Please Crateque.. all help appreciated!

[CavVaulter99]

This is really my second season knowing how to pole vault

I am 5'6 137lb
PR is 13'
In the videos I am using a 12'6 150lb pole holding about 12'3
In the Video the lowest bungey (bottom peg on white part of standard...kinda hard to see) is at 14 feet... i was clearing 13 with this pole.

Thanks for all of your help!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=c2D-7l55x0c

[souleman]

Taller knees, better posture, taller plant to name a few. Many will not agree with me but my thoughts are to get rid of the bungee. They build false confidence. If you're going to jump at a height, put a bar up. That's the only way to know if you're getting up there. Unless they start using bungees at meets, then practice with what you use and do at the meets. For a second season of jumping you're doing great. Don't stop studying this event and figure out how to apply what you are getting out of these threads to your own performance. Good Job...........Later........Mike

[vault3rb0y]

I dont know if we were watching the same video Mike, just because i dont see a bungee up there! . If you are going to use a bungee make sure it isn't the focus of each practice jump, however. Finish your jumps without worrying whether you will jump it or not, it is more of a safety issue for having a reference point in the vault. Especially when you are only in your second season, its not a bad idea to have a visual mark of whether you are making pit or not when you are inverted. Or jack the bungee way up and try to pull hard enough to get your feet/knees/hips over it. Other than that, Mike can pick up the critique better than I can.

I can tell you another thing you will find concensus on with this site is on getting a tap. THAT builds a false sense of confidence WAY more than a bungee. You end up thinking you are able to jump on poles you cant, you end up relying on the tap and dont finish a strong take off, and it is flat out DANGEROUS. I hate saying it, but if you coach insists on giving you a tap, you might try to find another club to jump with, because 99.9% of the circumstances, a tap is uncalled for and will build pretty bad habits.

[souleman]

You're right! There was no bungee,( I thought looking at it a second time....but alas.....see posts below) I had a line go across on my monitor right where a bungee would have been. It even wavered when he went up and over. Once again, back to the jump. You have such a good start with jumping. Hit the search button on the forum and read up on the run (posture and high driving knees), the plant (tall plant) and swing. There is a plethora of info on these areas right here on pole vault power. As I said, study this deal. We can tell you many things (give you fish) which provides a temporary fix but you'll be better off researching and learning for yourself (learning how to fish) which will help you move forward and provide a permanent fixes. Keep at it and good luck. Later............Mike

P.S. I agree NO TAP!

[CavVaulter99]

There accualy is a bungey there set at 14' and 16'. I always set one at the height I want to clear and one at a height to try and get my feet over. Ive been really trying to work on my run right now... it got really screwed up after running cross country in the fall and loesing my confidence in that i could run fast enough for bigger poles.

[souleman]

Incline pole runs. Another words, find a nice little uphill grade and with good posture, pole carry, running tall, do pole runs up that bugger. That will help get your knees up and help get some of your speed back. Do some of the 20 X 20's up that grade also (with a pole). What that is, is 20 steps in 20 meters (that's 20 steps, not lefts) . Measure it out (the 20 meters) and work on it till you can hit those marks right on the button full speed. After you get back on flat ground you will have to do them all over again until you hit those 20 in 20 dead on every time full speed. Please pay very close attention to the details of your pole carry and body positioning both on the hill and the flat courses. Use that video camera to check this. As you can tell these aren't marathon runs. They are quick sprints so a 50 yard upgrade is more than plenty. Also, this is something you can do at home in the evenings if you have a street or hill by your house. No pole you say? An inch and a quarter 10 foot or 12 foot piece of PVC plumbing pipe (probably no more than $10 at your local Lowes or Home Depot) will work perfectly for this exercise. Let me know how it works out. As to bars, use two bars for the mental game you're playing at practice. I don't have any problem with the theory behind what you're doing but it's still my contention that a bungee let's you be lazy at the top. If a bar comes down, you know you did something wrong, a bungee will bounce but it won't come down. Keep at it. Later.............Mike

[dj]

hey

looks good..

longer run... more speed and turn over during the last four steps and..... swing fast...

looks good

dj

[powerplant42]

Two bars? Ouch... that'll REALLY let you know if you messed up... Anyway, you do definitely need to open up your stride a little bit and get your plant up. Do ostrich steps while practicing your plant. Ostrich stepping is one of those sprint mechanics drills that exaggerates a concept. In this case, it's the 'clawing action' and openness of the stride. They're kind of like B skips if you know what those are (without the skip). Kick out each leg much further than normal, then claw hard at the ground when your foot comes down. Cycle through while kicking out with the other leg. Now just do some planting while doing this near full speed. It's a pretty ridiculous looking drill, but it's worth the strange looks.

[dj]

good morning

sorry powerplant42 but this is going to teach the athlete the wrong way to run...

to work on the run use ladyvolspvcoach's ladder approach training procedure.. it's posted on pvp

dj

[powerplant42]

So what sprint mechanics drill IS good to do? If you do them correctly and know what aspect of the run is being emphasized, then it's normally safe. I learned the ostrich step at SRU last summer actually. I had my friend do similar drills and in an hour his 40 time was down half a second. I don't see where that argument is coming from, but if you've seen a new biomechanics article or something like that, I'd love to read it. But I agree that some drills might be detrimental.

[vault3rb0y]

Doing that drill in the actual vault is going to make your COG lower and take away some of your natural spring in your step. Not to mention it is not your normal stride length, and doing it in the vault will mix up your muscle memory to the point that you will go back and forth 4-5 inches in stride length depending on what run you use.

I think maybe you did that drill to simulate sprint work, or did it early in the season for vault work. If you change your stride length, it is a big deal and unless you are going substantially faster i would say dont try to overstride yourself.

good sprint mechanics drills:

Form walk
Form run
A skips
B skips
A runs
B runs
High Knees
fast legs

Focus on being tall and quick with each step, and those last 3 steps as quick as you can possibly be.

During the B runs and skips, you should focus on getting your knee high and sweeping your leg under your body normally. I dont think it is meant to FORCE a longer stride length. Correct me if im wrong, but if you start conciously THINKING about opening up your stride, you run into trouble. But if you just run with good posture, eventually your stride will open itself up naturally up to a point. Then it comes down to quickness and power at take off.

[newPVer]

You might want to consider widening your grip slightly