Clarification on the middle/top end of the vault

[crayford]

Howdy,

Those of you regulars and those of you who are able to navigate around this website/use the search function know that I've been posting on here for a little while, and have seen my jumps. Basically I've been under and soft on take off, which has thrown off the rest of my vault, but this post does not concern that aspect of the vault.

This post is for clarification of what a vaulter should be doing/should feel during a separate part of the vault. The section of the vault in question begins immediately after the vaulter has achieved an L-position and begins to extend his/her hips up the pole. I've read/heard/been told that at this stage the vaulter must drive the shoulders down (into the box) while pushing his/her hips up the pole (basically through the feet).

How is this accomplished, how would you explain it to a fellow vaulter, and how would you go about coaching or training it?

Until recently I was under the impression that the weight of the vaulter's body would essentially role up and onto the shoulders of the vaulter; much like the way a person may do a backwards somersault into a handstand. Now I am to understand that once in this L-position, the vaulter should essentially shrug his weight to the top of his/her shoulders. This action won't actually put all of the vaulter's weight onto his/her shoulders, but tension the system in a way that allows the hips to raise quickly into inversion. I am still unsure as to which shoulder muscles need to be tensed and in which order (if any). Does the vaulter tense his/her trapezius immediately?

I imagine a lot of high-bar work is necessary, which is why the stress of it on this site suddenly makes sense to me.

[rainbowgirl28]

It's one of those things that is a million times easier to do with a good run and takeoff. You can't muscle your way through it properly. High bar work is important and beneficial to do, but I think it's an area of the vault that is overemphasized. Most people struggle with it because they are unable to do the previous phases of the vault correctly.

[superpipe]

This is an interesting post to me since I have a girl vaulter that is stuck with hitting a full inversion. She basically doesn't finish her strong swing all the way past the pole. Her run and take-off are pretty amazing and she hits a full pre-stretch very well, but actively swinging her trail leg all the way past her hands is extremely difficult for her (yes she focuses on the bar which keeps her head and shoulders up, but ...). She has no gymnastics background and still has a very difficult time doing one Bubka, much less one pullup. The run, plant and take-off are 90% of the vault, but learning to properly swing to inversion is the last difficult part. It's actually not shoulder muscles that play the role to help the hips rise above the shoulders. It's the lat muscles (combined with a strong core) that tense to help the upper body and lower body to connect and allow the the entire body, as a whole, to roll upside down after that "sticky" point which is just past the "L Seat" stage. Tensing of that lat muscles allows more rotation to occur around the the top hand which allows the hips to rise above the shoulders. It's very difficult to think about and you really shouldn't think about it. Learn to do Bubkas and swinging Bubkas and wide grip pullups behind the head to build lat muscle strength. This combined with a great run, plant and take-off to put the body in a great pre-stretch position after take-off will allow a very active fast swing which should do 98% of the work for you. Having strong lat muscles helps that last bit and does help when you don't get the great take-off position which is very tough for most high schoolers and collegiate athletes.

I do have to say, you can muscle it with strong lat muscles and a strong core. You won't get in the ideal inverted position or fully load the pole properly, but you can hit a pretty good position up top. I have a young high school boy that has some freakish genetics when it comes to core strength and lat muscle strength. He's never trained either much less any strength training at all. He could do static Bubkas perfectly all day the first time I showed him how. I've never seen a young kid do wide grip pullups like him either. He could pump them out with stopping at the bottom as if he's been training them for years like me. He muscles his way through a pretty amazing inversion since his take-off jump is pretty sluggish and his pre-stretch is only 50% which makes his trail leg swing very slow.

Lat and core strength definitely play a big role in the swing and inversion phase.

[tsorenson]

Use rings and rope to train the upper part of the vault. Highbar can work too but it is much more difficult. Low bars also work...look up "free hip" on youtube. Trying to tell you what muscles to contract is a waste of time...your body needs to learn the motion on the gymnastics apparatus, and do lots of reps. If you can't rip off several fast & strong swinging bubkas in a row on rings/rope/highbar; what chance do you have of being able to do it on the top of your biggest pole? Rings are easiest; start there and work up to the rope and highbar. Don't have one? Build your own! Go to the training section and the equipment section of this website for more info.

