"Lead up" Drills

This is a forum to discuss pole vault technique as it relates to intermediate level pole vaulting.
MatthewSweet
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"Lead up" Drills

Unread postby MatthewSweet » Wed Jul 23, 2014 12:24 am

Hey everyone,

Over the past couple of days I have heard this term being thown around yet their description all seemed contradictory. I just wanted some clarification/ consensus on just what does "Lead up" mean AND what are a some drills for such.

Matt

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altius
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Re: "Lead up" Drills

Unread postby altius » Sat Aug 02, 2014 8:47 am

The term 'lead up drill' implies that the drill will lead the athlete towards good technique. Unfortunately it is much abused and many of the drills suggested, such as the rock back drill and the one arm drill lead nowhere - in fact their use is often counter productive. The key with any drill is - will it transfer skilled performance in the form of better technique to the actual vault and improve performance. To determine that you really need to understand two things -the model of vaulting you intend to use and the principles of transfer of training - which have been around since the year dot. :idea:
Its what you learn after you know it all that counts. John Wooden

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Re: "Lead up" Drills

Unread postby dj » Tue Aug 26, 2014 10:23 am

Leo--- The proper way to coach a beginning pole vaulter.

Right up front… I see 90 % of our pole vault coaches ignoring or not even being aware of…
Principal number one…????? Do you know what it is???
The first "principle" of pole vaulting is..getting the pole to vertical.

AND Principle number two..progression/ progressive overload
AND Principle number three…..the Principle of Specificity …

Like most coaches, I have developed my own "method" of introducing the event to total beginners that continues, step by step, point by point all the way (same fundamentals) up to world class jumpers.
This "Introduction" matches any/every good coach "technically" and all successful vaulters fundamental progress up to championship level.
This teaching approach has produced immediate, 7 feet or higher for 9th grade beginner girls and 9 feet plus for 9th grade beginner boys.
Each athlete has to commit to 4 to 6 weeks without missing a scheduled "step" in the process. 100's of athletes, men and women, have reached those standards.

Here is an "outline" of how it is done and of course in my opinion, how it should and can be done with all pole vaulters boy, girl, man or women.... ...................................................................................................................................................
"The Direct Approach to Pole Vaulting"....

Leo's 5 training sessions to 9 feet..................
Leo is 15 years old... 5-6/135 .. CC, 2 mile and 800m runner he did play on the 9th grade basketball team.

Day One Monday…. One hour..

1. Introduce the pole carry and the "run with the pole on the track"… 20 yd runs, carry, drop and plant.. show him how to run with the feet "underneath the body… Distance runners will run 'flat" footed "naturally" so you need to show him how it's done correctly… ie.. drills similar to the 20/20 drill that has been discussed here, I think many times.

2. Grass "vault" holding just a little above "arms reach" on the pole.

3. Sand vault… grip about one foot above reach…. from 2 step "spot" by the coach to eventually 6 steps with a "goal" grip of, first day of 9 feet.

4. Go back to the track and finishes with pole runs.. set up 12 steps.. run these steps, trying to get more comfortable carrying the pole and emphasizing "quick" feet, "chop"/piston action or 20/20 drill action over the last six steps.


Day Two Wednesday…

1. Warm-up.. form run (some people call these high knees.. BUTT do not run them with high knees.. that tends to make the runner "sit" and that is incorrect…), skips, butt kicks without the pole and with the pole. 10 cones set equally apart on the track.. one lane 3 feet, lane two 4 feet, lane three 5 feet. Two times each lane.. working on frequency, posture, pole carry, rhythm.
2. 12 step Approach Runs on the track… place cones equal distance apart for the last 6 steps to the takeoff.. with two cones to plant into as the "imaginary" box..
Place 6 cones in the lane next to your "natural" run and shorten each step by 2 inches.. that will make the takeoff one foot closer to the "MID"
3. Sand Pit… working your way back to 6 steps and a nine plus grip… before the 9th grade boy is allowed to go to the pit he must have a grip of 10-6 in the sand pit and land safely. (this is your first MUST as a coach.
4. Go back to the track and repeat the pole runs that are still marked from the warm-up before…
5. Go to the play ground bars and show him how to swing upside down… spot and help push the hips up.

Day Three Saturday….

