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I'm a high school vaulter, and I just returned from the Texas state track meet. I currently weigh about 150 and am about 5'9. I run on a pole anywhere from 14' 180 to a 15' 165. I have only jumped 14'6'' in a meet but have jumped 15' several times in pratice over and actual bar. After the state meet I was told by many people including my coach that my hips immediately come under when I take off. They all said that I could be on a 15'9'' 180 pole if I could just keep my hips from coming under and driving long off of the ground, but I can seem to keep it from hapening. Please help!

Thanks! Hunter

Your description is too vague for us to help you much. It may be that some people see as your hips as "coming under", but there may be other technical flaws that we could observe if we saw some vid of your jumps. Or other, more descriptive ways of describing what you call "coming under". Please post vids.

Also, getting on a bigger pole isn't the object of the pole vault event. The object is to vault as high as you can! In a meet!

Usually, this is done by improving your technique - which is not necessarily the same as getting onto a bigger pole.

Congratulations on your 14-6 PR, and your 15-0 in practice.

One of your goals should be to PR in a meet, since practice PRs don't count for much. They're only an indication that you COULD or MIGHT jump higher in a meet.

Kirk

Thanks Kirk for your reply. Ill try to explain it better cause I'm not sure on how to post vids. But a better explination.. Ok my step will be on perfect ill I have a decent plant (just decent cause it needs tons of work) and ill jump off the ground semi good. And as soon as I leave the soon as I leave the ground my trial leg starts comin through because my hips come under. I can keep my self in the "inverted C" position long enough to get on a big pole. Hope that's better?

KirkB wrote:Your description is too vague for us to help you much. It may be that some people see as your hips as "coming under", but there may be other technical flaws that we could observe if we saw some vid of your jumps. Or other, more descriptive ways of describing what you call "coming under". Please post vids.

Also, getting on a bigger pole isn't the object of the pole vault event. The object is to vault as high as you can! In a meet!

Usually, this is done by improving your technique - which is not necessarily the same as getting onto a bigger pole.

Congratulations on your 14-6 PR, and your 15-0 in practice.

One of your goals should be to PR in a meet, since practice PRs don't count for much. They're only an indication that you COULD or MIGHT jump higher in a meet.

Kirk

Thanks Kirk for your reply. Ill try to explain it better cause I'm not sure on how to post vids. But a better explination.. Ok my step will be on perfect ill I have a decent plant (just decent cause it needs tons of work) and ill jump off the ground semi good. And as soon as I leave the soon as I leave the ground my trial leg starts comin through because my hips come under. I can keep my self in the "inverted C" position long enough to get on a big pole. Hope that's better?

It's a bit better, but I still can't visualize your vault very well, because there's 1,001 different things that you might be doing right or wrong, and words like "perfect", "decent" and "semi good" aren't descriptive enough for me to visualize what you mean. And actually, what you THINK you're doing right or wrong in your run, plant, or takeoff aren't necessarily what you ARE doing right or wrong. That's why you're asking for advice, right?

Enloe11 wrote: ... as soon as I leave ... the ground my trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under.

I don't draw the same conclusions you're drawing (that the trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under) - your description isn't complete enough for me to know. Even if it's true, then WHY are the hips coming under? Something quite different than that may be happening, without you or the people watching in live action at the meet seeing it. You say your steps aren't under, but it sounds like they are. You say you're getting into a C, but it sounds like you're not.

With vid, we can sometimes slow it down to slow-motion (expecially if it's a QuickTime vid. If I SAW it, I'd understand instantly. If a pic is worth a thousand words, then a vid must be worth at least 10,000!

To post a vid, you open up an account on YouTube (or some other vid website), and upload it there. Then in PVP, you link to your vid. That should be fairly easy for you to do. If you're not sure, just ask a friend or someone in your family for help.

Enloe11 wrote: I can keep myself in the "inverted C" position long enough to get on a big pole.

Maybe so, but I'll repeat what I said earlier: Getting on a bigger pole isn't the object of the game. Improving your PR in a meet (usually by improving your technque) is the goal.

Also, how high are you gripping on the pole? Are you getting a "decent" handstand? Not sure what you consider "decent", but I'll let you tell me. What grip and what pole did you use to clear 14-6 in the meet, and what grip and what pole did you use to clear 15-0 in practice?

Kirk

KirkB wrote:It's a bit better, but I still can't visualize your vault very well, because there's 1,001 different things that you might be doing right or wrong, and words like "perfect", "decent" and "semi good" aren't descriptive enough for me to visualize what you mean. And actually, what you THINK you're doing right or wrong in your run, plant, or takeoff aren't necessarily what you ARE doing right or wrong. That's why you're asking for advice, right?

Enloe11 wrote: ... as soon as I leave ... the ground my trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under.