Good luck!
Tom

[crayford]

I understand that this phase is much easier to do with a perfect lower half, but I am truly curious as to how you would explain this specific stage to a vaulter. I'm currently working on this in my short approach (three lefts) and am finding it hard to explain myself.

Really I just want to know what you would do if you were in a situation where you needed to coach up this part of the vault. How would you describe it and what coaching points would you be looking for?

Also, for a phase of the vault that is 'overemphasized,' nobody seems to talk about it on here. I know most people do need to work on their groundwork and takeoff, but it seems like this topic is pushed by the wayside, almost banished. It's like the immediate knee-jerk reaction is to tell them something else is wrong. Sure, there does tend to be a common theme where people seeking advice on this topic do have problems elsewhere, but I feel as if there should be a sticky that explains how this phase should be carried out; at the very least there should be a post about not coming here for advice on this topic.

Anyways, sorry for ranting. I'm a little tired of seeing similar advice in every thread (doesn't anyone use the search function anymore?).

[altius]

"----something else is wrong." It usually is!

However if you really want to understand this and other aspects of the vault I suggest you contact Becca and buy both the Beginner to Bubka book (300 + pages) and the two hour dvd. I know I will be accused - as always - of advertising but this is the best and quickest way to get a handle on this event, as I am sure many readers here can confirm.

[crayford]

"----something else is wrong." It usually is!

However if you really want to understand this and other aspects of the vault I suggest you contact Becca and buy both the Beginner to Bubka book (300 + pages) and the two hour dvd. I know I will be accused - as always - of advertising but this is the best and quickest way to get a handle on this event, as I am sure many readers here can confirm.

Altius, I have actually had the pleasure of attending a camp at which you coached for three days. I have learned much from you; specifically that I should choose my words carefully as to avoid any mention of bending the pole, rowing, etc. But what I failed to pay attention to was your advice on this particular aspect of the vault. I believe at the time I was more concerned with pit time and a free takeoff than with fully inverting. I even went through the videos of you coaching at camp across the state from me which are posted on YouTube. I am in the process of reading your first book, and I have already seen the video associated with it. Perhaps you can refresh me on where your book Mentions this phase? I remember something about the feeling one gets during the swing and during extension off the pole; did I just blur out the memory of this phases' section?

Also, I do not accuse you of self advertising, your book is a very useful tool. I have yet to find a book suggested on this website that fails to teach me something new (I especially liked 'mind gym').

[altius]

Chapter 27 of BTB2 is the best I can do -along with the section on the latest dvd that deals with the inversion. However even here I wrote re the inversion " it is both difficult to explain and more difficult to explain. This is because although there are clearly biomechanical factors involved, the movements and timing of the body parts are so subtle and complex that they appear to be performed intuitively rather than deliberately learned and trained. They seem to be dependent on what the athletes internal kinaesthetic - body feel - at that instant tells them to do."

It does depend on everything that happens before you leave the ground. As I have suggested above this phase is so dependent on what goes before that it is intuitive - with the athlete continually responding and reacting to previous inputs.
Then this phase takes milliseconds - you simply do not have time to think about elements when you are executing it. Here it is worth recalling Bubka's response when Roman asked him what he thought of during the inversion, and Sergey replied "It is run up, JUMP, and whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

The key point is that there are no simple cues that will lead to a great inversion. The only one we have used is that once the athlete has covered the pole they 'punch the hips up vertically as they drive the shoulders towards the pad". You have to do all of the lead up drills - especially on the high bar - we suggest and then try to incorporate what you have learned into a full vault -through a progression of jumps from gradually increasing runs. It is a bit of an art but as you have seen from the dvd it is possible for young vaulters to get close to a decent inversion after a limited amount of practice.