1. Warm-up.. form run (some people call these high knees.. BUTT do not run them with high knees..(do not "gallop") that tends to make the runner "sit" and that is incorrect…), skips, butt kicks without the pole and all these with the pole. 10 cones set equally apart on the track.. one lane 3 feet, lane two 4 feet, lane three 5 feet. Two times each lane.. working on frequency, posture, pole carry, rhythm. There is a short "run-in" to those 10 equally spaced cones.
2. 12 step Approach Runs on the track… place cones equal distance apart for the last 6 steps to the takeoff.. with two cones to plant into as the "imaginary" box..
Place 6 cones in the lane next to your "natural" run and shorten each step by 2 inches.. that will make the takeoff one foot closer to the "MID"
3. Sand Pit… working your way back to 6 steps and a nine plus grip… before the 9th grade boy is allowed to go to the pit he must have a grip of 10-6 in the sand pit and land safely. (this is your first MUST as a coach.
4. Go back to the track and repeat the pole runs that are still marked from the warm-up before…
5. Go to the play ground bars and show him how to swing upside down… spot and help push the hips up.
6. Brought a rope that we hung over the football goal post and took a pole vault grip… top grip at stretched arm reach and left/bottom hand 18/20 inches lower.. Tried to swing upside down, in one motion… feet around the rope close to where it was tied over the goal post…

Day Four Monday…………..

1. Warm-up.. form run (some people call these high knees.. BUTT do not run the "form run" with high knees..do not "gallop"… that tends to make the runner "sit" and that is incorrect), skips, butt kicks without the pole and all these with the pole.

2. Four times 12 step approach run on the track… the six step "MID" is around 37/38 feet.. and he is "forced" to chop the last six steps….
3. Sand Pit… working your way back to 6 steps and a nine plus grip… before the 9th grade boy is allowed to go to the pit he must have a grip of 10-6 in the sand pit and land safely. (this is your first MUST as a coach. The sand pit session was excellent and short.
4. Rain was c0ming so we went to the "real" pole vault pit. I walked him through some four step plants pushing up on the takeoff toe with the pole extended as high as he could reach… planting into the box…
5. Next I did what I call 20, 30, 40…. This is run, plant and "ride the pole" into the pit from 20 feet from the box, 30 and 40 feet. I use the same process and thinking that we used in the sand pit.
Start the run, Based on the grip from the sand pit (?10-6) we will start low, 9 to 9-6?,………. 20 feet from the box… 20 feet gives him room for 4 quick steps and a takeoff. A 9-6 grip is approximately a seven (7) foot takeoff.. so Leo will take four steps (4 steps not 4 lefts) of three feet.ish.. each.. … Plant and swing into the pit..
Gradually move the grip up if possible, 4" at the time if the pole speed to vertical is good...
Take 2, 3 or 4….
Then move back to 30 feet and keep the same ending grip… he will take 6 steps (NOT 6 lefts) planted and swung into the pit… I started to move his step out a little so he didn't "chop" so much.. one, two, then three feet…. He took a few and I coached run, plant.. swing into the pit.. no inversion.. he landed on his feet, like in the sand pit, no turn… landing on the feet is only "ok" if the pit has no cracks/seems to sprain an ankle… he had worked his grip back to 10-6ish in just a few jumps…
I moved him back to 40 and the first try was to close on the run… I moved him to 43.. he planted and swung but was still a little close… move his step to 44 (this is a 8 step/4 left run)… put a bungee at 7-6ish..standards at 32/80… he ran, planted and swung over the bungee………..we stopped the rain came………

Day Five Wednesday…………..

Same as Monday but went through the first three exercises quickly…

1. Warm-up.. form run (some people call these high knees.. BUTT do not run the "form run" with high knees..do not "gallop"… that tends to make the runner "sit" and that is incorrect), skips, butt kicks without the pole and all these with the pole.
2. Four times 12 step approach run on the track… the six step "MID" is around 37/38 feet.. and he is "forced" to chop the last six steps….
3. Sand Pit… working your way back to 6 steps and a nine plus grip… before the 9th grade boy is allowed to go to the pit he must have a grip of 10-6 in the sand pit and land safely. (this is your first MUST as a coach. The sand pit session was excellent and short.
4. Went to the PV pit… a few walking plants and I moved him to 44 feet (8 step/4 left run)… 2/3 test runs, his first two steps were 6-6ish feet.. his "mid" 36/37……. Bungee up @ 7-6 …he cleared… up 8-6 cleared better run (confidence) but was too close… moved to 45.. cleared..
Decided to move him back two steps.. went to 53 feet/10 steps/5 lefts.... continued to move him back a little and raise the grip a little at the time.… I think his ending run was 54ish… 36/37 mid.. 11-4 grip cleared a bungee at 9-4ish…….

I was not able to go back to practice because of other work…. A week later I had a chance to go to a meet he was competing in… his coach didn't want him to jump but to run the 2 mile and 800…. I was still out of town and he didn't practice PV will I was gone.. almost three weeks after our last practice his coach put him in a 9th grade meet.. I told him to use the numbers and pole we used in the last practice.. we had entered (logged) them into his "smart' phone from that last practice day weeks before..

