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I only have 2 more meets left in this season and I need to go from jumping 10' to 11' The thing for me is that I don't swing up all the way UP. Rather, I swing halfway and shoot my legs out towards the pole. How can I fix this? IS there a way where I can just think about it in a different way that will help me? If you need to see my videos, I have videos in the video review section, and I am jumping on a 13 foot 140 UCS Spirit holding 1 foot down.

I was jumping about 11'6 when this happened. My coach told me this phrase: "Shoot your hips THROUGH the top of your pole." The next jump, i cleared a 13' bungee with out touching. But to be able to do that, you HAVE to push that pole off of you at plant so that your body will have time to swing up because if that bottom arm is collapsed, you will never get up. I mean i never pull with my right arm until my shins hit my forearms. I know some of these terms might be incorrect, but they helped me.

christopher_cochran wrote:"Shoot your hips THROUGH the top of your pole." ...

christopher_cochran wrote: ... to be able to do that, you HAVE to push that pole off of you at plant so that your body will have time to swing up because if that bottom arm is collapsed, you will never get up. I mean i never pull with my right arm until my shins hit my forearms. ...

Yikes! (The underlined part.)

If you learn to vault with a stiff pole ... then gradually get more and more bend ... you would not say this.

Kirk

Then what actually should I do?

Yes sir i know. My bottom arm is not extended when i plant, but when i think that way it helps me keep pressure does that make sense?

christopher_cochran wrote: ... you HAVE to push that pole off of you at plant so that your body will have time to swing up because ...

If you actually meant "at plant", then that's correct. But reading between the lines, I think you mean even after your takeoff foot leaves the ground ... AFTER the plant. That's incorrect. That's a very common mistake for a high school vaulter to make, so I don't blame you for being confused about this. Worse yet, it's a very common coaching mistake for a HS vaulting coach to make, so you could easily have been misled.

christopher_cochran wrote: ... because if that bottom arm is collapsed, you will never get up. I mean i never pull with my right arm until my shins hit my forearms. ...

This is the crux of your mistake ... even if the plant was OK.

After your takeoff foot leaves the ground, it's a mistake to push with the bottom arm, and it's a mistake to think that the pole should NOT collapse. Some people call this collapsing "getting fiber-faced" ... a somewhat derogatory term ... since it's not actually so bad. The SOLUTION is not to push with your bottom arm to keep the pole away from you.

Instead, you need to understand the physics of pole vaulting ... and how guys like Bubka make the pole bend. They do it all with their TOP arm. By extending the top arm straight, and then just hanging on and swinging naturally, the speed of your run, and the power of your jump on takeoff is what actually makes the pole bend. There's really not much that you should be doing with the bottom arm, other than using it to balance yourself on the pole as you're swinging.

If you don't have the strength to hang on with just one arm ... most HS vaulters don't ... then of course you can take some of the weight on the bottom arm ... but the more weight you put on the top arm, the more natural the swing will be ... which is what you need to invert quickly ... all the way up and thru that hoop at the top of the pole that you mentioned.

There's many, many threads about this topic. Search for them ... with keywords like "bottom arm" "pushing" and "downswing".

Kirk

Jeez such crazy long posts.

Short Version

Punch - Break is the term we use.

When u take off bottom arm should be almost locked and you should "punch" with it (normally just push it for about the duration of a punch) the Break your bottom arm and swing up and get your feet to the pole the straighten out getting feet and hips to the pole then rip right hand over your head and finish the vault.

Unless your vaulting with a 16+ foot stick your aint gonna be able to bend the pole enough with one arm anyways... Its just not possible. You have to give that bottom arm a push to get the stick to bend.

xxartanisxx wrote: You have to give that bottom arm a push to get the stick to bend.

Short post ...



Kirk

"When u take off bottom arm should be almost locked and you should "punch" with it (normally just push it for about the duration of a punch) the Break your bottom arm and swing up and get your feet to the pole the straighten out getting feet and hips to the pole then rip right hand over your head and finish the vault.

Unless your vaulting with a 16+ foot stick your aint gonna be able to bend the pole enough with one arm anyways... Its just not possible. You have to give that bottom arm a push to get the stick to bend."

If that is your level of understanding of the vault you SHOULD NOT be providing advice here!!!! Go away and learn something first!!!