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hello, so ive been pole vaulting for like a little under a month, pretty low key-ish. so last week i got really confident in bending the pole, and i guess i bend it a lot or so ive been told. however, i feel like after it bends it never really streightens out again, and on friday i was getting up but not going forward, so today i added a step to my run and it felt good for like 2 vaults, then i started getting flung to the left (i vault leftie) and i dont know why. it stinks cause i look really funny and come very close to hitting the standards...
sooo, any idea why this is happening?? i want to get a video soon if that would help.
one more thing, its a 130 pole and i wheigh around 121-123

Find a pole that you can't bend and use that. Ideally, you wouldn't be using a pole that you could even come close to bending for quite some time... Stiff poling will help you learn the basics of the Petrov model much better than just 'grabbing and going' with a flexible pole.

Two things that I have found that make vaulters go to one side of the pit or the other.

First, not planting the pole above your head. If you are not completely above you head at take off, you will go to the side. As a lefty, if you slightly to the left, you will go left. If you are to the right, you will go right. Have your coach stand behind the pit and see where you are at take off.

Second, if you are pulling down with you top hand, this can cause you to go one way or the other.

Best way to fix this problem is sand vaulting. See the Developmental section of this website and view Dave Bulters video. Do the drills. This should solve your problem.

If you bend the pole a lot, like people say, and you say you dont really go up very quickly when it unbends, you are probably over-gripping and taking off very low. Higher grip will not help you go higher unless you are doing everything else right. It just makes the vault harder to control. Get some video, but i could tell you already you are probably holding too high.

thanks guys im not going sideways anymore:D
i still have to go more forward now tho

yoboe wrote:thanks guys im not going sideways anymore:D
i still have to go more forward now tho

So to "go more forward", you need to lower your grip.

Do you have a PLZ (Preferred Landing Zone) on your pit? You need to land in that rectangle. Lower your grip until you can.

Kirk

our pits are probably the cheapest thing from the 70s...but i know where your talking about and i can guess that i land in the rectangle but near the edge closest to the box.
in my last meet i was going for 9' 6" and kept being too low overall so on my third jump i figured watever ill go up a hand on the pole, and i ended up hitting the bar on the way up. good sign??

Maybe...

Understand that holding higher does not necessarily mean you'll jump higher... It's not always a smart decision. Do you have video? Where were your standards?

standards were at 50cm but i wouldve moved them back to 60cm if i had another jump

Keep them at 80cm for every jump. If you're hitting the bar on the way down, lower your grip.

If there's a headwind, maybe bring them into 70cm. Never less than 70cm.

uhm, 80cm is the very most allowed by u.s. high schools, and thats also a big change also, the only 130 lb pole we have is 14' 6" and im only at 11ish on it, is that a problem?

Find a smaller higher weight rated pole... That might actually be smaller! But stiff poling is absolutely not a bad thing to be doing!

Trust me, you can put your standards at 80cm. It's not by school, it's by organization... Your typical high school athletics association is operating under NFHS. NFHS allows 80cm.