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Hello all,

I am currently coaching a vaulter who is having trouble swinging all of the way through and dropping their shoulders.

Here is a link to some photos of her vaults where you can see her hips are getting stuck below her shoulders:
https://plus.google.com/photos/102173975699700762311/albums/5984429745146717025?authkey=CI6x_4SNh8H06QE


She can do a "pop-up" during stiff pole drills and break her elbow in to move past the pole. I have had her doing bubka drills, strengthening her lats, and core. I have also tried raising the bungee higher and higher, trying to force the swing to completion.

Can anyone provide advise on how to get her to finish the swing, letting the bottom arm through and keep moving her hips moving up the pole?

Thanks!

The swing is stopping because she is pulling. She needs to get more comfortable keeping her hands and elbows over her head through the entire vault.

When doing "pop-ups," don't focus to much on breaking the elbow to muscle to inversion, because this teaches the vaulter the wrong technique - specifically, that they should pull with the bottom arm to get inverted. Instead, focus on swinging to the back of the pit with a long body, raising the grip whenever possible. She may not be able to get quite as inverted when doing the drill this way, but it's a lot closer technically to the actual vault. When she gets comfortable doing this, add a bungee and do straight pole vaults over the bungee with the standards back at 40 - 50 inches.

Her issue is also exacerbated by her throwing her her back. Teach her to keep her head in line with the body.

The only drill I use with my vaulters is --rope drills with ankle weights-we stand with drive knee parallel and pull our HIPS to our top hand --DO NOT drop your head back-You do not swing to inversion-you swing to the L position and pull your HIPS to your top hand-- Her plant a initial swing is fine EXCEPT the head back! Who am I? 53 HS State champions in the last 5 years in Georgia --Alabama-West Virginia-Florida-CURRENT #1 9th grader in the Nation and American Record holder 12'8"(coached her dad to a full scholarship at Un Florida 35 years ago!!! Good luck!!!!

And no pushing!

Spotting YES. Pushing NO!

Besides the safety issue (at higher heights), I don't think the vaulter gets the right feedback on her swing when you push her. She needs to discover this on her own, by trial and error. TALK her thru it - don't PUSH her thru it.

Kirk

Thanks, we will continue to do rope drills and focus on NOT dropping the head back. I had noticed she is throwing her head back and know that is not correct!

charlie wrote:The only drill I use with my vaulters is --rope drills with ankle weights-we stand with drive knee parallel and pull our HIPS to our top hand --DO NOT drop your head back-You do not swing to inversion-you swing to the L position and pull your HIPS to your top hand-- Her plant a initial swing is fine EXCEPT the head back! Who am I? 53 HS State champions in the last 5 years in Georgia --Alabama-West Virginia-Florida-CURRENT #1 9th grader in the Nation and American Record holder 12'8"(coached her dad to a full scholarship at Un Florida 35 years ago!!! Good luck!!!!

Thank you for your quick reply! We worked on pop-ups from a three step yesterday focusing on swinging to the back of the put with a long body. I will post some pictures later this evening. We will continue this and add the bungee over the next few practices. Also trying to address the issues with here throwing her head back.

CoachEric wrote:The swing is stopping because she is pulling. She needs to get more comfortable keeping her hands and elbows over her head through the entire vault.

When doing "pop-ups," don't focus to much on breaking the elbow to muscle to inversion, because this teaches the vaulter the wrong technique - specifically, that they should pull with the bottom arm to get inverted. Instead, focus on swinging to the back of the pit with a long body, raising the grip whenever possible. She may not be able to get quite as inverted when doing the drill this way, but it's a lot closer technically to the actual vault. When she gets comfortable doing this, add a bungee and do straight pole vaults over the bungee with the standards back at 40 - 50 inches.

Her issue is also exacerbated by her throwing her her back. Teach her to keep her head in line with the body.

Thanks Kirk, I will let her discover the swing and invert on her own!

KirkB wrote:And no pushing!

Spotting YES. Pushing NO!

Besides the safety issue (at higher heights), I don't think the vaulter gets the right feedback on her swing when you push her. She needs to discover this on her own, by trial and error. TALK her thru it - don't PUSH her thru it.

Kirk

Beyond the pulling of her bottom hand, I suspect that she is under at take off. In the one picture that show her leaving the ground, she is at least a foot under. It would be helpful to see a full vault that includes her run.

Thanks for all for the great advice! I have been working with her on short approaches and focusing on swinging with a long body and keeping her head inline with the rest of her body. We have been raising the grip and it is going very well. See the link below for updated photos.

https://plus.google.com/photos/105513247101166895566/albums/5987262237469669681

Any advice on where to go from here. Now that she is able to this "stiff poling"?

Thanks for all for the great advice! I have been working with her on short approaches and focusing on swinging with a long body and keeping her head inline with the rest of her body. We have been raising the grip and it is going very well. See the link below for updated photos.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10551324 ... 7469669681

Any advice on where to go from here. Now that she is able to this "stiff poling"?

marbaugh wrote:Thanks Kirk, I will let her discover the swing and invert on her own!

KirkB wrote:And no pushing!

Spotting YES. Pushing NO!

Besides the safety issue (at higher heights), I don't think the vaulter gets the right feedback on her swing when you push her. She needs to discover this on her own, by trial and error. TALK her thru it - don't PUSH her thru it.

Kirk

Thanks for all for the great advice! I have been working with her on short approaches and focusing on swinging with a long body and keeping her head inline with the rest of her body. We have been raising the grip and it is going very well. See the link below for updated photos.

https://plus.google.com/photos/10551324 ... 7469669681

Any advice on where to go from here. Now that she is able to this "stiff poling"?

marbaugh wrote:Thank you for your quick reply! We worked on pop-ups from a three step yesterday focusing on swinging to the back of the put with a long body. I will post some pictures later this evening. We will continue this and add the bungee over the next few practices. Also trying to address the issues with here throwing her head back.

CoachEric wrote:The swing is stopping because she is pulling. She needs to get more comfortable keeping her hands and elbows over her head through the entire vault.

When doing "pop-ups," don't focus to much on breaking the elbow to muscle to inversion, because this teaches the vaulter the wrong technique - specifically, that they should pull with the bottom arm to get inverted. Instead, focus on swinging to the back of the pit with a long body, raising the grip whenever possible. She may not be able to get quite as inverted when doing the drill this way, but it's a lot closer technically to the actual vault. When she gets comfortable doing this, add a bungee and do straight pole vaults over the bungee with the standards back at 40 - 50 inches.

Her issue is also exacerbated by her throwing her her back. Teach her to keep her head in line with the body.

Do you have any video of her that includes the approach run and plant? The still images of her swing look reasonably good, but that's the unimportant part of any feedback we could provide.

Given the first image in the series, where her left arm is already collapsed inside of the pole with her left hand directly in front of her face, I can guess that she is not creating very much space with her arms at the plant. Both arms should be as extended as possible at the instant before the pole tip hits the box, and then as the vaulter leaves the ground, the arms go elastic and allow the hands to travel back over the head. The left hand should be directly over the head as the swing is initiated.

A video on YouTube or Vimeo will make it easier to provide good feedback.