Help! Turning too late - drills?

[lakesidepv]

Ok, my best vaulter wants to quit (again). I know that we've heard this many times, but I need some advice.
She just can't see to turn early enough and has a very hard time not coming down on the bar after
getting fully inverted. She's rocking back behind the pole, has her feet up, is covering the pole very well, and
is very patient, but just is not consistent at turning. Thus, she flags out too much. Advice?
Thanks!

[rainbowgirl28]

Tell her I am having a baby and I plan to bring him to state, so she can't quit, she has to come to state and meet my baby

As far as the turning thing goes, got any video?

[Polevaulter2012]

Hello, a video would be nice to see. My guess is that it has to do with her plant and take-off, maybe pole selection also.

is very patient

I dont know exactly what you mean by she is being patient. I have found that there is no time to be patient in the vault after you hit your take-off its just go(No waiting) I know that a lot of people think once you swing to the top you then "sit" or "wait", or whatever you want to call it, but there is no "sitting" or Waiting" You start your extension and turn phase right away. anyways hope to see video soon. I also hope she doesn't quit. This is to great of a sport to quit on.

[lakesidepv]

Check this video out of our 1st meet.
13' 140 UCS
7 steps

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v11M-gf-sA4

[Polevaulter2012]

So this is what I see. I think Her last 3 steps could be quicker to put her outside. I think her take off position is causing her to drop her drive knee when she begins to swing. this is what is causing her to miss the timing. I have to admit she does a pretty good job covering the pole for what her swing looks like. I think if she can be more outside and jump up through her take-off her knee would be able to stay locked in through her swing. Which will help her turn time up with the pole. She has a lot of potential

[lakesidepv]

So she takes off at 10'. Think I should try to get her a bit further with this hand ht?

I do know that her left is too bent and she tends "hold" the pole rather than press it up.

But looking at video, she could drive her heels up when she's driving her shoulders down during invert. This would help initiate the turn better w/ a better timing at the top.

I also think I'm allowing her to vault in practice at too low heights. She's getting too used to pointing her toes thus dropping her knees too soon.

Please, more suggestions and/or specific drills.

Thanks!

[Polevaulter2012]

I would say around 10'6" for the take off. I think sliding box would really help her get used to jumping up at take-off and punching both hands up also. If you go onto my blog http://scottelliottachievingmydreams.blogspot.com/ you will find drills on there. I am still trying to perfect them but it should give you an idea on somethings to do. I think rings or a high bar would also help her understand how to keep her drive knee locked while swinging the left leg straight to the top.The rings have really helped my swing out. As for the to low of heights in practice, I would recommend putting a bungee up at least 2 feet above her PR for a practice or two to get her use to really trying to come off the top. I think jumping at bars in practice is more beneficial but bungee's have their purpose. I also think that the approach and take-off are the most important aspects in the vault. It usually is the cause of problems in the rest of the vault, so any work on the approach and take-off will be helpful. Drills, Drills, Drills. This is just my view on things and I hope it is useful. If you have video of her jumping from a farther back view it would help really see what is going on. Best of Luck and keep us posted!

[superpipe]

First of all, she's not turning too late in that video. She's actually turning exactly when she should based on her inversion in that video. That's a pretty damn nice vault all-around I'd say. A 10' 6" take-off point is way too far out for that low of a grip on a 13' pole. 10' take-off is about right if she's taller than the average girl. Her take-off point is pretty damn close to right in that video. It's slightly under I'd say, but not bad. You should always strive to have it slightly out of course. Also, her left elbow is not too bent, it's just not bent out the the left so her chest can move into the "window" more upright which will give her a better pre-stretch which will give her a faster swing. So what do I see in the video she could improve on?

1. Get the left elbow bent out to the left so she can finish a more upright take-off and hit that full pre-stretch to give her a faster active swing. How do you fix this? Don't think so much "keep my left elbow out at the plant". Think "Open both shoulders up with a high plant" Open shoulders "wings" out the elbow by default.
2. Don't drop the lead knee like was already said. This kills her swing speed and mostly why she can't finish her swing to get her hips to rise above her shoulders. So because her swing dies, she starts pulling up top to muscle into that inversion. Once you fix keeping the lead knee up, you have to ACTIVELY swing the trail leg fast all the way past the pole. That's the key to hitting a great inversion, pop, pull and turn up top. You FINISH a strong fast swing, the entire top end is effortless and will happen by itself. How do you know you finished a strong swing all the way? You will get the sensation of doing a complete backroll and and the only thing stopping it is the fact that you are holding onto the pole with both hands. It's alittle scary the first bunch of times you hit it, but the inversion after it will be effortless. You'll know.

[Polevaulter2012]

How tall is she? She looks short to me in the video.