Spotted Swing Drill

[KirkB]

Wait, what? They never get upside down on this drill as far as I noticed. I just saw them sticking their feet on the wall. I don't see how it would help them overcome their fear of getting upside down.

... So if a vaulter is afraid of inverting, or if he doesn't know what positions his body parts should be in when he's in a certain phase or point of his vault ... then this drill can increase his body awareness ... familiarize the vaulter with those static positions ... and decrease his anxiety when he's hanging halfway upside down on the pole.

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

Sorry KB, I don't even think they get halfway upside down. The legs move but the hips barely do and the shoulders do not go back at all, so it's not going to feel at all upside down to a kid who is scared of it.

[KirkB]

Sorry KB, I don't even think they get halfway upside down. The legs move but the hips barely do and the shoulders do not go back at all, so it's not going to feel at all upside down to a kid who is scared of it.

I give up. [sigh]

This drill just isn't important enough for me to quibble with you about it.

Kirk

[KYLE ELLIS]

You guys are killing me. Here I put the entire clip of this drill up on youtube, this is from my secret vault of videos.

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

This drill does have a purpose, please understand that your idea of the swing may not match Petrov's, so don't damn the drill because you have different opnions.

INVERSION INPUT (TIMING)
The vaulter should begin the rockback (inversion) immediately after completion of the jump and post-jump leg extension. The quality of post-jump leg extension should only depend on quality and completion of the jump. In other words, the vaulter, in an ideal performance of the event, should not delay the rock-back by these actions.

Means by which vaulters delay rock-back is via the action of the left arm, blocking against the pole in the takeoff phase and by further chest penetration. These actions divert the body from its natural swing and redistribute the natural swing energy from the mass lifting action into the pole bend.

The blocking left arm or the chest penetration are not contributing any additional energy to the vaulter-pole system. These actions only redistribute energy that is created in the run-up The vaulter should keep his body as straight as possible during inversion (rock-back) phase. This will keep the center of mass lower for a longer time, which will contribute to the pole penetration.

This is from Agapits continous chain paper, note what I highlighted. This drill helps developing swinging with a straight body, and not keeping the posture upright and breaking at the hips (which serves no purpose). This is why I am against swinging the trail leg.

[powerplant42]

No need to get frustrated Kyle... There's just a bit of confusion that I think can easily be cleared up. We're sort of equivocating (as is so common in the world of pole vault!) about "swing".

You should swing the trail-leg, but you should not swing the trail-leg. Doesn't resolve itself, and we're all talking about the same technical model.

The trail-leg should INITIATE the swing, but not be the only thing to swing... That is, the whole body should be acting as a pendulum around the top hand with most of the initial momentum (the momentum in addition to the "natural swing") coming from the whipping of the trail-leg as it comes out of the pre-stretch. This should be done as quickly as possible without sacrificing "too much" (a debatable topic to be sure) of the follow-through/finishing of the take-off.

This drill appears to force the athlete to swing with the body, because the hips must be UP when the feet get to the wall or else the athlete will be in a very awkward and very dangerous V on the wall.

You will notice how similar this drill is to the one Bubka does here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmsgDEY6 ... re=channel