PoleVaultPower.com

Hi,
I am having trouble pushing up after I get my hips next to my hands. One of my coaches (a former vaulter) says that I have a good plant and swing, but I feel like I could get up to a lot higher heights if I could figure out the push. Would it be a lack of upper body strength? Because I can almost do a full handstand pushup against a wall and have been conditioning the past seven months. If it is, what exercises can i do for this (I have rings, a high bar, and a rope on the high bar)?
If it is just technique, what drills can I do to improve this?

My current max at practice is 6'6", and I'm an inch or two off of 7'6", but my goal is to get to 10' by the end of the school season.

Check out the thread right under this one.

Shouldn't be worried about your "push" until you're jumping maybe 6'-7' more than you are right now. It's all about the run, the plant, the take-off, and the SWING. The swing is what really moves your COM upward when you're on the pole. This "push" should come very naturally off of the swing... it relies on a good swing to be doable, let alone beneficial to any substantial degree.

Pole runs. Walking/jogging plants. The drill I describe in the thread below ("long swings" from BTB2).

If you focus on your run, plant, jump, and swing, then you'll vault far higher than if you worry about your pushoff.

Really, the first part of your swing ... between when you leave the ground and when your back is parallel to the runway (the "flat-back" position that you'll see in PV vids) ... is where you make-or-break your vault. This is true whether you're vaulting 6-6, 12-6, or 18-6.

The best example is Bubka ... you'll see in his vids that he generates so much power in the bottom half of his swing that he barely pushes off the pole at all. This same principle applies even at 6-6.

Kirk