mystic pole too much bend?

[duhcalvin]

I have a question about the pole i use, it is a mystic pole, it is 12'6" long, i vault two handgrips from the top. I recently was given a picture of me vaulting at a home meet, and the amount of pole bend was ridiculous, i am just curious if a highschooler who vaults 10'6" hoping to hit 11'6" at the next meet though should be bending the pole THAT much. I just want to make sure it isn't dangerous. The bar in the picture is at 11 i was told i was a good ways over it on two of my jumps but one time hit it on the way down, one time my pole hit it and the third time i got tired and my form broke down this is a picture of my second attempt i beleive.

[rainbowgirl28]

What depth do you have your standards set at?

[duhcalvin]

22 most of the time.

[rainbowgirl28]

I recommend holding 4" lower and keeping your standards at 31.5". It's tough to say without seeing video if the pole is about to break or anything like that, but I think it's good for beginning/intermediate vaulters to not have a huge pole bend. With a less pole bend and deeper standards, you should be able to swing better.

[duhcalvin]

thank you, i'll give that a try at practice today, i'll se how it feels and let you know how it goes. i have a meet this friday, hopefully i will pr!

[duhcalvin]

soo i did that and everything felt the same but i just sprung up less. This year i started to go 2 times a week to marshfield and work with dave eckes, their coach but i can't always get their and it doenst always work out with him, basically all the times i have been there i have worked on the run and plant before i could hardly bend the pole, now that i have that accomplished (for the most part) i need to figure out how to swing up completely, i have not been able to work with him for a while and i am stuck again. Once i plant i kind of bring my legs up but thats it. if i could fully swing and get a push off i would be in business but at home practicing i just get stuck. i will put a picture down here of what i am talking about. The only thing is now i am having time become a constraint with only a few meets left and districts drawing near i am really eager to begin working to accomplish a full swing. and that means using all the resources i have so in addition to 2 times a week at coos bay with dave i am asking for your help and tips.

here is the picture of the position i am getting stuck in

[KirkB]

soo i did that and everything felt the same but i just sprung up less. ... before i could hardly bend the pole, now that i have that accomplished (for the most part) i need to figure out how to swing up completely ... Once i plant i kind of bring my legs up but thats it. if i could fully swing and get a push off i would be in business ... i am really eager to begin working to accomplish a full swing. ... here is the picture of the position i am getting stuck in

This pic is at the same meet, so it doesn't describe what happened when you lowered your grip 4" and moved your standards to 31.5". I concur with RG ... but don't expect instant results. It will feel HARDER to swing up and over the bar when you grip lower and need to swing better ... but that's what you need to do.

You can't expect the pole to do all the work. "I kind of bring my legs up but that's it." That's not a swing. To SWING you need to stretch your trail leg long, and drive your lead knee up.

Since you do have some experience in "hardly bending the pole", you should have a feel for what a proper swing feels like. You should feel resistance from your top hand, and then your body rotates around that top hand. Meanwhile, your trail leg should be swinging in a long arc. If you can remember how that felt when you barely bent the pole, that's really what you need to get back to ... just a bit. Dropping your grip 4" isn't much, so I don't see why you won't STILL bend the pole quite a bit ... but with the side effect of getting your body rotating around your top hand ... while you're whipping your trail leg around. Hard to say exactly what you're doing wrong without vid, but that's my best guess right now.

I know you want to "fully swing and then get a push off" ... but that comes from improvements in the bottom half of your vault ... not any magical trick you do once you get to the flagged out position in your pic. It's too late to do anything about it by then. You need to fix your plant, takeoff, and downswing, and the upswing and extension (push off) will come quite naturally.

Search for some of the key words I've mentioned ... like "downswing" and "whip" (or "whipping") and "bottom half" and "top half" and "flagged" or "flagging". Try different combinations.

You will find several threads where I've given similar advice. And in almost every thread, there's more advice from other posters that's just as good as my advice. Take a few hours to try to figure out what we're saying to the other vaulters ... and you have the advantage of looking at their vids and figuring out if your flaws are similar to them ... then reading and absorbing our advice.

I'm willing to be that you'll "see yourself" in some of the other vaulters' vids ... so you'll be able to follow the advice that we've given them. Without vids, it's a crap-shoot ... so I think this might help.

Kirk

[duhcalvin]

i will definitely do all that, but i have a meet today so i will try my best there, and i will try and get a video to you. I have actually heard mystic poles have a very low flex rating (i do not know much about it) but i was wondering if this is true because when i go to jump, i feel like the pole actually has trouble recoiling and i weigh 145 and the pole is a 160. just a thought, i'm sure it probably has something to do with my technique but i would just like your input on that as well.
thank you very much
Calvin

[KirkB]

If you have a pole that's slightly stiffer, and if you're already landing well into the pit with standards at 80, then you should probably try to go up a pole. Just as RG advised.

Kirk

[duhcalvin]

well the problem with that is the 12'6" 160lb pole is the closest tomy weight the next closest would be an 11' 170 ucs. My coach told me he would not hesitate to purchase a pole or two for me because he would not let a lack of implements stop me from getting better. but if i ordered a pole now it wouldn't get here for a while i don't think And with only 20 days till state and like 14 to districts i don't think that is an option. So i'm pretty much stuck with what i've got.

[rainbowgirl28]

well the problem with that is the 12'6" 160lb pole is the closest tomy weight the next closest would be an 11' 170 ucs. My coach told me he would not hesitate to purchase a pole or two for me because he would not let a lack of implements stop me from getting better. but if i ordered a pole now it wouldn't get here for a while i don't think And with only 20 days till state and like 14 to districts i don't think that is an option. So i'm pretty much stuck with what i've got.

UCS does not make 11' poles, you might want to recheck the length/weight/brand of that pole.

[rainbowgirl28]

i will definitely do all that, but i have a meet today so i will try my best there, and i will try and get a video to you. I have actually heard mystic poles have a very low flex rating (i do not know much about it) but i was wondering if this is true because when i go to jump, i feel like the pole actually has trouble recoiling and i weigh 145 and the pole is a 160. just a thought, i'm sure it probably has something to do with my technique but i would just like your input on that as well.
thank you very much
Calvin

The brand isn't the issue. You probably need to grip a little lower and jump up at takeoff better.