under but creating a very high jump before going into what Petrov said was "Being in support of the pole". We deal too much with positions and not enough energy with the actions and ability to create those actions.

Rick Baggett

[Barto]

Oh, so the argument starts again. I believe these same thoughts came out after Petrovs article in 1986(?) that prompted the discussion then. When I asked him about it he said it wasn't the spot of takeoff but the action occuring at takeoff.
If you watch Bubka at the 88 Olympics you will see him about 1 - 2' under but creating a very high jump before going into what Petrov said was "Being in support of the pole". We deal too much with positions and not enough energy with the actions and ability to create those actions.

Rick Baggett

Well put.

Barto