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For the past long while I have been jumping from 3-4 lefts and working a lot on my swing, inversion and top end. However I have not been pole vaulting for that long so I never truly had a well developed larger step. I want to move my step back this season so I can hold higher, get on bigger poles, go higher etc... I do not have trouble penetrating but when I run from 5 steps, I feel like I am struggling to minting a fast enough and powerful enough run up. This consumes all my attention and leads to me losing all the hard "in-air" work that I did from small attempts. I am not sure whether I should just go brute force and run 5-6 left approaches and slide boxes until it feels more comfortable or if I am doing something wrong with my approach run.Pretty much what I am asking is what is a good way to get from a comfortable 4 left to a comfortable 5 or 6 left approach.

I have a video of a practice I did a few weeks ago from a 4 step
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMQFpHspmo

Since then I have worked on the timing of my pole drop so that I don't steer my pole down at takeoff and can focus on pushing up. However, I video taped one of my 5 steps and there were 3 things I noticed that were different. My bottom arm collapses as I am taking off and I really don't utilize it at all throughout my jump. Secondly, my trail leg was bending on my swing. Thirdly my takeoff was not extremely under, but certainly not as free as in the video above. I feel like I just need to be able to have a effortless run up and takeoff before I can fix those things so would appreciate any advice. If it is at all helpful my stats are that I am 5'9 140 pounds on a 13'7 140 pole. I am holding at about 12 -12.6 and am trying to run from a 5 left approach that is at about 65-66 feet out. I am not positive but what may be the problem is that I am focusing on taking big powerful strides, as opposed to just sprinting in a normal fashion.

I'm sorry I know that its hard to offer advice without a video but I don't have one to upload right now. I will try and get one up within a week but I would still love to get some advice before then.

Thanks,
Alex

Moving back is very simple. Jan Johnson developed a system that I have used for years. Simply double your height. So, if your 5'6", move back 11' for your five step. Have someone catch your step and adjust as you need. Also, move one hand up the pole from your four step. Work your five step until you are comfortable. You will bring more speed at five so your coach will need to move you up hands and poles as he see fit but that comes with running faster. Your coach will, hopefully, know when to move you back to six lefts.

Good luck, jump high.

good morning

the best way i have found... is to check and see what your six step mark is on the runs and vaults you are using now... 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 etc lefts………..

for example... i had a girl going from 5 lefts (10 steps)... with a 40 foot 3 left, six stepmark.... i had her "run back" 3 lefts from the 40 foot mark...

she was going to use the same pole and same grip as from the 5 left but could be running a little faster but not much….so i moved her back another 6 to 8 inches for her first test run back..

here we need to remember that moving back two steps (one left) will probably only add enough speed to grip one hand (10cm) higher,, maybe two grips for some of the better jumpers… to put this into perspective… if a vaulter, from a full run, is running 8.1 meters per second over the last four strides… on average to grip 10cm higher he/she will need to run 8.3mps.. this is only 12 inches/30cm of a longer run if measured from the six step mark…

say if you are running 7.3mps from 5 lefts and increased to 7.5 from 6 lefts that is only one hand grip and a foot on the runway from 6 steps….

So with the girl vaulter…….i told her i would check the six step.. which would be 40'8" ish...she was to run the same 3 lefts (six steps from the start) and if it feels "good" continue , get the feet down, plant and go up...

She did it perfectly and went up the first run……..

this has worked for me for everyone from any number of steps...

i recently had one of our top USA men do the same procedure moving from 5 to 6 lefts... worked perfectly... he had the best frequency he had ever had from his 6 left run... he is now using the same process to transition from 6 lefts to 7 and from 7 to 8..

this is the most "natural" process when you use your actual run distance, in this case for 6 (3lefts) accelerated strides…

in my experience using a predetermined set distance does NOT mathematically work after about 4 lefts. doubling your height could put you close.. but running back from a "MID" that you know to be accurte, based on YOU and how you are jumping takes the "guess" out of the process........ Continuing with a "magic' number after 3 to 4 lefts has always made my jumpers stretch and we have to move the run forward to match there "natural" acceleration so they will not be stretching a the "MID" check point.. if you are stretching at that point it is very, very difficult not to stretch under.. even the best jumpers will still stretch "under" by 3-4 inches/10cm because they cannot get the hips in line or the pole in balance if they are off 6 steps out……..

it's really a simple process.. we used to run back from the box/takeoff, but I found every vaulter will 'want"/desire a longer run and will stretch every time…….. so I change and use the "MID" they have currently and run back from that…. If they stretch from there it is easy to see because they will stretch coming back or be out too much at the "MID" and not go up……

any questions just ask..

dj

Transition to longer run….

Good morning,

I'm going to present you with a "hypothetical" taken from a recent video that I viewed….

The jump was from 6 lefts/12 steps and very, very good. Go rhythm, good posture, some "frequency" over the last six that set up a good plant takeoff…

This is how i would approach moving back to 7 lefts/14 strides…. The quickest and most effective way..

In the video I saw shoes on the side of the runway… two shoes side by side in one place and one shoe near where the vaulter hit six strides from the takeoff.

He was about a foot/30cm "out" from the shoe at six steps… but like I said had pretty good "frequency"…

So I would keep it simple… Step one...I would put a shoe 6" out from where he hit at six…or 45cm from the current shoe. Step two.. run back 4 lefts from that mark… maybe twice just to get the right distance…

That new shoe at 6 steps plus the distance for the 4 left/8 step "runback" would be my run for a 7 left 14 stride approach…

I am reasonably sure from experience that the run would be "ON" enough to go up the first time.. the vaulter just remember needs to always try and increase the frequency over the last six…

Just trying to continue to give examples of how simple, successful and "ON" this can make any run change using your own "run back" stride lengths to get the correct distance.

If you are not comfortable "running" back on the runway, from 6 steps, go onto the track and run the first 8/10 steps of your approach, with the pole of course… 4 times.. take the average distance and ad that to the "know" six step mark..

Both ways gives you the same, best result………

dj