Vaulting from 4 lefts

[kcvault]

ou're probably not going to like this, but I think that your most glaring problem is in your flyaway.

This is actually the first thing I notice when I look at my jumps, but I belive the reason I get stuck on top is I do not have a free take off, i'm blocking, and my grip is to wide. As a result of this even though I am still able to use my strenth to get upside down the fact that I am not accelarating the pole through out my jump makes it to where I am stuck in a pike position at the top. When I was at cuesta we worked alot on rolling around the bar better but I seem to have lost what progress I made then.

I don't know where you picked up the extreme pike, but i suspect that ring vaulting at Jan Johnson's might have had something to do with it.

I learned somthing very important on the ring vault and rope vault at jans, which is the higher you swing the chain or the rope the higher your jump and the beter you come off the top. My fly away was always better on theese contraptions because in order to be good at them I had to have a very long swing that was timed exactly like the tap swing in giants or in the pole vault. Hopfully I will be able to evetually carry this over into my vault.

All day today I worked on getting my step out and having an elastic stretch after take off, I was able to do this okay sometimes, as a result of trying to do this I am starting to come off the pole a bit better. (I will post video later tonight) The timing was different however and I was not able to swing a straight trail leg to the top, I think when I am able to time an out step, elastic stretch and still swing a trail leg all the way to the top it will get rid of my problems at the top. Still I think even with out as long a trail leg today I was able to swing much faster from a better starting position which already resulted in much more height with the same grip.

Really appreciate the advice and really hoping to make it up there some time.

---Kasey

[KirkB]

... I belive the reason I get stuck on top is I do not have a free take off, i'm blocking, and my grip is to wide. As a result of this even though I am still able to use my strenth to get upside down the fact that I am not accelarating the pole through out my jump makes it to where I am stuck in a pike position at the top. ...

I learned somthing very important on the ring vault and rope vault at jans, which is the higher you swing the chain or the rope the higher your jump and the beter you come off the top. My fly away was always better on theese contraptions because in order to be good at them I had to have a very long swing that was timed exactly like the tap swing in giants or in the pole vault. Hopfully I will be able to evetually carry this over into my vault.

All day today I worked on getting my step out and having an elastic stretch after take off, I was able to do this okay sometimes, as a result of trying to do this I am starting to come off the pole a bit better. ... I think when I am able to time an out step, elastic stretch and still swing a trail leg all the way to the top it will get rid of my problems at the top. Still I think even with out as long a trail leg today I was able to swing much faster from a better starting position which already resulted in much more height with the same grip.

KC, you're exactly right on your self-analysis here.

Just to reinforce this, here's Wally's similar experience, from this thread ...
http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=18482&start=60

I've always enjoyed rope vaulting and thought that it was useful in learning to use a long trail-leg swing to get inverted. I remember the first time I tried it I was awful, and kept trying to pick me feet up to my hands as I was swinging... did not work at all. After watching my coach do it for a while I realized that if I started with my trail leg forward, then extended it back after I jumped off, i could accelerate it forward much faster than the rope was swinging, and get inverted. (I later learned utilizing about the stretch-reflex afterwards). It didn't immediately help my vaulting, but I think later down the road when a few other things clicked for me I saw benefits from it, but there's no way to prove that its because of rope vaulting.

In that same thread, I mentioned how Bubka was able to get a good pushoff because he whipped his trail leg DOWN ... either subconciously or purposely. At the risk of sounding like a broken record ... IT'S ALL IN THE DOWNSWING!

Take care of the bottom half of your vault ... and the top half will take care of itself.

Kirk

[kcvault]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UJMM9ciswo

Attempted a free take off today I made progress but still have a long way to go. Also tried to get the elastic stretch feeling, felt it on a couple can definitely see how it will benefit my swing when I can do it every time. Today from 4 lefts my take off ranged from 11'9-12-9. much better then the other day when it ranged from 10'9-11'9. I had one take off today from 13 but could not turn it up. (need to learn to time these jumps with a long trail leg completly different feel then when I am a foot further under)

The video:

1 left: first 4 jumps on a 14 ft 170 time=0:00-0:17

2 lefts: next 5 jumps on a 14ft 170 conclusion pole was to big from this run. time=0:18-0:40

3 lefts: next 10 jumps on a 14 170 and 14-6 175 for drills. Over bungee I used a 15 ft 170 holding 13-6 bungee at 15 ft. time=0:40-1:29

4 lefts: last 13 jumps on a 15 ft 16.0 holding 13-10 and a 15 ft 15.2 holding 14 ft time=1:29 to the end

It's a lot of jumps so if you don't want to watch the whole thing my better ones start at 1:40

[AVC Coach]

Wow KC! Already seeing a huge improvement. You look like you have the tools to assemble a really good vault and the important thing is that you're following an instruction manual.

Be patient. There's a difference between having a free take-off and just basically being out on your step. The more reps you can get doing it correctly, the more consistent you will eventually be. Your brain still has to learn the timing of putting it all together.

I'm impressed with what you've done so far! Keep us posted on your progress.

[vault3rb0y]

I think that one of the essential factors of a free take off is something you might be leaving out due to fear of injury, and thats the acceleration your last 6 steps- especially your last 3 steps during the plant sequence.

Your mechanics are excellent. Aside from a bottom hand maybe being a little too low before your plant and your hands being slightly slow during your hand sequence, your timing looks near perfect. In order to feel a "free" take off, though, you must feel the acceleration of a free pole drop and proper plant. If all goes well, your steps won't be able to help but increase in frequency, and i think this is essential for a true free take off.

The acceleration that should come during your last 6 steps should come from an increase in frequency, not length, of each step. Up until 6 steps out, you should be increasing your velocity by the length of your stride, and once you hit your 6 step mark and begin lowering the pole, the acceleration should come from stride frequency, not length. If you do this, I would think there would be less chance of injury as opposed to taking the same length step each time.

