Problem hitting the standards

[sghetti]

Hello! I've been reading through this forum for the past couple of months and I just signed up. I have a problem that hopefully you guys can help me with. Whenever I go up I will either go a little bit off centered or to the right, to the point where I'm hitting the standards. I will always land slightly to the right, but never on the left side. My coach said that it's because I'm not bending the pole yet but I'm pretty sure I'm doing something else wrong. Is it because I'm not planting correctly or maybe I'm not rowing properly? My coach also said that I pull my head back to go vertical so maybe that might be it. Any drills or pointers are greatly appreciated.

[CrossBarHOpper]

If you plant and your arms are kinda pointing to the left instead of stairt up you well most likely go that way so make sure that you plant is as strait as possible

[RidinHigh]

You may want to try lowering your grip and going from shome shorter runs for a while. When you do either 2 or 3 left runs just try to work on going straight through into the pit and after you get that down you should be able to gradually work your run back further and further.

[PVPirate26]

usually if your vault is going off to one side or the other, the plant is not straight. so, in your case, the position of the pole at take off is moving you more to the right. to straighten out your plant you can work on shorter runs at a lower grip. sliding box might also help out.

[izzystikchik]

it sounds like you said that you're throwing your head back, when you clear the bar are you facing it or are you "snaking" it (meaning you kinda worm over the bar with your back)
Its not good to drop you head too soon, or you'll lose sight of where you're going and what your body is doing...Try to watch your top hand for a little while and watch till your feet get past the pole. Then as you pull and straighted you can start looking down the pole....

As for your heading for the standards, there must be something wrong with your plant obviously, if its crooked or off center, you may want to consider how early you begin your plant, sometimes when you wait for too long for the plant you stab at the box and cause a poor extention on the plant and even "round house" too.

[mcminkz05]

sliding box sliding box sliding box sliding box

[VaulteRachello]

definitely make sure you are planting straight. you might want to film a few practicies or something, and you can try to figure out for sure what the source of the problem is.

[bvpv07]

Just to reiterate what everyone has been saying, make sure that when you plant your top arm is directly straight above your head. You can practice this by doing a lot of slideboxes, and thinking about punching your arm as tall and high up over your head as possible in order to make yourself jump up really high.

[VaultBrad]

another thing that ight be happening is that you might be pullin down on the pole right after take off. i know that i have done this in the past and it has caused me to go to the right. pulling down with raise you center of gravity acting like an old metronome. this will cause the pole to move to verticle slower, or not get there at all, and with your momentum being slowed in the forward direction you would probably go off to the right since that is the side of the pole your body passes bay when you swing. tell your coach that you not bending the pole has nothing to do with the direction that you go.

anyway, just make sure to get your arms all the way up and the plant directly over your body. like every one has said, lowering your grip for a while will help you correct this.

good luck, and welcome to the site!

[master]

...Whenever I go up I will either go a little bit off centered or to the right, to the point where I'm hitting the standards.

You might want to read this topic. At least one cause of going to the right is discussed there.

[sghetti]

Thanks a lot for the pointers. I suggested using the sliding box to my coach yesterday and he had us do a few runs. I began using my normal grip and to my surprise I couldn't get it in; on some runs my pole would bounce off the ground and completely go over the box. So I used a lower grip like you guys told me and shortened my strides. Now I'm back to my higher grip and have more control than ever. I KNOW I'll hit a new PR this coming meet and hopefully beat the rest of the varsity guys : ). Thanks to all for your support.

[PVPirate26]

glad to hear that you've seen some improvement! good luck at your upcoming meet!