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I just tried getting on a 15ft pole the other day and i can get up but i keep falling back away from the mats.
any suggestions on how i can fix it?

What pole are you on now? A jump up to a 15' pole isn't easy. It's been said here before but theres sailpiece issues here. Rollin over those isn't easy.

Haul A$$. But in all seriousness Haul a**. You have to have a sufficient take off speed to get in on those boys. More info would help. What do you weigh, where are your standards on your 14'/14'7" poles. What weight are they, etc. etc.

all you need is sufficient takeoff angle...Getting your hand as high as possible at take off will allow you to move over the sailpiece. You shouldnt be concerned with trying to tense up and haul so much a**, cuz thats going to cause you to loose your posistion at takeoff, which will ultimately make your attempt uneffective and possible dangerous. Get faster off the runway if you really need to get faster.

i was holding at 13'6 and i can only hold at about 14'6 on the 15' cuz of the "hold below" line. ive also moved my steps back to a 7 step instead of 6 and that helped some but im still falling back just before i hit vertical

You also might be slowing down on your last couple steps, just because it is a 15 foot pole, a mental thing you know, that was my problem

raise your grip on the 14 foot pole all the way. above the pink is okay if you're jumping on poles over your weight. once you get that down, go to a softer 15 footer, like 15 pounds softer, and hold a little lower than you were on the 14 footer... And remember, speed is everything and also a good strong take off, otherwise you wont make it in...

Good luck

You should be vaulting on a pole 20-30lbs over your body wieght before you move up in legnth- especially if you are going from a 14' to a 15' pole. I hope you understand that a 14' and 15' pole with the same wieght rating the 15' pole will effectivly be 12-18 lbs stiffer. hence why you should be vaulting on a pole 20-30 lbs above your wieght before you make the transition.

Biggie1110 wrote:all you need is sufficient takeoff angle...Getting your hand as high as possible at take off will allow you to move over the sailpiece. You shouldnt be concerned with trying to tense up and haul so much a**, cuz thats going to cause you to loose your posistion at takeoff, which will ultimately make your attempt uneffective and possible dangerous. Get faster off the runway if you really need to get faster.

I disagree, I coach a 6'5" vaulter that because of that has a great take off angle but he barely moves fast enough to hold to end of a 13' much less a 15'. Be aware of Petrov's theory that the vault begins with the first step and every phase after the run is dependent and predicated upon the preceding phases. If sufficient energy is not developed to move the pole (regardless of take off angle) to vertical, you'll be spit back out. Read the bottom of dj's posts and do them in order: RUN, PLANT, SWING.

keep in mind that the higher you grip or the longer pole you get on, the longer your going to have to hold the drive swing phase of the vault. you might just be swinging up right off the bat which wont allow you to penetrate into the pit. so keep those hands high drive deep and then swing

LHSVaulterJJR wrote:keep in mind that the higher you grip or the longer pole you get on, the longer your going to have to hold the drive swing phase of the vault. you might just be swinging up right off the bat which wont allow you to penetrate into the pit. so keep those hands high drive deep and then swing

Bad advice There's no holding of the drive phase. You just finish your takeoff and then swing, never any passive holding phases.

i understand what your talking about with passive phases, but perhaps i described this wrong. i simply meant that when you grip higher or use longer poles you need more penetration and you need to drive or continue your takeoff longer in order to store more energy. this is in a continuos phase with the swing wich follows. it is true that if you swing up without letting your body drive in and allowing your chest to come forwards and stay balanced over the hips that your penetration may suffer. drive deeper and prestretch those muscles for a stronger swing. i believe allan launder has a thing for prestretched muscles in the vault