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i was wondering if anyone knows any good drills for gettin more clearance off the top of the pole. I would like to say that i have most of the fundaentals down sufficiently except getting off the top (my plant is okay, as is my swing etc.) Currently I use a 14 1 pole, gripping approx. 13' 8'. w/ box, that makes 13 feet grip height, my pr is 12 6 and real close to 13. what can i do to keep my feet/hips up so as not to fall and hit the bar when im inverted, turning and pushing off? how can i improve height off the top? it sees even if im not explosive, i should at least get 6 inches to maybe a foot more just by moving my extended top arm out of the way off the top..... if you understand what i saying, any tips?? thanks.

First of all - there is no such thing as a drill that will help you "push off more". How much you jump over your grip is directly controled by how much force you generate with your takeoff and swing. Get better at the bottom of the jump and your top will be a million bucks.

Secondly - Drop your grip! 13'8" is a HUGE grip for a 12'6" vaulter. 13'8" should be in the 14'4" range. Try gripping about 13' to 13'2" and see how much easier it will be to clear 13'.

Barto

Run faster, plant better, and hit the pole harder! Those will no doubt improve your top end! Probably not what you were looking for, but its true!

First of all - there is no such thing as a drill that will help you "push off more". How much you jump over your grip is directly controled by how much force you generate with your takeoff and swing. Get better at the bottom of the jump and your top will be a million bucks.

Secondly - Drop your grip! 13'8" is a HUGE grip for a 12'6" vaulter. 13'8" should be in the 14'4" range. Try gripping about 13' to 13'2" and see how much easier it will be to clear 13'.

Barto

Barto, didnt even see your post before I posted. Good call! jhesch, that is your answer right there. Listen to Barto. Good luck!

Geoff

I loked at the post and was going to reply after I went through the other new posts. came back 30 seconds later and bam you two had already posted.

with regard to box, wouldnt my grip then be at approx. 13? ill try movin it down, but will it significantly be changing my timing? thanks for the help

and also, what am i lacking at grip of 13 8 that someone w/ same grip clearin higher has? i have good penetration (standards at 30 inches=80 cm.?) perhaps just improving my plant and swing, etc.? its nice to have people that know what they're talkin to me help me, my 'coach' only vaulted w/ aluminum, never even touched a pole or coached until last year....seems i know more than him, he never really has comments on my vault because i have basic fundamentals, which hes good at teaching, but doesnt pick up specifics...thanks

alright sounds like you have plenty of speed on the runway, but what you need to do is swing harder. the quicker you get your hands to feet the better, less time to lose energy out of the pole. also as soon as your hands and feet meet you need to start the rip/pull/ w/e you want to call it. Bring it right against your body. if you feel your feet dropping and the pole flings you backwards at the end then your getting away from the pole and need to work on getting your left arm tighter when you rip or pull. Your problem is similiar to the problem that I was able to fix at camp. Once you can get on top of the pole you really start to feel the energy come back out of the pole.

If your takeoff is sound, you need to keep coming around on the pole to avoid falling out at the top. Stay on the right hand (if you are right handed) and keep pressure on the pole by rowing through. Also you need to keep yourself close to the pole through the recoil. Get your right hip to your right hand and that should keep you from falling away at the top. Good luck with it.

jhesch wrote:and also, what am i lacking at grip of 13 8 that someone w/ same grip clearin higher has? i have good penetration (standards at 30 inches=80 cm.?) perhaps just improving my plant and swing, etc.? its nice to have people that know what they're talkin to me help me, my 'coach' only vaulted w/ aluminum, never even touched a pole or coached until last year....seems i know more than him, he never really has comments on my vault because i have basic fundamentals, which hes good at teaching, but doesnt pick up specifics...thanks

If your gripping 13' in the box which is essentially as high as you can hold on most 14' poles and vaulting 12'6" it's telling me that your flaging off the top of your pole/or falling off. Some what like you see in the picture of Doria Hollenbock in the upper left corner of the banner. You can see she is maybe 3-5" over her top hand. Noe most HS flag off thier pole a lot worse than that. It's bc she isn't in a position mostly from her takeoff the come off the top of the pole. It's mostly what you do at your take off that determins what you can do during your swing and on top of your vault. I know this may sound confuseing. So lowering you grip will help you swing into a better position so you can come off the top of the pole correctly and effortlessly.