I don't draw the same conclusions you're drawing (that the trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under) - your description isn't complete enough for me to know. Even if it's true, then WHY are the hips coming under? Something quite different than that may be happening, without you or the people watching in live action at the meet seeing it. You say your steps aren't under, but it sounds like they are. You say you're getting into a C, but it sounds like you're not.

With vid, we can sometimes slow it down to slow-motion (expecially if it's a QuickTime vid. If I SAW it, I'd understand instantly. If a pic is worth a thousand words, then a vid must be worth at least 10,000!

To post a vid, you open up an account on YouTube (or some other vid website), and upload it there. Then in PVP, you link to your vid. That should be fairly easy for you to do. If you're not sure, just ask a friend or someone in your family for help.

Enloe11 wrote: I can keep myself in the "inverted C" position long enough to get on a big pole.

Maybe so, but I'll repeat what I said earlier: Getting on a bigger pole isn't the object of the game. Improving your PR in a meet (usually by improving your technque) is the goal.

Also, how high are you gripping on the pole? Are you getting a "decent" handstand? Not sure what you consider "decent", but I'll let you tell me. What grip and what pole did you use to clear 14-6 in the meet, and what grip and what pole did you use to clear 15-0 in practice?

Kirk

Ok I'll try to get a vid up and post the link but I used the same pole to clear 14'6 and 15'. I use an altius pole 14'9 165. I'm holding about 4 inches from the top. But my hand stand on top is decent like you said. But I'll get to the bar and start to flag out so that's obviously not good. Ill definatly try and put a video up soon.

KirkB wrote:It's a bit better, but I still can't visualize your vault very well, because there's 1,001 different things that you might be doing right or wrong, and words like "perfect", "decent" and "semi good" aren't descriptive enough for me to visualize what you mean. And actually, what you THINK you're doing right or wrong in your run, plant, or takeoff aren't necessarily what you ARE doing right or wrong. That's why you're asking for advice, right?

Enloe11 wrote: ... as soon as I leave ... the ground my trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under.

I don't draw the same conclusions you're drawing (that the trail leg starts coming through because my hips come under) - your description isn't complete enough for me to know. Even if it's true, then WHY are the hips coming under? Something quite different than that may be happening, without you or the people watching in live action at the meet seeing it. You say your steps aren't under, but it sounds like they are. You say you're getting into a C, but it sounds like you're not.

With vid, we can sometimes slow it down to slow-motion (expecially if it's a QuickTime vid. If I SAW it, I'd understand instantly. If a pic is worth a thousand words, then a vid must be worth at least 10,000!

To post a vid, you open up an account on YouTube (or some other vid website), and upload it there. Then in PVP, you link to your vid. That should be fairly easy for you to do. If you're not sure, just ask a friend or someone in your family for help.

Enloe11 wrote: I can keep myself in the "inverted C" position long enough to get on a big pole.

Maybe so, but I'll repeat what I said earlier: Getting on a bigger pole isn't the object of the game. Improving your PR in a meet (usually by improving your technque) is the goal.

Also, how high are you gripping on the pole? Are you getting a "decent" handstand? Not sure what you consider "decent", but I'll let you tell me. What grip and what pole did you use to clear 14-6 in the meet, and what grip and what pole did you use to clear 15-0 in practice?

Kirk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwJnih4PV3g

This is by far a horrible vault but it shows how my hips come under

I would suggest the reason is:
The takeoff is well under (i.e. past the top hand).
The pole starts to bend already when the vaulter is flatfooted and the knee of the free leg passes the takeoff leg.
There is never a proper takeoff, but the vaulter is rather ripped off the ground by the loaded pole.
Because of the rip off the ground there is never any decent trail leg whip, the trail leg is bent when brought forward (and the lead knee actually drops).

I would say that all the problems starts with the takeoff being too close to the box. That is the thing that needs fixing!

pgvirtual wrote: I would say that all the problems starts with the takeoff being too close to the box. That is the thing that needs fixing!

Yeh, what pgvirtual said!

I really wish that all vids used QuickTime, so that we can watch them frame by frame with the arrow keys. I used to convert vids to QuickTime, but I really don't have time for that any more.

If I was able to step frame by frame thru the plant and takeoff, I'd be able to give a much better analysis.

Kirk

If I might jump in as well -
Yes, your step is definitely under. Here's what you can do help nail down you approach.

1. Use DJ's mid mark chart. It will work exceptionally well if you fix point #2.
2. As you lower the pole, pull your top hand up behind you, as if you're reaching for your armpit with the right hand. This allows you to keep the bottom arm under the pole, resulting in a straighter and quicker plant path, in turn quickening your rythym as you prepare to takeoff. This will help prevent you from reaching under in the last few steps.

I would also drop your grip temporarily by about a fist and a half while you work this out. Once you get it though I think you could be holding higher than you are now.