who wants to help a poor boy...

[colby41]

OK, well i thought i try this and see what i can learn...

This is last year at states.

i'm 5'11" , and weigh 145 lbs.

every vault is using a 14'6" Pacer 165lb. pole.

first vault is a 14'3"
second vault is a 14'9" miss
third vault is 14'9" miss.


http://www.treemo.com/users/colby41/channel/item/223488/

Come one, Come all. pass on your wisdom...

-thanks

[SlickVT]

As we all know, the pole vault is a sport where there is always something to improve upon.
There are a number of things that we could get into a long winded discussion (argument) about to fix things with your vault, but overall, the approach and takeoff look good.

You have a controlled run, nice decently tall takeoff, and you start to swing well. The glaring thing that I see about your vault is that you are a gazer. You insist on staring at the crossbar the entire jump. The start of your swing is good- fast and powerful, but you never get inverted and tight to the pole because you are fixated on the bar. If you want to get all the energy out of the pole that you are putting in, you need to get tight. Get this by knowing that your good approach and takeoff will allow you to penetrate, and you have to keep moving the pole and allowing your hips to rise above your shoulders. This may mean you lose sight of the bar for an instant. In fact, most elite vaulters don't see the bar until they are flying away.

As in everything else, this will be easier if you fix an earlier aspect of your vault, such as an even better position at takeoff, which will improve your swing.

Finally, note I did not say throw your head back. That is bad. Very bad and dangerous. Simply allow your body to go where it wants to go as if you were doing drills on a high bar.

[colby41]

haha. yea, u caught me...i do stare at the bar..

thanks for your advice.. yea, i've heard that an improved take off will help me to get in a better stretched position to have a more efficient swing. to me, it also looks like i dont work my arms when i'm swinging..do you see that too? like i only swing at the hips and hang from the arms...

well thanks again, i really appreciate your time.

-colby

[BethelPV]

In reality you want to swing the hips and hang from your hands... if you watch Bubka, his hands do not close off to his body until the very last moment. His hips are what never stop moving which is why he jumped so well...

Completely the opposite, your hips stop moving about half way through your vault, and this is what causes you to stare at the bar and never allows you to drive your shoulders down. Your takeoff looks good, but to me it seems like your trying to do too much, which is causing you to swing your foot, not your hips, and your hips are what you need to get to the highest point! Just food for thought, work on trying to swing your hips and body in a straight line, so that you can get them as high as possible!

Zachmo

[souleman]

Watch your run. You start off with nice tall knees and as you get closer and start to drop the pole your knees start to and progressively drop, and your run flattens out and in turn you lose tallness in plant and spring in your take off. I'm a crossbar looker too. What I did was get a couple of these yellow balls with a happy face on them from a Linex supplier up here. I bored them out so they'd fit over the top of the pole. Once I take off my focus (besides hanging on for dear live 'cause I'm a 55 year old "ol' fart") is to visually pick out the happy face on the ball. I know it's kinda stupid, but it does keep me from lookin' at the crossbar until the very end. Don't know if that would work for you but sometimes we (as pole vaulters) have to trick ourselves. It's been said we are more neurotic than kickers in football. Who knows? Later...........Mike

[altius]

You have already had some very good advice/comments but I would add - taking off under and dropping the right leg clearly never help but thwo things will make a big difference -. Concentrate on driving your shoulder towards the pad as you invert AND learn how to CONNECT your swinging legs to the pelvis so that it rolls above your head. The first can be improved thru long swings onto the pad and the second by practicing swing and connect on the high bar.

[colby41]

Mike- yea, i used to stride out the last few steps, either cause i felt like i was so far from the pit and thought i was out (no trust), or cause i was tired and couldn't hold my run (i sadly wasn't in the best shape). i also now realize that my run would be Heel-Toe at some times.yikes... I guess i had an epiphany over the summer and have a totally different run now. i used to think that you had to push off the ground, but now i claw a lot more, which makes me faster, more poppy, and tall. i'm pretty excited to test it out with a pole on the runway.

I also found that when i try too hard with the "trick step", i stride out because i can't bring my feet down fast enough... I start to glide, and thus, can't jump. that's what made me under all the time.. those last couple of steps. I also think that Tennis ball idea could really work for me!!! I've never seemed to know where to look, and the bar always seemed logical, but yea, coaches have always told me to not look at the bar. i guess it was also assurance that i was getting in alright. I'll be sure to try this tennis ball thing out!!! thanks!

Alan- yea, joel always said that because i took off under, i was never in a good position to swing. i also never got the swing down as i always thought in my mind to swing hard with my left leg. unfortunately, that left my right leg behind, and so my hips went no where. becca also told me to get on some gymnastics bars to get that whip-swing down. i guess i gotta find a good pair of high bars...

i also started thinking about my arms at take off. I innately counter react to the pole hitting the box, and so, my chest can't drive through as my arms are back where they started. i was thinking that my inflexibility might be the problem, but it could also be because i tense up at the shoulders when i jump. any thoughts?

thanks a lot Gentlemen...I appreciate it!

-colby

[colby41]

does anyone think that my "skip" at the beginning of my run is bad??? it helps me to get momentum, but ive been told that it makes it inconsistent (which i see). i've been also told that the start that people like isinbayeva has, would be better, but as i get tired, i imagine that a start like that could also be inconsistent. any thoughts?