improving runway speed for a fifteen ft pole

[vaulta1000001]

its our off season right now so i figured i would take a the time to improve on some of my vault issues. First off i ended my season on a 14' 176 and going from my longest run length. It was my seven stride(fourteen steps total) from ninety feet with the pole. at the time i only weighed about 155 or so, and my coach figured that i would need to get on a 15ft pole to even advance past the opening height for state. my problem however was from my six to seven stride i didnt get faster or at least not enough to try the fifteen without good conditions and me pumped full of adrenaline lol. We tried out the seven for the first time at Moc and after failing to penetrate and clear the bar, the meet ended with me advancing(barely) on an injury. So my question is this. what are some things i can work on for gaining runway speed and getting up on the fifteens? my coach has just started a new training regiment this year that emphasizes dorsal flexing, high legs and powerful approach from the first few steps. what are some things i can do to work on my speed as this is obviously one of, if not most important tools for the vault?

[powerplant42]

Don't force yourself onto bigger poles. This is very dangerous, and you and your coach should not be so hasty to move up poles. You do not need to grip higher to jump higher. If anything increases, it should be the weight rating of the poles you're using (or the flex numbers). It's very possible to jump 15'6'' gripping 14'. I do not know for sure, but I would guess that you don't have to jump 15'6'' to qualify for your state meet (or it is only an inch or two higher). Consider that...

As for improving runway speed during the off season (now I guess it should be considered pre-season now, but anyway), there are no secrets. Lift intelligently, and construct sensible sprint workouts (pm me and I'll help you out with these if you want...). It is important to realize every basic element of the biomechanics of sprinting with a pole, so read up too. Then just get to work.

[vaulta1000001]

it wasnt that i was forcing myself on bigger poles. i didnt mean it to sound that way. our pole supply went from 14' 154,158,162,168,173 and 176. i went through every fourteen we had and when i tried on a fifteen 170,165, and 160 i wasnt able to penetrate and came down on the front buns. but i would appreciate some sprint workouts from you if you have tiime. im still kinda new on here so i dont know what you meant by pm me.Also i dont know if this would affect anything but i push the pole instead of carry it.

[powerplant42]

PM = personal message (click my moniker to go to my profile and you should see a button that says 'Send PM' or something similar)

And I would strongly advise abandoning the push-pole method. Once you do get faster, you will find that your pole tip will begin to 'float' over the box and worse things than landing on the front buns might happen. You will also have less room for error in grabbing the pole at take-off. Push-poling is just not precise. Sure, you go faster, (actually, maybe not...) but at what cost? How many notable (5.80+) vaulters that you know of push-pole?

[KirkB]

One.

[powerplant42]

Tye Harvey? Because I'd heard he'd reverted back to a high carry, but I could be wrong. But even if he's still using it, one 'rogue' example should not be a model for everyone.

[lonestar]

it wasnt that i was forcing myself on bigger poles. i didnt mean it to sound that way. our pole supply went from 14' 154,158,162,168,173 and 176. i went through every fourteen we had and when i tried on a fifteen 170,165, and 160 i wasnt able to penetrate and came down on the front buns. but i would appreciate some sprint workouts from you if you have tiime. im still kinda new on here so i dont know what you meant by pm me.Also i dont know if this would affect anything but i push the pole instead of carry it.

Not touching the pushing issue. Yours to decide.

A 14'1 176 is relatively the same as a 15'1 156 (roughly 20lbs per foot difference in pole). When your standards are all the way back and you're blowing through the 14' 176 gripping around 13'9, move to the 15' 160 gripping 13'10. If you just can't get in on that 15' 160, move your run in a stride (from 6 lefts to 5 lefts) and stay on the 14's until you can move that 15'er from a stride back.

[vaulta1000001]

First off i have to say that if it werent for tye harvey telling me to push the pole, i would not be to where i am today. im not starting any arguments but if he can go 17 or 18 feet pushing the pole, thats a good enough goal for me right now. their may come a time later when i will learn to carry the pole but it works for me right now. . Second i was not very precise on my post's before. i did get on a fifteen but it was a 15 150 and i blew through it on my last jump at state because it was below my weight, but as you said, i held lower than the top a round 13' 6" or so. is it just that i need to find the right pole weight and flex? i just assumed that i didnt have enough speed to succesfully penetrate on the 15' 160 and therefore wanted to attain more actual speed instead of just power.

[KirkB]

And I would strongly advise abandoning the push-pole method.

PP, this is what I mean by a superlative. "strongly advise" is a little too strong. If Tye Harvey is coaching or advising vaulta (even just a little bit), that's good enough for me. I wouldn't go against anything Tye says. Especially if Tye has actually seen vaulta jump. He's in a better position to advise.

We're going in circles a bit on this thread. The 3 of us have already commented on this "Pushing the pole instead of carrying it" thread:

http://polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=15750&p=113172&hilit=tye+harvey#p113172

PP, maybe you just forgot about your participation in that thread?

I won't bother repeating what I said there, but it still stands.

That thread is also linked to yet another thread on the topic.

I'm also not trying to argue - just pointing out that we already talked about this topic a month ago.

Kirk

[VaultPurple]

Future not to all posters.. never post a topic about what it takes to get on a XFt pole. Everyone is going to tell you the same thing and that is that pole length does not matter. And there is no way anyone can tell you what it takes to get on an XFt pole because it is diffrent for everyone. People have ran extremly slow and stull used 15' poles befor because they had really good technique. And for some reason it seems that the jump from a 14' to a 15' pole is one of the hardest jumps to make in pole vaulting.