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Today, my team had a meeting where we saw video replays of ourselves. I am a beginner and have vaulted only in 2 meets. my coach says that i have alot of problems i need to fix. some of them are

- not having the figure 4 when taing off and instead having both legs together
- my left (bottom) arm collpasing during plant (also, im confused on this aspect of the plant. I have heard that the bottoma rm needs to be straight but that later it needs to be bent. Can anyone explain this to me?)
- i dont have active hands (again, can someone tell me what this means?)
- not swining high enough

it would be awesome if someone can give me some help on fixing these problems. THANKS

Your first problem, the "figure 4" i assume is referring to knee drive. The best place to work on this is in the sand pit or on a 3 step approach. work on keeping that trail leg down and driving the knee as you jump

On the idea of the arm collapsing, it is best to think of the plant and takeoff as if you were rowing a boat. To begin, you lock out both elbows and plant your hand into the pole, then as you take off, act as if the pole is an oar and then swing up, at this point, your arm will again bend. it is most important to maintain your rowing motion as long as possible. The better you get at that, the better bend and swing you'll have.

"not having the figure 4" Should never be aiming for for a Figure 4 anyway - much misundertood element of technique.

Your first problem, the "figure 4" i assume is referring to knee drive. The best place to work on this is in the sand pit or on a 3 step approach. work on keeping that trail leg down and driving the knee as you jump

Yes... But don't think "4", think "knee-thigh UP!" and "FINISH THE TAKE-OFF!!!" during this drill.

On the idea of the arm collapsing, it is best to think of the plant and takeoff as if you were rowing a boat. To begin, you lock out both elbows and plant your hand into the pole, then as you take off, act as if the pole is an oar and then swing up, at this point, your arm will again bend. it is most important to maintain your rowing motion as long as possible. The better you get at that, the better bend and swing you'll have.

No... Don't overcomplicate it: if you are holding the pole and raise your top hand up as high as you can then let your bottom arm rest comfortably, you have the position for your arms at take-off... PUNCH BOTH ARMS UP at take-off and DO NOT STOP PUSHING THEM UPWARD. "Keep the pole always moving," I think is how Petrov said it. "Rowing" will just throw you off if it's your focus... I won't get into whether you should row/sweep or not, as it has been discussed on here way too many times. I will say "don't" though, and that's all.

Do you have any video for us?

OK, if these are actually the comments (word for word now) that your coach made, I would equate this to a brain surgeon telling a first year pre-med student how to do brain surgery and expect the student to walk right in to the OR and perform the surgery. Let's take a look at your post and hopefully direct you to some simple yet links in the chain productive.


Take off

Postby andy94566 » Wed Mar 17, 2010 12:28 am
Today, my team had a meeting where we saw video replays of ourselves. I am a beginner and have vaulted only in 2 meets. my coach says that i have a lot of problems i need to fix. some of them are

- not having the figure 4 when taking off and instead having both legs togetherNot a priority right now. Down the road it will be nice for warm ups and showing off but right now it's the least of your concerns. Keep in mind the whole jump begins at the top of the runway and the "links" of the chain of events complement one and another. Your fist focus should be approaching the box with the confidence to launch. Not being too far out, not being too far under. 2 to 8 left plant drills are imperative for this. DJ's mid mark chart and your understanding of this will help too.[color=#FF0000]I'm only addressing this now because it was the first on your list. [/color]
- my left (bottom) arm collapsing during plant (also, I'm confused on this aspect of the plant. I have heard that the bottom arm needs to be straight but that later it needs to be bent.This too is kind of a down the road consideration. Under no uncertain terms do you ever want a straight bottom arm. What your coach may be saying is he would like to see "pressure" on the bottom arm. In most cases that can be achieved by just squeezing the pole a little harder with the left hand. The idea behind this is to keep the pole rolling forward and keeping your jump going up and forward. On the other hand if he's talking about you "face planting" the pole after plant, that is fixed once you quit coming in under and focus on your plant always going up. Can anyone explain this to me?)
- i dont have active hands (again, can someone tell me what this means?)He probably is talking about moving the hands up at plant up to the point of the turn. Still to expect this from a beginning vaulter, well, it ain't gonna happen. Doesn't mean you can't be aware of it though.
- not swining high enoughThe swing is created by a good run, good plant, good knee drive, (at this point for you single knee or double leg is fine. Just remember a single trailing leg swing is what you want so if you can, start that now) good hands, body rotating around the shoulders, then it's just the gymnastics at the top

The best thing I can suggest for you is to watch this video, then watch it again, then go do what he says, come home and watch it again and so on. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8610699280052593028#

it would be awesome if someone can give me some help on fixing these problems. THANKS