Something that has really helped me increase my acceleration in the final 6 steps recently (and effectively gotten my step closer to free) is not to focus on changing my leg speed, but my hand speed. as you start your pole drop, think about bringing your hands up quicker. Your feet will follow your hands, and if you simply do pole runs thinking about bringing your plant up quicker and sooner, your step frequency will increase to catch up with your hands. This acceleration puts your step maybe 4 inches back from vertical, and allows a more explosive take off with your hands moving more powerfully overhead, all essential for a free take off. You buyin' what I'm sellin'?

Trying your 6-step pop up but think about moving your hands BEFORE or AHEAD or your feet. I think you'll be happy with the results.

Jason

[kcvault]

I am definitely buying everything you are saying. I have always carried the pole at 45 degrees all the way down the runway. This summer at clovis Brooks Morris and Brian Yokoyama both came up to me separately and told me my biggest problems were my pole carry and my to wide of grip. They told me I was way under jumping my potential and since I was able to hit a 41 mid I should be able to jump much higher. One week later when talking to sean Brown through email about speed work he told me that if he remembers correctly that my biggest problems were my flat pole carry and my wide grip. So I decided to call Brooks and ask how to change this. He explained to me how the pole drop can actually help accelerate me and force me to get my feet down faster. We also set goals that if this was done properly that my mid should always be with in three inches of each other from jump to jump since It would no longer be an all or nothing jump. When viewing the video he also mentioned my left are coming down to low. Anyway I like that what I am trying to change seems to get constantly reinforced by other people everywhere since pole drop I always thought was just to make the pole lighter for comfort but that it had little to do with performance. Anyway this is my very long way of saying I agree with you and please continue to comment and tell me things I can do to get better at it.

---Kasey

[rainbowgirl28]

You've got a lot of excellent coaches giving you advice My only advice would be don't try to change too many things at once. You can only focus on 1-2 things per vault.

[KirkB]

... since pole drop I always thought was just to make the pole lighter for comfort but that it had little to do with performance. ...

KC, I think you're on to something here, but be careful not to take it too far. I once thought that I could accelerate my last few steps by letting the pole drop ... and then "catching the ride" (if you know what I mean). But I found out thru experimentation that this doesn't work. The BEST that you can do (IMHO, as always), is to make the pole drop weightlessly ... which effectively separates you from the pole ... so that you can claw the last few steps, unencumbered by the weight of the pole. By "clawing", I'm referring to shortening your strides and increasing your tempo. It's much harder to do this if you're distracted by the weight of the pole.

I hope you're only taking this to the point of freeing your body from the weight of the pole ... and not trying to use the actual weight of the pole to accelerate your last few steps.

Kirk

[kcvault]

I hope you're only taking this to the point of freeing your body from the weight of the pole ... and not trying to use the actual weight of the pole to accelerate your last few steps.

Im not using it as a means of accerating my run but am aware thet if done properly it will force me to get my feet down and make me accelerate, without overstriding and putting exsess amounts of pressure on my hamstring.

My only advice would be don't try to change too many things at once. You can only focus on 1-2 things per vault.

Thanks! I do tend to have a problem with over anyilizing and focusing on to much. But currently my two main focuses are my pole drop and trying to develop a free take off. I like to be aware of all the other problems as well but hope that alot of these problems will fix themself when I can do these to things correctly.

---Kasey

[vault3rb0y]

Lol you and me both brotha!

Over-analyzation sucks. Another plug ill throw in there is something my sports psychologist threw in a lecture the other day.

Avoid the "musterbation". The constant "i must fix this, must fix that". Like Becca said, focus on one thing at a time and give the whole practice (or sometimes weeks or months) to LET it happen, don't make it happen. A little off topic, maybe, but i thought i'd throw that out there .

[kcvault]

My hamstring finally felt good enough to jump again today. I stayed in flats and just focused on trying to jump over the pole at take off. This and trying not to throw my head made a bigger difference in my vault then anything else I have worked on this year. That being said I threw my head one time today and pulled some of the muscle's in my neck. Now I will not be able to vault for another 2-4 weeks but on the upside this is one technical flaw I don't think I will be making again.

---Kasey

[KirkB]

I hope you're only taking this to the point of freeing your body from the weight of the pole ... and not trying to use the actual weight of the pole to accelerate your last few steps.

I'm not using it as a means of accerating my run but am aware that if done properly it will force me to get my feet down and make me accelerate, without overstriding and putting excess amounts of pressure on my hamstring.

My only advice would be don't try to change too many things at once. You can only focus on 1-2 things per vault.

I do tend to have a problem with over analyzing ...

KC, I've been accused by RG a few times of over-analyzing too ... I don't think it's so bad to analyze a problem in minute detail ... to get down to the decision(s) that you need to make ... and then move on to the next thing to work on. However, that's just me ... it worked for me in my career, ... and I'm a professional computer systems analyst (among other things), so I do analyze things in quite a bit of detail ... and I make no apologies for doing so.

However, my point in suggesting that you DON'T try to "use the actual weight of the pole to accelerate your last few steps" was not about "over-analyzing" ... but rather, it was intended for you to differentiate between (a) a "weightless" pole drop, and (b) a pole drop where you "caught" the weight of the pole as it was dropping and used that "catching of the weight of the pole" to propel yourself forwards. (a) is good but (b) is bad ... I just wanted you to be aware of that.

If anyone wants to understand ... in more detail ... WHY (b) doesn't work ... efficiently ... go ahead and ask me. In the meantime, I'll keep this post short, lest RG accuse me of once again "over-analyzing"!

Kirk