PoleVaultPower.com

ok so i think i have habit that has just gotten worse. when i get closer to the pit on my run, my hands and the pole go to the right side of my body and then im pretty much running to the right side also. so this causes me to stutter step which makes my speed go way down. And then when i plant , my coach says i am trying to go around the pole instead of thru it. so my left foot is on the right side of the track when i plant. and my left hand is pretty much against my chest and my right is sorta straight but not really. so i have been trying to keep the pole in front of me instead of out to the side and im trying to plant with my hands out and above, but no matter how much i try to do it, i just never do it all the way. there are certain times when i do get my hands out but it really just twigs the pole a bit. so all of this is keeping me from being able to rock back when i vault so im not getting much better. and this is probably hard to imagine what i am trying to explain but what can i do to fix this? drills or whatever tips u have would help. thanx

i have kinda had the same prob when i get tired, except i get up in the air and i get thrown way to the right (off of the mat last week), but i think that maybe just trying to do some simple 3 step pop up drills might help you get over it. Just do it over and over and over again until it seems impossible for you to fo anything different than the right thing.

ya see i do the three steps and i seem to do it right but when i go for the long run, the arms just go back to bending. but i ll try to do repeating pop ups cuz usually ill do 3-4 right and then go for a long run.

Try actually vaulting from 3 lefts. Get a shorter pole and hold lower than you would from long run. If you can't do it right from 3 lefts or less, you're not going to be able to do it right from long run.

When u do pole runs on the track, try to stay on a white line, u can even put a long piece of tape from the beginning of the box to ur take off area, it dosn't do anything, but it keeps ur mind on something straight.

I was having a similar problem and I read somewhere (I will post the source if I can find it again) that the drifting to the right is the result of something that happened before. One source of the problem you describe has to do with the path of your hands as you plant the pole. If you have a "round house" motion (your right hand goes out to your side and back behind your head on its way to the proper position above your head, you will lose your balance and your body will compensate for that by your plant foot shifting to the right of center of the runway.
The solution is to practice the better motion (or path) of your hands until that becomes your natural pattern. The motion I recommend is for you to make your left hand extend from where it starts (during the carry of the pole) to a position straight out in front of you and higher than it was in the carry position. This facilitates the right hand being able to be brought in front of and very close to your right shoulder and then straight up to it's final position. When done correctly, your right thumb would brush the bill of a baseball cap if you were wearing one.
I have cut a piece of PVC pipe about 4 feet long and I use this as if it is a pole to walk, jog, run and sprint while doing that motion. I try to practice it often in hopes it will become second nature to me.

I found the link, Forces All in a Row, by Mark Hannay
http://pvei.com/vault/viewtopic.php?t=37

Note this problem was just identified as an example of the point the author was making in his article, but that example was what I was experiencing. And although I have not completely eliminated it, it doesn't happen as often, and when it does, I immediately know what I need to focus on.

Im not sure, but out of that it soudns like part of your problem is drifting to the right on the runway?? 2 years ago i was swerving to one side of the runway also, and besides fixing the plant and pole carry, my coach had me start all the way on the left side of the runway so id drift to the middle.

mcminkz05 wrote:Im not sure, but out of that it soudns like part of your problem is drifting to the right on the runway?? 2 years ago i was swerving to one side of the runway also, and besides fixing the plant and pole carry, my coach had me start all the way on the left side of the runway so id drift to the middle.

Sounds like bowling!

lonestar wrote:

mcminkz05 wrote:Im not sure, but out of that it soudns like part of your problem is drifting to the right on the runway?? 2 years ago i was swerving to one side of the runway also, and besides fixing the plant and pole carry, my coach had me start all the way on the left side of the runway so id drift to the middle.

Sounds like bowling!

Hahahaha - never thought I'd see the day where someone compaired bowling and pole vaulting...

lonestar wrote:

mcminkz05 wrote:Im not sure, but out of that it soudns like part of your problem is drifting to the right on the runway?? 2 years ago i was swerving to one side of the runway also, and besides fixing the plant and pole carry, my coach had me start all the way on the left side of the runway so id drift to the middle.

Sounds like bowling!

haha yes thats exactly what my coach told me.. thats where he got the idea

ok so today i asked if starting on the left side of the track would help, and my coach said yes(which apparently someone else knew to do that on here) and well i still went to the right side of the track when i planted but not so far right.

*TigerVault* wrote:ok so today i asked if starting on the left side of the track would help, and my coach said yes(which apparently someone else knew to do that on here) and well i still went to the right side of the track when i planted but not so far right.

To make a point, if all you changed was the position of your start then I wouldn't expect much difference in the quality of the jump, only the location of your take off foot. Do you have any video of your plant that can be shared? Also, take a look at this URL.
http://pvei.com/vault/viewtopic.php?t=344
Does your right hand and arm look like the first video or more like the third video? If it looks like the first, then there is a good chance that is the source of the forces that cause your take off foot to move to the right of center of the runway and makes you off balance for the rest of your vault.