hand grip

[fong520]

how far apart is ur handgrips, like elbow or shoulder length or soemthing else??. i was taklin to soemone about it last nite and was wondering if i should try adn shorten mine, and i think im gonna have liek a mental bloc or soemthing mayb too, so anythign i can think of to just jump?.. right now my hand grips is my hand to my armpit ( i hold the pole and bring it across my chest and then grab my bottom hand where my right armpit is.).
any tips or nething?. thanx

[CHC04Vault]

My hand grips is a elbow and a half length, but this seems a lil big cause i bend the pole too much and then have trouble gettin inverted. Is elbow length just for straight pole-ing??? or can u jump with that for real.

[Vault&Flip]

It's important to find the right handgrip for you. I like mine shoulder width apart because I feel like it gives me the right balance of bend/inversion, however, it can be different for everyone. I've seen some individuals get inverted really well with a wide handgrip just because they could, and others have no porblem bending poles with narrow grips. If you think it is too wide, try narrowing it a little each time until it become uncomfortable to take off and/or affects some other aspect of your vault that makes things uncomfortable. In my opinion its really just something you have to experiment with until you find the right balance.

[AeroVault]

Try an elbow plus one hand width. It's basically shoulder, but gives you something to measure off of.

Vaulting with your hands together is fun...makes backflips easy

[JMP8928]

i use elbow and length b/w pinky and thumb. so its about arm to shoulder.

[PVPirate26]

when i was learning to bend the pole, i had a wider hand grip but now i use a narrower grip: hand to elbow. i have found that the narrower grip allows me to carry the pole better down the runway and get a better and earlier plant.

[Mecham]

i have it so when my right hand is resting at my hip, my left hand is like right inbetween my massive pecs or like right in the middle of my chest. How do you think that is for spacing?

[patybobady]

From the top hand, to the elbow and a fist...Having a wider grip screws with the bend and swing/pull, at least for me. Those who pull the pole to their chest and then take their top arm and put it behind/next to their back drive me bonkers.

[Robert schmitt]

I found the best timing for me is with an elbow + an inch. I can swing up tight with a much wider grip. the timing of the vault is not there for me however b/c I cann't get real deep into the "pocket" with my grip that wide. I can jump just about as high doing either one. However when I widen my grip I'm much more inconsitent and I have to fight (extend more effort) to get into position.

So you know for comparison I used to jump with a realy wide grip also,in fact my highest vault over my top hand is in college where I was gripping a wrist + 12"-15" my best jump was 35" over my top hand hold in the box and I'm not jumping anywhere near that now. But now (b/c of age, time, coaching, and learning more) I focus on technique and not relying on building speed and power. After college I finally began to know what it feels like to hit the pocket and time up with the pole from a narrower grip I feel like I could have jumped much higher in college with a narrower grip. If you want to throw another variable in- in college I was jumping on 15' and a few times on 15'9" poles where now I'm on 13'9" - 14' poles or gripping down 12" on 15' poles.