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What are y'all thoughts on the bottom arm at takeoff? There are some coaches out there that seem to think every vaulter needs to have that bottom arm locked out throughout their takeoff, while others favor about a 90degree bend in it, while still others talk about a "punch and release" action with it.

In my experience, those who overemphasize the bottom arm have an enormously difficult time swinging/rocking back.

Opinions?

I think if a "big bottom arm" is used correctly it can help the plant drive, angle, and swing and turnup. But I think that certain people have certain jumps and some can swing better with a big arm but it would also kill some peoples swing. From what I have seen the swing kinda matches the left arm, or vice versa. I think beggining vaulters should be very open minded and try out things to find out what works best. I used to think that if your right arm wasnt locked, with a drive knee, and tucking, i thought you were weird.

I taught a kid to jump in h.s., he started his junior year. I wasnt an expert at the vault but I taught him the basics and kinda rushed him to bending the pole after about two weeks of work. I guess it was fate but if I would of took time to work out every little kink (that I thought was right) and try to make his jump look like my idols Tim McMicheals and Joe Dial I would of ruined him. He has a natural unique jump and he clared 12ft his first meet after two weeks. In the summer we worked with McMicheals and he said to leave his jump alone, it is an effective jump. He jumped 14ft that year, 15 the next and Freshman year at college with me he jumped 16-6, and call me crazy but I think he can come close to 18 this year. He has an arm with a lead knee, then bends his arm and drops the knee, then pushes it back out all before his turnup. His shins swing straight back over his top hand, this puts him the positin to get inverted and tight like bubka, no joke!

u might be right about the hard time rockin back. I sometmes i find myself lockin my left arm out during the bend and the rock back, but im consistenly on pole 20 lbs over my weight, its much easier to bend and swing if i keep my arm out. I'm seeing alot of vaulter with what i'd considered a bad take off position, but im seeing it so much now. i still believe in keeping the plant overhead and as high as possible (cause i need all the heigt i can get at the takeoff) and that requires keepin the bottom arm straight.

I agree with the top posting. My first coach taught me to really lock out my bottom arm on take-off. I got into the habit of doing that and had trouble breaking it to rock back. I don't think I have ever been able to get completely upsidedown since I learned it that way. Now I am working on releasing it a little at take-off and it's working. It is sooooo much easier to eventually get back.

If you narrow your grip the pole will become stiffer and you will have less balance (so you better have a good plant) The thing is, is that you can use your bottom arm to power through at the bottom and store up alot of energy. Then when you start to swing you BREAK-IN your arm creating a fast swing. I dont like the word lock, i agree you shouldn't lock it out but you should get your arms and hands above you for a drive vaulter. I think instead of locking it out (which could cause them to keep it locked even through the swing) you should think about driving your chest and getting your hands up. Some believe in the jump and swing I am a die hard drive vaulter. "Drive the piss out of it, then crank the hell out of it"!

I used to teach kids to press the bottom arm right from the get go. I found that it caused way to many beginners to get never swing correctly, because they try to jam thier arm at a 45 degree angle in front of them and just keep it thier. Now I don't even talk about the bottom arm in the beginning until they are swinging well. Once I have a kid swinging well. I start talking about pressing both arms not just the top as high as they can. If they start to lose thier swing I have them back off. I don't feel it is as important to lock your bottom arm out as it is to be pressing up above your head with those arms so you feel that you are leading with your pecs. Now some of my kids can do this with thier bottom arm lock or nearly locked out, others have a 10-15 degree bend in it to maintain thier swing.

I guess my main focus is what works best for that vaulter to keep the pole rotating into the pit and rising up while the vaulter can maintain thier swing.

I have always been i big supporter of a big bottom arm, mainly because it works great for me. The first time i ever bent a pole was with a locked out arm, and i have never done anything else since. Now, four years later, I still have the big plant with a completely locked out left bottom arm, but I also swing my left leg with enough momentum and some to get it all the way to my top hand straight, all the while with my left arm locked out through the plant and swing. I don't like to sound arrogant, but i think that my swing and top of my vault is one of the very best i have ever seen, and i do all of this with a locked left arm. Why have I only jumped 16'9"? Because I am slow, weak, and have no take-off. However my point is that you can have a big plant, and big drive and get on as big of poles as possible and STILL have a huge legswing and great top end of your vault.

Another point......a big bottom arm and blocking at the plant are not necessarily the same thing. Although I am not the best at it, it is very possible to get the same drive of your chest while having your arm locked out as you get with a broken left arm AS LONG AS you can let your shoulders roll (which is where the trouble for me comes in).

But yea, I feel like a big bottom arm is the most effeicent way to load a pole, and the only trouble with it comes in releasing the energy you have loaded into the pole in a most effeicent way. It is, however, very, very possible to release the energy just as effeicently as any other way of taking off.

bubka used the straight arm above the head and went 20', so im copying off of him

If you allow your left hand to come back by driving your chest you cand drive your chest as long or longer than a swing vaulter. If you hold it out infront it wont work, you have to let it come back over your head (look at bubka) And like Essx when i see a bent arm i say " man i wonder how high they could jump with a big bottom arm"

well, my school coach taught me to completely lock out my bottom arm to get nice bend in the pole, problem is, since iv done that, i have had No rockback at all, and have been going over the bar in a sitting positioin i fixed that oevr the summer a little, but i still have a problem with it, because i lock out my arm at takeoff, but i guess i keep it locked too long, killing my swing? forexample, when i jus jump stiff-pole with no bend,beacsu i dunt put my arm out much so i dunt bend it, i have jumped 2+ feet OVER my handgrip. But when i translate thta into a full run, with a bend and lockign tmy bottom arm out completely, i was jumping more like 2 feet UNDER my handgrip so locking out at the plant soudns ok, but how do you knwo when to let your arm bedn a little, so as not to kill your swing? tahst my problem, is keeping it locked out for too long, but im not sure how long to leave my arm locked?