Take off Issues

[Tincup1215]

Here's the background on my guy http://polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtop ... 37&t=19510

Thanks to some sound advice from you guys, we pin-pointed his problem that his top sucked because it was a result of his take-off. His last step was a lunge and always 2 shoes under hence why he had 0 swing. Well I revamped his run and I've put a 2nd left mark and a mid mark (4th left) down. The great news is he's actually running consistent and has been taking off strong, on his toe, and not reaching. The bad news is... he's been running with such confidence now that he's running harder and faster than previously and despite still hitting all his marks and being right on with his step, he can't plant the pole. He says he feels like he's out of control coming into his last couple of steps which is what I was afraid would happen.

We've got the conference meet on Friday, Sectionals the following Friday, and then State the weekend after. It's to late in the season to be screwing around with anything new. I'm not worried about him in meets. He's a gamer and when the bar is put up, he vaults. He made 13'9 last week in 40 degree weather with a huge crosswind. I stopped him after that because he already won and he also had to go warm up for the 300 hurdles (returning state champ).

He's only planted about 5 times in the last 3 practices we had despite hitting all his marks. All 5 jumps he's actually gone up on; he's soared over a 15'3 bungee (on a 14' 170) and he actually has a pretty decent top. He's getting frustrated because he knows he's right on with his steps.

My game plan for him is to do full run plant boxes. I know you don't like them Kirk, but I think it's going to give him the confidence he needs to plant more often.

Any ideas?

[KirkB]

... his top sucked because it was a result of his take-off. His last step was a lunge and always 2 shoes under hence why he had 0 swing. Well I revamped his run and I've put a 2nd left mark and a mid mark (4th left) down. The great news is he's actually running consistent and has been taking off strong, on his toe, and not reaching. The bad news is... he's been running with such confidence now that he's running harder and faster than previously and despite still hitting all his marks and being right on with his step, he can't plant the pole. He says he feels like he's out of control coming into his last couple of steps which is what I was afraid would happen.
...
He's only planted about 5 times in the last 3 practices we had despite hitting all his marks. All 5 jumps he's actually gone up on; he's soared over a 15'3 bungee (on a 14' 170) and he actually has a pretty decent top. He's getting frustrated because he knows he's right on with his steps.

My game plan for him is to do full run plant boxes. I know you don't like them Kirk, but I think it's going to give him the confidence he needs to plant more often.

Tincup, don't listen to me ... you're the coach ... you need to do what YOU think is best. Honestly. But remember that I said that I don't like the idea of a plant box where you leave the ground and it holds some of your body weight (resistance). If there's no resistance, then I don't mind them. I think I also said that a simple white towel will suffice instead of a planting box.

Still no vids to analyze, but I'm wondering if ... even tho he's hitting his check marks ... maybe he's just so fast coming in now that he FEELS like his steps are off ... or he's lunging (as you said) ... or he's trying NOT to lunge. Dunno.

Would it help if he purposely CHOPPED the last step ... instead of LUNGING? You probably read the advice that I gave someone else about that (search for "chopping kirk"). Just a guess, since I haven't seen his vids.

OK ... hold the phone. Just read your post again, and maybe "2 shoes" is too big of an adjustment for him ... so psychologically he's "steering" to where his takeoff feels comfy?

Rome wasn't built in a day ... and you shouldn't expect his step to be SUDDENLY "on". Instead, how about if he strives to hit a takeoff that's only ONE SHOE under? That's not a free takeoff, but it's still going to be a substantial improvement over what he used to do. With his season finales fast approaching, do you think that might be a good compromise?

BTW, were his steps actually "on" when he finished those 5 vaults? And how many times did he run thru?

Kirk

[Tincup1215]

Kirk -

I have 3 DVDs of him jumping, but I can't figure out how to put them on my computer as files to upload...

Now he hasn't lunged on his last step in about a week. He's been right on and in stride, but ya he's just coming in to hard now. His take-off on his 5 good jumps all were either right on or a shoe under which I told him is perfectly fine as long as he's not lunging. And yes previously before I changed his run he would steer himself into the lunge every vault.

The 5 vaults he actually went up on, he was right on and no more than a half a shoe under. It was crazy to see how quickly and easily he was able to swing all the way instead of trying to muscle his way up like before.

He probably ran through the back of the pit... at least 15 times which is frustrating for everyone.

[Tincup1215]

Did full run plant boxes (homemade, very light, barely any resistence). Transferred everything over to the pit and he's fixed. I need to quit pulling a chicken little

[KirkB]

... Transferred everything over to the pit and he's fixed. I need to quit pulling a chicken little

Good to hear that "he's fixed". But somehow I doubt that he's 100% "fixed". No, the sky isn't falling ... but your work is not done yet. A coach's work is NEVER done!

Oh yeh ... thanks for not listening to me ... looks like the pole plants into the planting box did the trick!

Kirk

[KirkB]

I have 3 DVDs of him jumping, but I can't figure out how to put them on my computer as files to upload...

Instead of PLAYING the DVD on your computer, you need to OPEN it. On Windows, right-click on the Start button, then click "Explore". You should see the DVD/CD drive in the Folders pane. Open it, and you'll find a list of folders/files on your DVD.

When you OPEN that, find the file you're looking for, and copy it to your hard drive (Drive C:). From there, you should be able to upload to youtube.

Or maybe you know all that, and your problem is that the DVD format is incompatible with your PC? How far do you get in this process?

Kirk