Excellent Athlete Improving with Petrov Model

[Tim McMichael]

Here is Tracy (the girl from my previous post "Excellent Athlete Beginning Petrov Model") two weeks after I posted that video. The pole is a 13'6" 145 and she is attempting 12'.

Video from two weeks ago.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gcy2gWH5LZI

Video from two days ago.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4s3st5QH-Qs

Thanks for all the suggestions from my last post. I'm really happy with where things are right now. The question is, now what? Do you guys see anything else that needs to be tweaked, and do you have any ideas as to where to go from here. My current plan is to just keep jumping and working along the lines of the Petrov model since she is improving like crazy. What she is doing on this video is the result of working on nothing other than her approach and takeoff. I plan on focusing those issues for a long time, especially since everything else seems to be shaping up on its own.

I'm also planning on starting her on high bar work in the next few weeks. She is planning on making the Olympic team in the heptathlon, so I haven't trained her like I would someone who is working on the vault alone. We are doing a lot of longer sprints and light lifting. We have also spent as much time working on her javelin as we have on her vault. (Anyone know of any good multi event web sites out there?)

Altius should be happy with this. I have worked mostly along the lines of what he suggests in "Beginner to Bubka." One of Allan's major claims is that beginners can learn this vault in a very short period of time. Tracy took her very first vault in early May of this year, so I guess she proves the point. But then again, she not an ordinary athlete.

I am also concerned that she should be on bigger poles. With a few sizes bigger pole the position she is in in the middle of this jump should result in about an 18' push-off instead of just falling out over the bar. Should I worry about that, or do you think it just take care of itself as she develops confidence and timing?

[powerplant42]

Maybe you could have her try different poles and grips to see which work the best for her at the moment. Anyway, great work! You seem to be coaching awesomely, and the highbar will definitely improve her swing, which does need some work in its later stage. (She pulls up her trail leg too soon.) If you get into the weightroom, have her do some olympic lifts to help with explosivity. Just make sure you know how to teach these and spot them. Keep up the good work!
P.S. What kind of a spectacular set up is that? Do you have a runway and pit in your back yard? That's awesome!

[gtc]

Nice Tim! Plant may be a little late and last step a tad long.

[powerplant42]

I missed that... I watched it again though and also noticed a small row going on, right around 18 seconds in. High bar stuff should help that. Oh and you should really consider investing in Dartfish to do video analysis on your own if your going to coach this girl for a while. It'll be really helpful. You could film a few vaults each day, go inside after your session and discuss what's going on. It really is an amazing tool, and I think you could go far with it. I recommend this system to anyone out there coaching (who has a little extra cash ).

[vault3rb0y]

Is she pulling with her bottom arm at all to help initiate or carry out her swing? Its kind of hard to tell, and you probably already covered that with her, but just making sure. It looks like it could be a passive bottom arm or be pulling a little, but yea that would be a tweak to work on if she is pulling. Just a thought . Shes gonna be amazing.

[souleman]

Tim, she's coming along nicely. I hope Master is reading this post because he sent me a deal with lines drawn in where my top hand and my drive knee should be at takeoff. It would help my point here. At take off, look at where her top hand is. It still looks a little behind where it should be. Master says it should be above the forhead more and I think she can still be taller at takeoff. Coach Job says a good exercise for this is to have her jump with a baseball cap on and she should "brush off" or knock off the hat with her top hand by brushing off the hat at the bill. That is done if the movement from the hip to top (with the top hand) is done properly. Drive leg still looks a little lazy and could be more 90 degree-ish but she's definitely starting to get up the pole better. The turn is late but at this point I wouldn't worry about it. I'm saying that because at this point in her jumping and learning, she's setting a mental clock in her head as to how long the jump should be. If she is turning on time right now with the stiffer, "less bendier" and shorter poles then that will have her way too early when the poles bend more and get longer. Hope I made a little sense here.............Later......Mike

[Tim McMichael]

Tim, she's coming along nicely. I hope Master is reading this post because he sent me a deal with lines drawn in where my top hand and my drive knee should be at takeoff. It would help my point here. At take off, look at where her top hand is. It still looks a little behind where it should be. Master says it should be above the forehead more and I think she can still be taller at takeoff. Coach Job says a good exercise for this is to have her jump with a baseball cap on and she should "brush off" or knock off the hat with her top hand by brushing off the hat at the bill. That is done if the movement from the hip to top (with the top hand) is done properly. Drive leg still looks a little lazy and could be more 90 degree-ish but she's definitely starting to get up the pole better. The turn is late but at this point I wouldn't worry about it. I'm saying that because at this point in her jumping and learning, she's setting a mental clock in her head as to how long the jump should be. If she is turning on time right now with the stiffer, "less bendier" and shorter poles then that will have her way too early when the poles bend more and get longer. Hope I made a little sense here.............Later......Mike

One of the main reasons she has gotten better over the last two weeks is that her plant is a little more in front of her. I completely agree that the top hand should be even with a line drawn straight up from the forehead. Tracy is getting closer, but there is a way to go still. I also think that the late turn will take care of itself as the poles get bigger. What I am most excited about is that she is getting up the pole so well and we haven't even talked about that part of the jump. When her run and plant are perfected (if there is such a thing) her jump should be a monster.

[Tim McMichael]

Is she pulling with her bottom arm at all to help initiate or carry out her swing? Its kind of hard to tell, and you probably already covered that with her, but just making sure. It looks like it could be a passive bottom arm or be pulling a little, but yea that would be a tweak to work on if she is pulling. Just a thought . Shes gonna be amazing.

We haven't talked about anything more than finishing the plant and swinging the trail leg. I think that the better the plant is, the less effort is needed with the arms to complete a jump. One of the best ways to guage the quality of an athlete's plant is to see if they can get all the way through a vault by relaxing and doing nothing conscously after the takeoff. This is not to say that the arms should not be working in a full power vault. Once the path of energy is already flowing freely through the jump the arms can kick in and increase the speed and power of that movement. The arms can't create something that isn't already set up by a great takeoff. You can salvage a bad plant with arm work, but the plant has to be very close to right, and you have to be very strong, and even then, the best you can hope for is to flag out over a bar at least a foot under your PR. For this reason, when I teach beginners we focus on the run and plant alone for quite a while.

[Tim McMichael]

P.S. What kind of a spectacular set up is that? Do you have a runway and pit in your back yard? That's awesome!

Yep, It took me forever to build it, but its pretty functional now. I need a new pit though.

[master]

Tracy is making great progress from a great beginning. What you are teaching is obviously paying off. It helps to have a good athlete that can implement the taught skills .

I think the most impressive change from the first video is her getting further up (aligned with) the pole. However, there is still more to be had. As with most aspects of the vault, getting better aligned is facilitated by doing the parts before that better. In this case the swing. It appears to me to be more aggressive but could be even more so. And as you know, the swing is set up by a proper positioned, and finished, take off. That is why I couldn't agree with you more about spending most of your time on the approach run and take off. That being said, I think she is ready to add some focus on the swing.

Tim, this is quite an experience you are sharing with us all. She seems to have such athletic abilities and is implementing your coaching very well. The thrill a coach has when an athlete develops is very special. I appreciate you sharing that with us. Please tell Tracy congratulations from me for all the progress she continues to make.

- master

[KYLE ELLIS]

Man its a sad day when i see Tim teaching the petrov model.

[EIUvltr]

You are the last of your breed. I guess they can call it the KYLE ELLIS model now