sitting

[i_heart_pv]

When I vault I tend to be "sitting" as i try to get my hips up. How do I fix this?? And what should I be thinking of mentally to fix it?

[GirlPoleVaulter87]

Hmm.. I usually try to think of swinging up to my shoulders, rather than rotate about the hips like I have been known to do in the past.

[uconnvaulta]

a big thing to think about is your approach and run, when i sit down , i normally dont carry a good run and my plant is not really great, make sure you run with your knees up and stand tall, and plant tall, and keep everything moving up including where you are looking, meaning when you plant dont look at the ground, or the box, if you are looking down thats where you are going to go and thats normally when people sit when they take off real low. if your sitting in your rock back just work on pop ups and getting as close to the pole as you can, really swing upside down and hold it there in the pop ups then take that to the full approach and just be active on the pole

[VaultNinja]

I would have to agree.

[tmack]

Another drill you can try is to set up a low bungee(like 6-8 feet) and perform a swing drill from 6-8 steps(or 3-4 left steps), but you should also use your arms while you are swinging to lift your hips up and over the bar. Basically you are performing a stiff pole-vault over a low bar. When you get good at that, back up 2 steps, raise the bar, raise your grip, and do the same thing, etc, etc.Soon, the pole will start to bend. you should still try to do the same thing while the pole is bending. This will coordinate the arms and the swing with the bend of the pole...not many drills do this. This drill will teach you to keep pressure down the pole while you are trying to swing, which in turn, raises your hips. You may not believe this, but basically I am trying to do the same thing when I vault from long run, it just looks different becasue I am holding 16'5" and taking off further out and have to keep pressure down the pole from a different angle. But, I can assure you, if I stop applying pressure on the pole, my hips will stop moving and I will not swing as far. Hope it helps.

[i_heart_pv]

yea, thanks that definetely helps! I have been working on conciously putting pressure down the pole so that explains everything

[MightyMouse]

Theres a great drill that I learned at Slippery Rock PV camp , you hang a a piece of pvc pipe with a rope through it from a tree or rafter, then grip it like a pole and swing up and extend up the pole. It helped me alot to not sit, and now really helps me to figure out how to extend up the pole. Just make sure to grip the pvc like you are flexing in on the pole
Good luck

[polecat]

Check out the video and pictures and Mark Hannay's commentary on the USA Pole Vault Education website at http://pvei.com/vault/viewforum. The topic is "As I See It: Unidentified Female at 11'6." The vaulter in the review isn't exactly sitting, but she is failing to invert her torso upward. Your problem sounds similar to what is illustrated in this review.

All this being said, I strongly recommend you find a good, trained eye to watch you vault and work out your concerns with you. A lot of us know what is right, but we really can't pinpoint what is wrong without the ability to observe you and your vaulting.

So far, you've been given some good counsel from the other posts on this subject. Good luck.