PoleVaultPower.com

well its been 2 years since i vaulted, which im sure wont help this problem... anyway ive recently started vaulting for my college, and once again there is no vaulting coach.. I have never had a coach ive just gone off of videos and experiences.... my PR as of my senior year is 14'6" on a 14'7" ucs ( yes i know crappy top push, but i started figuring out how to get more verticle my last 2 meets.) anyway my problem now is im on a 15'1" ucs and have held just about everywhere on this pole and cannot make it to the pit... i get great bend but i shoot straight up or right back onto the runway..... i think i may need to try to find a 14'7 again or 14' pole... or does anyone else have advice on the stalling matter....

if you're bending the pole lots and you're coming up short, that usually means you're holding too high. hard to talk when i havent seen your vault, but thats the first thing that comes to mind


good luck
jp

I suspect that you are a great example of the 'bicycle pump' syndrome - ie probably taking off under and bending the pole a long way before you leave the ground - if you do that you will be lucky to ever make the pit no matter what pole you are on.

Have a look at the Bicycle pump article on "Beginnertobubka.com" and you will see what I mean.

well i try to let my momentum carry into the box and thus bend the pole for me..... the bend does not come until im am off the ground.... so i dont know if that is still considered the syndrome...

Sounds like you raised your grip too much when you went up poles.

Alan, I went to your site to look up the bicycle pump thing. How do I get there from your home page? Thanks...Mike

If you go to Beginnertobubka.com you should go to the links to articles and it is in there. i presented the concept - badly I must add, because my powerpoint would not work - at the 2005 Summit. I believe it may provide an explanation for why some athletes get rejected back onto the runway and others, although they go very high - seem to drop on to the bar on a big percentage of vaults. I believe it is a question of how early the bend is initiated and when maximum bend in attained. Anyway see what you think.

However it does not seem to be the problem in this particular case - black magic coaching fails yet again!

Thanks, I have the your site bookmarked. 'l gosee what I can find. Mike

well guys.... i went to the meet today and uh ya didnt to to well BUT better haha..... i landed in the pit WOW!!!!! only cleared 12' thats only 2 1/2 under my pr:P lol i think i just need to gain a lil more confidence with this pole and ill be fine but thx for the input;)

I'm finding I'm saying this alot lately. Sometimes you have to go backwards to go forward. Bubba Sparks has reminded me of this several times in the past year + that I've been back vaulting. Later.....Mike

JMP8928 wrote:if you're bending the pole lots and you're coming up short, that usually means you're holding too high. hard to talk when i havent seen your vault, but thats the first thing that comes to mind


good luck
jp

i agree 100%