PoleVaultPower.com

Hi ther!

I'm coaching a few decathletes here in the Netherlands and one of them is showing great potential with the polevault. He is vaulting only 1 hour a week, for half a year now (outdoor facility in freezin'winter....brrrrr).

He is 14 years old, vaulting with a 4.00meter pole, 150 lbs. His weight is 60 kilograms.

In this video he jumps 4 times, with the fourth jump going over 3,10 meters. I think he needs a longer pole, but he needs to improve his technique first!

I hope there are some experienced coaches who can help me.

By the way, as a rookie coach I'm trying to make use of the PETROV model following the guidelines in "Beginner to Bubka". It looks to me I'm the only one in the Netherlands.

I forgot the link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bccK2BJEzDw

His takeoff is really good for a beginner!

I would widen his grip about 4" (10cm).

I would also move him up in pole length. On his first vault especially, he didn't have time to swing properly.

Other than that, work on an active takeoff and swinging above the grip instead of at the bar.

Overall it looks like you're doing a good job of applying the Petrov model!

He is doing a lot of good stuff, but there are a few big things he can fix.

I agree that he needs a bigger pole. Even with everything he is doing wrong, he is still moving it into the pit pretty fast.

The two big things I see is that he needs to keep his trail leg straight through the bottom part of his swing, and he needs to keep his top arm straight when he swings.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:The two big things I see is that he needs to keep his trail leg straight through the bottom part of his swing, and he needs to keep his top arm straight when he swings.

I wonder how many of those errors would be fixed with a higher grip. It looks like he's doing a lot of those things to keep the pole from moving as fast and have a shot at the bar.

achtungpv wrote:I wonder how many of those errors would be fixed with a higher grip. It looks like he's doing a lot of those things to keep the pole from moving as fast and have a shot at the bar.

Could be.

If I make a summary of the reactions.

He needs to improve on:

-keeping a long trail leg during the first half of the upswing. On the video he has his left knie bent to 90 degrees, directly after take-off.

-keeping his top arm straight during the inversion. He pulls to early and the inversion is cancelled by this halfway.

I'm wondering about the grip width. Why does he need to widen his grip?

I also have to use longer poles. At his last jump he used a 4.00meter/ 150 lbs.
At the moment I only have 2 4.30meter poles. One with 140lbs and one with 145lbs. Is this step too large? I have budget for buying some poles...

his grip appears to only be about 30cm wide. that is too narrow to drive both arms upward while leading with the chest and achieving an active takeoff and swing. he can get away with it on small poles but put him on a pole that fits his technique and he'll have problems.

His grip should be hand-to-elbow plus 5cm or so.

Run2Niels wrote:At his last jump he used a 4.00meter/ 150 lbs.
At the moment I only have 2 4.30meter poles. One with 140lbs and one with 145lbs. Is this step too large? I have budget for buying some poles...

Nah, probably not too large of a step. If he improves some of the technique listed above he will have no problem with the bigger poles (but only raise his grip a fist or so to begin with).

Agree with what many has said.
Widen grip somewhat.
Remove his bad habit of pulling. At the moment, does he have plenty of polespeed to get away with it, but doesn't allow a proper swing.
Keep his take-of leg extended.
Find a longer pole for him.
Head back, instead of chin to chest will improve his swing.

However, what I wonder most about: What software did you use to slow down your video? It's very nice since Youtube doesn't allow frame by frame advances. Very smooth...

I had the pleasure of watching a swedish boy vault in Pallas Spelen last weekend. He has the 12 year old WR at 3.75m. Just turned 14 @ jan. 8th. He vaulted 4.10m. He's probably around 1.60m, weighing something like 50 kg. Very impressive.
Search youtube for "Melker Svärd".

I use a camera that can record 240 frames per second.
It cuts back on the resolution and light, but the quality is still good enough, even for indoor-meetings.

When I tell my athletes and fellow coaches about the feedback I get here, they are stunned (as am I!). It's really great to have a second-opinion about what the hell you're doing out on the field!
Here in the Netherlands, there isn't much discussion and reviewing of each others atletes. I really don't know why.
Are there "message boards" like this one for other track and field events? Or is this one unique?

Thank you for the help I'm getting! I will post a new video in a while with improvements to show you I've used the tips.

Run2Niels wrote:Are there "message boards" like this one for other track and field events? Or is this one unique?

www.trackandfieldnews.com has a nice one. I am one of the youngest people that uses it.