PoleVaultPower.com

You don't have a highbar, you say?

That didn't slow down this traceur! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CkroSY67_s&feature=channel_page

With a little imagination, highbars are everywhere!

Monkey bars at a kid's playground.

Pull up bar on a circuit training course (sometimes found in parks).

The supports behind a basketball backboard.

A beam on a building. (Tim McMichael used one on his school cafeteria, if I recall.)

Scaffolding at a construction site.

An old, fairly stiff pole vault pole propped between two supports.

The list is endless. Please add any others that you can think of.

You need a highbar to improve your pole vaulting technique!

Kirk

Good topic! Not everyone has access to gym or gymnastic equipment.

I like: trees, doorframes, gates, roof overhangs, railing & stairs

In my neigborhood, offical high bars are hard to find. Most have been removed from parks or schools and replaces with jungle gyms/monkeybars. This is my typical workout with some bar stuff:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sS7h1gmC ... annel_page

On youtube, these guys blow me away with their highbar workout:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru1VPzl5 ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLCWMVkM ... re=related

Tim McIntyre
Seal Beach, CA
M polevaulter

Very good use of playground, equip, Tim!

On this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru1VPzl5S_4&feature=related (your 2nd one) Rulos does a nice hip-circle-to-handstand, between the 1:10 and 1:14 marks of the timer. This is what you need to do on the pole! Learn it on the high bar, get the feel for your shoulders dropping as your hips rise, then transfer that skill/sensation to the pole!

And the one-armed giants that Duvan does at the end of the vid are incredible!

These guys are wasting their talents on the highbar! Give them each a pole!

Kirk

Smith racks in the weightroom are a good, safe way to do Bubkas without swinging in order to build strength and some body awareness.

You can also build them in the jungle.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 8152&hl=en

Don't ask how I got this...

The guerillas in the vid wouldn't win many formal highbar competitions, but they sure have some innovative moves! There's considerable talent there!

And you noticed that they were more 'muscle' moves than swinging moves, eh? Not really good role models for vaulters.

But at the 3:24 mark, one guy does a fairly nice attempt at a shoot-to-a-handstand from a standing start! Try that one, PP!

Kirk

Apparently these Chechen separatists (I think that's what they are) have an entire gymnastics program... a really good one.

Yup, I checked out their website... I believe they're part of the mujahideen!

Another idea for finding or making a highbar near your track ...

If you have bleachers constructed with metal piping, look underneath them. You may find a crossbar with sufficient clearance to use for some highbar drills.

Even if there's no good cross-pieces there, look for a spot where you can put up your OWN crossbar (or ask your school coach to do so), across some supporting rigging. This crossbar might even be simply a piece of old broken pole!

And duct tape (or athletic tape) works wonders!

Just don't be surprised if a maintenance worker tears it down someday, due to appearance or insurance issues. Remember ... this is guerilla highbarring!

Hey, speaking of guerillas, did you notice how much give that guerilla highbar had? Nice! You can do a lot more on a bouncing bar than on a solid one! And it simulates the pole better!

Kirk

Here's another highbar setup - this time using a conventional bar, but a safer landing pit than conventional gymnastic mats.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xu3-6gt8NJo&feature=related

This was published on YouTube by Jason Wurster a couple years ago. He happens to be one of Canada's top vaulters.

The main drill demo'd on the vid is the "free hip circle", or - as I like to call it - the "hip-circle-to-handstand".

Their technique isn't exactly perfect, but this should give you a good idea of what this drill is all about. And the way they do it, the softer-than-usual pit is useful!

The other point of showing this vid is that you don't always have to do perfect simulations of vault parts on the highbar to have a productive gym session. Goofing around, having fun, doing odd-ball tricks, and just plain experimenting are all good too!

Kirk

We threw hay bales and moved hand irrigation lines. Then played on the haystacks, built forts and climbed tree's.
Boy how lifestyles have changed.

Rick

I've been living at the park I am at right now for over a month now, and never realized there were bars here! Last night I was helping my husband pick up trash at the park when I discovered a set of high bars. The highest one is only chin level on me, but I am sure I will find a way to have fun.

Anyone have ideas for at a beach?
going on vacation for a week...and we're renting, so door ledges won't work. The beams aren't low to the ground. No playground equipment, much less monkey bars. No trees either...well, at least none that can be used for any sort of drill....too small or too tall.