Now your options to correct this may be limited b/c dropping your grip is going to speed up your pole rotation, and with you standards buried already you may blow through. SO what would be ideal is a 13'6" with a wieght ratin about 10 but probably15lbs heavier than what you are on to develope your swing/ or possibly a 5lb heavier 14' pole with the lower grip Barto recommended. If that is not an option and your stuck with the pole you have lower your grip during practice and work on your take off and swing. Or if you have a pole you can short run vault on your take off and swing there.

Let me give you an example of one of the kids I'm coaching last year was his first year. he is 5'9" 135#. I didn't have short enough big pole for him. My biggest bole under 14' is a 13' 150. By the end of the year he was blowing through on a 14' 160 from 7 lefts standards at 80cm. he jumped 12'-12'6" on average with one 13' vault at the last meet of the year. This summer with me was jump from 5 lefts(by then his take off improved so that he could jump on a 14'145 from 5 lefts gripping down 16") and winter with Dick Henery all he did was jump from 4-5 lefts on a 13'6" pole. This winter he was on a 13'6" 170 from 5 lefts and cleanly clearing 14'6" with some brushes at 15' on that pole.

So what can you learn from this. Well #1 he was on a 14' pole 25# over his wieght and could have used some thing stiffer actually. So you might think he has a good plant and swing, and compared to alot of HS vaulter he did. BUT it wasn't good enough to get him in the correct position on top the pole so he could jump over his hand grip.
#2 He learned how to get in a better position by lowering his grip and running shorter.
#3 It took 8-9 months of short run low grip to learn and still isn't automatic for him.

Sorry for the looong post. I wish a had a team full of vaulter a dedicated as you seem to be. good luck!!!!

hey thanks for the help. well here are my pole options: the pole i use once im warmed up and usually w/ tailwind --- 14' 1" 176.6 lbs. ESSX. (thats my competition pole usually) at practice i usually use a 13' 7" (or 13' 8"?) 176.6 lbs.... Also in the shed we have some other random pole, i think its an old pacer, only has magic marker writing on top that says "180" it looks about 13 feet, maybe a little taller. ive tried it before, i can grip top, it really doesnt bend much at all and i havent used it enough to really try it and get upside down.......will that info help? sounds about right, me "flagging" off the top. ive never heard that term but it sounds appropriate.....i get all the way inverted but come down a little prematurely off the top....anyone remember reading a post from jj mentioning free video analysis? i could have sworn he put one up here, but i cant seem to find it lately...maybe i was dreaming... well anyways my coach doesnt pick up specifics like this, though the university coach may come to practice one of these days and help us out....does anyone here do video analysis? id like to see if i could get some footage online and get some more specific feedback then i currently am.... thanks for everyone's help!!!

jhesch wrote:hey thanks for the help. well here are my pole options: the pole i use once im warmed up and usually w/ tailwind --- 14' 1" 176.6 lbs. ESSX. (thats my competition pole usually) at practice i usually use a 13' 7" (or 13' 8"?) 176.6 lbs.... Also in the shed we have some other random pole, i think its an old pacer, only has magic marker writing on top that says "180" it looks about 13 feet, maybe a little taller. ive tried it before, i can grip top, it really doesnt bend much at all and i havent used it enough to really try it and get upside down.......will that info help? sounds about right, me "flagging" off the top. ive never heard that term but it sounds appropriate.....i get all the way inverted but come down a little prematurely off the top....anyone remember reading a post from jj mentioning free video analysis? i could have sworn he put one up here, but i cant seem to find it lately...maybe i was dreaming... well anyways my coach doesnt pick up specifics like this, though the university coach may come to practice one of these days and help us out....does anyone here do video analysis? id like to see if i could get some footage online and get some more specific feedback then i currently am.... thanks for everyone's help!!!

This is what Jan was mentioning

http://www.globalsportstechnology.com/P ... eVault.asp

but it's not free.