PoleVaultPower.com

Hello,

I am posting this for my son. He is a sophomore in high school and last year cleared 13' 3" by the end of the season as a freshman. We are just beginning to get back to pole vaulting after a season of basketball (winter) and football (fall). He has quickly hit a wall in his vaulting (11'6"-12'0"). We do not have a high school coach to learn from so we try to learn as much as possible from the internet and have taken a few camps over the past few years.

We went to a college in the area the other day to do some pv work. They graciously allowed us to do a couple short workouts and have a great facility, however, they do not have an official pv coach either.

Could those of you with a better eye and understanding please give us some tips on what you think is happening with his vaults. I know what "I see" (inside or "under" on plant, not swinging to allow hips to get to the pole) but my level of understanding is not that great and I don't know what to tell him or how to explain or describe what might be going wrong. The videos are not in any particular order and please don't listen to the "parent" who is doing the taping. Any and ALL input would be appreciated. Thanks in advance...Brad

You Tube video links:
Practice Jump 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdZEL1nX6KY

Practice Jump 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0SnXgMo1eI&feature=related

Practice Jump 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3jnhjQ73BQ

Dont want to get into black magic coaching but --- Looks like he has the speed and body control to do well. Needs stiffer poles or he will be through that wall soon. Also try to film the whole performance from the first step and get at least some attempts in slomo.

Is he wearing gloves? I'm pretty sure you can not compete with gloves on. Though certain states may be different.

Agreed that he needs a stiffer pole. Good run form and good plant but he is under by half a shoe in the first clip and a full shoe in the second. Draw a line from the top hand to where the toe leaves the ground. You will see what I mean. What size and length of pole is he using?

As far as the pole size goes, since he goes to such a small school, we ended up buying him a new pole last year and that is what you see him jumping on. It is a 14 foot, 150 lb. He has grown four inches from last year (almost 6'1") and has gained about 14-15 pounds. He currently weighs around 160 so he is a little over the recommended weight. His track coach at his high school just found an older (barely used) 14'6" 165 buried in an upstairs attic area. I'm really hoping this pole will work so we won't be forced to buy another one for this season (love this sport but as you all know...it ain't cheap ).

You are correct in noticing that it will be illegal for him to wear the gloves, but after a number of pole plants that day before video taping, his hands were beginning to get a little raw so I told him to wear them until he builds up some callouses.

I guess my biggest question is how can he get out of what I call the "pike" position faster and actually get his hips to his top hand. He can see his feet and get those up towards the ceiling but he seems to lose a lot of energy that comes back from the pole and somehow absorbs it as there isn't much spring off the top. Last year we took him to get some private lessons where the coach kept saying "there is NO Pulling in Pole Vault!" I guess I don't understand how anyone's hips can get to the top of the pole without doing some kind of pulling on the pole somewhere!?!

Shep95 wrote:I guess my biggest question is how can he get out of what I call the "pike" position faster and actually get his hips to his top hand. He can see his feet and get those up towards the ceiling but he seems to lose a lot of energy that comes back from the pole and somehow absorbs it as there isn't much spring off the top. Last year we took him to get some private lessons where the coach kept saying "there is NO Pulling in Pole Vault!" I guess I don't understand how anyone's hips can get to the top of the pole without doing some kind of pulling on the pole somewhere!?!

"No pulling in the pole vault!!" hahaha The famous Words. What that means is you should not pull down your hands to try to get your hips up. You should have high hands at take-off and have a powerful take-off position with a long and fast swing. When you swing to that L position that is when your punch your hips up and cover the pole. Heres a video of Bubka with his first 6m vault to elaborate on what im saying:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-UwBaf8f98

Hopefully this clarifies the whole pulling issue. My coach used to always tell me "Never pull down to go up."

Also with the whole pole issue, he is definitely blowing through his pole. If you pause the video when he hits his pike, he is halfway through the pit. Thats why he's knocking off lower bars, he got stronger and faster and you can definitely tell. Im not sure what his run and jump looked like before he grew and gained more muscle, but dont let him get discouraged because hes knocking off lower bars. See if that coach you went to allows pole rentals. That would be a great way to transition from the 150 to the 165. Grab a soft 160.

Hope this helped!!
-Eric

hye

get the step "OUT" a little by "quickening" the stirdes over the last six steps (or move in)

raise the grip 4/5 inches, to the band, and square-up the plant before you change poles...

the pole didn't over bend and the "under" takeoff caused you to "swing" by the pole... You need toi do the swing to vertical on the runway side of the pole and the "vertical" up the pole just before the pole comes back to "straight"....the higher grip, out takeoff and square plant should make the pole keep moving out in front of you and you may swing to vertical ok with the standards all the way back... if not then you can change poles...

dj

www.oneapproachrun.com

check the six step "MID" chart and get close to the "MID" to grip to bar height ratio...

Where are you folks located?

Hi. I am also a highschool vaulter and a sophomore. I have had similar problems this yr. Just as in earlier posts work on getting his step out to where it should be and make sure he JUMPS at take off. I had to learn this as well. Pole vault is a jumping event. It makes things so much easier ad in swinging and getting upside down when you jump and your take off is on. He will need a bigger pole def though. He has some good form though! I wish i could get inverted that well. I am jumping 12'6 on a 13'3 pole and just barely jumping over my grip. And i dont even invert near as well as him. Get his take off down and on the right pole and he will shoot up there. Also do you use the mid step system? It is a really good thing to use. I just recently started using it and it works amazing!