He jumped 9 feet, tied for first and lost in a jump off…

The beginning girls do the same process… BUTT… their "standard for the sand pit is 9 to
9-6… and when we move from the sand to the PV pit.. it is all done with the sandpit grip and run …………

Success………….

In the early beginner stages "less is more"…. …
1. I do Sand Vaulting… (Becca and others have mentioned this and there is a good video of Isi doing the drill with a 6 step/3 left run in)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=efx7sz39VFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81rASVhF ... re=related

2. turning upside down on a playground high bar… rings or rope

3. AND the one I do first and maybe the most is Approach runs on the track… I do then in "parts" , then as a "whole"…back to parts and then as a whole again..
a. part one "grip and pole carry position"..
b. acceleration phase.. the part of the run from the first step to the six step check point.
c. the "frequency"/equal step phase of the last six steps.
d. the correct plant and "impulse" of the plant at the end of the six step phase.
Everything id progressive and proportionate.. based generally on what you see on the six step "MID" chart….
………………………………………………………………………………………………
After this "entry level" of learning I will add two major things

1. pop-ups (see youtube vid- …………………..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgYQkQNw ... e=youtu.be

I do add a slight "wrap"/turn as the vaulter reaches vertical and "aligns" with the pole…

This Bubka vid looks to be about a 12ft/3.65 grip… 6 steps that start at approx.. 40ft/12.20m…

2. sliding box plants with a run-in.. 2 step, 4 step, 6 step and all they way back to full run…

note: there are 100's of ways to training and work on the RUN-PLANT-SWING that will accomplish exactly what I teach with the "few" drills/exercises… just make sure the drill you use works with the physics of the event.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………
Now principle number one….. !!!???
Getting the pole to vertical IS principle number one

You must learn to POLE vault not pole jump..

Everything (technical-physical) you do from day one in the vault is to get the "pole to vertical" with as high of a grip as possible.. period-exclamation mark!!!!

The sand pit introduction is all about learning how to "ride"/hang on the pole… ride the pole with your main "goal" of getting the pole to vertical.. [b]WITHOUT THE HIPS PASSING THE POLE……[/b]

This is the first "principle" before a straight-high and reached top plant arm, before "free' takeoff(the proper take off is best taught in the sand pit) , before bending the pole (although you are very welcome to start bending the pole during the sand pit drill), before "getting to vertical" and "inverting"..

The vault is Run – Plant - Swing… that is it…

On a full vault the hips will not start to get above the grip on the swing until the jumper is gripping approximately 12 feet and jumping 11-6/12 feet.

A slight "punch" with the ball of the bottom hand at plant can help you plant, takeoff and transfer onto the pole better.. in Olympic level technical terms this is the "action" of moving both hands, top and bottom grip as straight as possible high above the head…

Every beginning vault prospect that should continue to vault should be capable of reaching the sand pit numbers, safely before moving to the real pit… teaching should never start in the real pit. This causes two major issues.. one, most times the vault will "forget" about the poles (mostly girls) and swing by the pole to land softly on the pit. Two, thinking or having a bar/bungee up in the pit totally changes the athletes "thinking" and they will stop hearing what is attempting to be taught.

Sand pit without and with a bungee stretched between two hurdles is the only way to go for best results…use six steps for the sand drill.

[b]Boys sandpit goal… 10-6 to 11-0 feet grip…stay behind the pole and land safely/comfortably… (A jumper gripping 11-0 will run from approx 37 feet from the plant spot in the sand.)

Girls sandpit goal…. 9-6 to 10-0 feet grip… stay behind the pole and land safely/comfortably…(A jumper gripping 9-6 will run from approx 34 feet from the plant spot in the sand.)

The kicker………The "MID" Six Stride Chart that I have tried to pass on IS the DATA.. it is the "progressions" and the “numbers” tool for a coach… IF of course you know why and how to use the information…

*The chart gives the average jump height based on hand grip….
*The average takeoff point based on grip/reach height……..
*The correct run/run distance from the "MID" check point based on speed, hand grip and jump height (Hand grip is determined by speed and plant technique.)

There.... This is my "BOOK" without the details...KISS.. always remember........

RUN-PLANT-SWING

dj

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Tim McMichael
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Re: "Lead up" Drills

Unread postby Tim McMichael » Wed Aug 27, 2014 11:36 am

I love the sand pit drills but don't have access to one at the facility I use. Not many home made set ups have a sand pit. There just isn't room. I have found that you can teach the same things at the box, but you have to make sure the vaulter can get a consistent step and are running properly first. The beauty of the sand pit drill, of course, is that they can execute the plant without worrying about where they are taking off.


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