The One-Arm Drill

[rainbowgirl28]

The bottom arm allows you to balance behind the pole... Staying behind the pole is necessary to swing correctly!

You can stay behind the pole without your bottom arm! In fact, I would bet that if you can't stay behind the pole without your bottom arm, then you are doing it wrong.

[powerplant42]

Your take-off would be misaligned. Sure, the drill might be useful as a test, but if that happens consistently, 0 step Jagodins, taking off on the track without a pole, and slowly mimicking the take-off on the track with a pole are the best remedies!

[rainbowgirl28]

Your take-off would be misaligned.

Not if you do it right. You've just never seen anyone use the drill properly before.

[powerplant42]

No, what I'm saying is that if you are having trouble staying behind the pole with one arm, your take-off must be misaligned.

And I have done the drill correctly before (never tried actually vaulting with one arm, but I've done a lot of the one armed Jagodins)! I never understood why I shouldn't put my bottom hand on the pole like an ACTUAL vault... So I stopped doing the drill.

[Thats.What.She.Said]

No, what I'm saying is that if you are having trouble staying behind the pole with one arm, your take-off must be misaligned.

And I have done the drill correctly before (never tried actually vaulting with one arm, but I've done a lot of the one armed Jagodins)! I never understood why I shouldn't put my bottom hand on the pole like an ACTUAL vault... So I stopped doing the drill.

i gotta do it to work up to the second arm, if i cant get one arm up, then adding the second arm is only going to make things worse. dissagree all you want, but this was proven last night. but as my coach said, trains dont like to pole vault, in other words i wasnt actually getting my left arm up, i just had it bent like i was going "choo choo" and with the one handers before i was getting it down (well up i guess) i wasnt going to pull my shoulder out as much. ehh did that make any sense at all?

[powerplant42]

Not much... But I think I got that you were pulling with your bottom arm, which is something you won't fix without the bottom hand being on the pole!

[rainbowgirl28]

Not much... But I think I got that you were pulling with your bottom arm, which is something you won't fix without the bottom hand being on the pole!

I'm thinking she's a left-hander

[powerplant42]

Oh snap... That changes things...

But the key is not only to get the pole up with the top hand, it is to get it moving with the bottom! Did you watch the Petrov presentation on free take-off!?

I honestly can not see how using one hand is simpler than two.

And you'll save your shoulder some unnecessary stress.

More comments from me later...

[rainbowgirl28]

I honestly can not see how using one hand is simpler than two.

And you'll save your shoulder some unnecessary stress.
.

Because sometimes it's good to work on certain parts of the vault... let's say a vaulter is consistently making an error with their pole drop, and it's messing up everything that happens after that. So we send them to do 10,000 pole runs until they fix it.

Most kids will go do the high jump or hurdles instead.

But let's say we send them to the track to fix their pole drop... but we also mix it with some one-handers to work on some other elements of the takeoff that they need to work on. Now, instead of getting burned out and bored because they never get to vault, they are able to work on more than one thing in a practice, without being overloaded from trying to fix too many things at once, and bored to tears because they don't want to spend their entire freshman year doing pole runs.

As far as shoulder stress goes, one handers aren't any more stress than two handers if you do them right.

PP, you need to recognize that there are a lot of different ways to teach the same fundamental principals. Coaches can have different styles and still be good coaches.

I am also convinced that Rice University is the only college you should consider. If you want to train with the US coach that knows Petrov better than anyone else here, Dave Butler is your man.

[powerplant42]

Yeah I'm really considering putting it on my list.

I recognize the fact that there are different styles of coaching the same athlete and accompanying situation... You make a really valid point about the loss of interest, and I think that if that will keep them going, then maybe I'd begin considering it... But to keep discussion going...

Why not have them carry the pole over the shoulder for a while (on short runs at least)? On longer runs, they can PUSH the pole, no? ...This can all go on as they learn how to control the pole drop/carry.

[rainbowgirl28]

Why not have them carry the pole over the shoulder for a while (on short runs at least)? On longer runs, they can PUSH the pole, no? ...This can all go on as they learn how to control the pole drop/carry.

Those are both valid alternatives.

I certainly think it's possible to correctly coach vaulters without ever doing a one-hander, I don't think it's a must-have in a coaches toolbox of drills.

My point is that it's not a must-not-have either. When used properly they can be a good learning tool. Pat Licari is a big fan of them, and I know a lot of other top US coaches are as well. Other coaches never use them. There is more than one way to skin a cat...

[golfdane]

It's possible, that the drill can be used in a warm up routine for an experienced vaulter, but I fail to see the value as a teaching drill.
Just because you are one-arming, doesn't mean you aren't pulling with the top hand (even though top arm is straight, doesn't mean that you aren't TRYING to pull yourself up. You're just not able to). Guess what the top arm will do when it's able to pull you up again?
And if you are trying to learn the bottom hand what to do, and what not to do, removing it all together, doesn't really accomplish much.

Both hands are important in the vault, and for avoiding boredom, there are plenty of drills that are fun to do, and planting drills can be varied a lot, and combined with ropes, low hurdles, running drills.

IOW, if you are able to do it safely, do I think there are drills that are more beneficial as teaching drills. If you aren't able to do them safely, they probably shouldn't be attempted at all.
Of course, you could do them as a marker for doing something right, but it does not guarantee proper execution, once both hands are in play.