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I've been having trouble getting in on a 14' 160 (i weigh about 145) and right now im pretty comfortably on a 14' 155 (either 19.5 or more often 19.0) and the 160 is a 18.0. Not a very huge gap but for some reason I cant penetrate very deep. I get off the ground occasionally, but do also have a little bit of mental hesitation when trying to jump on it ( i run through on a lot of attempts but still usually get off the ground if im trying to jump on this pole. What should i do that can help me get on stiffer poles and then move to longer poles, i see so many vaulters who dont seem all that much faster or taller than me but somehow they are jumping on 15' poles 35 lbs over their weight. I dont believe there is some big thing im missing but rather a lot of small things that need to be worked on.

I would help to see a video of some of your vaults. Are you blowing through the 155? When you jump on the 155, where are your standards?

http://www.youtube.com/user/zw5101?feature=mhee
here are most of my videos. the pole being used is said in the info. standards for the 155 are usually between 22-31in, more recently closer to 31.

The first thing I noticed is that your step in about a foot under. You need to be able to draw a line from your top hand to the toe of your takeoff foot. You will struggle with heavier poles until you fix this. Also, by being under, your takeoff is flat. You need to jump up at takeoff. This is next to impossible to do when you're under.

hye

the video i looked at you started on a green, then white and then Spirit??...

your jumps looked better at the end but it looked like you could raise your grip... although you did seem to stretch on the last one or two jumps on the video...

suggestion…

move your run back from 12 to 14 steps….

Do it this way… first find a 6 step "MID" from a 12 step session like you had on the video… should be around 44/45 feet.

Run 4 lefts/8 steps back from that "MID".. this will give you a start point for your 14 step approach…

Take the same grip from the 12 step session.. test you new run…

You should be "ON" and capable of "getting the feet down" into a correct takeoff…

Then start jumping.. if you get more confidence and stat running faster.. move the run back and the grip up.. have the next pole ready…

Always strive to "push" from the back/start… hit close to the "MID"…. increase the frequency over the last six.. with correct posture, takeoff "OUT" .. big takeoff/good impulse….. swing to vertical fast and "complete" to off the pole…

Control your run with the 6 step "MID" and make sure you never stretch…

Good luck

DJ

I've moved to 7 lefts since that video, however I have not used my mid mark but will definately try measuring my step this way. Im not too sure but i think for the most part I will vault from a short run in the fall in preparation for the winter season. Is there any way I could incorporate the use of finding my mid from 4 or 5 lefts. (potentially spend a couple weeks at 3 lefts, find my mark, and then use that as a mid and run 1 or 2 lefts back from that to find my 4 left mark or 5 left mark?)

yes

you can use the process from 6 steps(3 l3fts) and on back

i on my way to Frankfurt and will send the process the next time i'm on..

it works great and easy from one number of steps to the other..

later

dj

Something to ask though before I forget, should my mid mark be exactly the same as my 3 left approach given that I will already be moving when measuring it as a mid mark?

zachwinters156 wrote:Something to ask though before I forget, should my mid mark be exactly the same as my 3 left approach given that I will already be moving when measuring it as a mid mark?

No. You probably run 3 lefts from somewhere under 40 feet while your mid with 6 left or more run would be over 40 due to more speed in the run.

VaultPurple wrote:

zachwinters156 wrote:Something to ask though before I forget, should my mid mark be exactly the same as my 3 left approach given that I will already be moving when measuring it as a mid mark?

No. You probably run 3 lefts from somewhere under 40 feet while your mid with 6 left or more run would be over 40 due to more speed in the run.

And my mid mark should change with each added stride to my run up?