Pole Vault Manifesto

[agapit]

Agapit keeps us focused in another thread on the fact that height clearance=pole grip+push-off. OK, that's a great place to start. So, let's see. Imagine we have two vaulters who are physically identical in terms of height, weight, and take-off speed. Vaulter X uses something akin to the 6.40 model, while vaulter Y can be characterized as using the 6.05 model. Does this mean that the following is most likely true?

Vaulter X probably grips higher than vaulter Y.
Vaulter X probably uses a heavier pole than vaulter Y.
Vaulter X probably has a greater push-off than vaulter Y.
Vaulter X probably vaults consistently higher than vaulter Y.

Or is this an oversimplification?

The X grip is not always higher then Y, but it is not because X cannot grip the pole at the same grip, but because gripping higher would produce smaller height clearances.

However, the process of increasing the grip in 6.40 model is a peculiar one. One can overgrip on purpose in order to stimulate the body response in training and even competition. With the proper auto feedback, hinted to in Manifesto, it may be possible to increase the output of the body by raising the grip. However, if the grip increase leads to only increase in passive phases other training methods should be use to further the progress.

[Mecham]

He is back! Its like Christmas! Hope you stay agapit, please do stay.

[altius]

Just to keep this post up there I want to add a couple of more thoughts on the importance of improving elements of technique even if you cannot get the whole model . I indicated in a previous post that Isinbyeva was technically pretty good but now it has become clear that in Athens her bar clearance technique was very average - if she tidies this single element up she will jump higher. With her gymnastic background and with Petrov now coaching her, this should not take a long time coming.

Then take a look at Feofanova. For a girl who was a reserve on the Russian gymnastic team she is often pretty average in the third and fourth phases of the vault. This is because the double leg action she changes to after a fantastic take off slows down her rotation so she never covers the pole and instead of going almost vertically off the top she drops our towards the bar. In effect she is totally wasting a major element of what she can bring to the vault. I believe that this is stopping her - at 5' and a little bit - from jumping 5.00m.

I make the above points because while I agree with agapit about the need to accept a definitive technical model - as coaches we are often forced to repair the cracks already there. In fact sometimes working in camps or clinics you feel like the guys must have felt who were told to put Humpty Dumpty back together again.

[Tim McMichael]

I jumped 5.65 at 5’8â€Â

[gtc]

Tim, you gave off the appearance that you where trying to stay down and drive the pole and only swung at the last possible instant to catch the unbending pole.

[Mecham]

I didnt get that impression

[gtc]

I didnt get that impression

That's because you didn't understand what I was saying! If you would have seen Tim jump in person back in the 80's you probably would have been under the impression that he was trying to stay vertical and drive the bottom of his jump untill the last possible second!

[Tim McMichael]

I know it looked like that I drove and waited, but that was becaue of my low angle and the length my trail leg had to travel. My trail leg was almost paralell to the runway before it stopped going back. Believe me, I was trying to pull and swing the instant my pole hit the back of the box. The harder I pulled, the faster my swing went and the more my pole moved. On most jumps I couldn't quite catch up with it no matter how fast I tried to move. This gave the impression that I was waiting till the last minute.
I did drive the pole as hard as I could, but I found that driving and swinging were not exclusive; they complimented one another.

[Tim McMichael]

I just realized that my last post gave the impression that I was trying to get upside down right off the ground. I was not. Because of my position at takeoff with my shoulders directly over or even a little in front of my hips, swinging hard and fast kept me down. The pole kept moving ahead of me and my hips did not pass it till the last instant. That is where a far push off lives. The body and the pole are one connected unit both moving in timing with one another. The swing should make the pole move. Killing the pole movement to get your hips past it and to get upside down is a recipe for disaster. For example, if I bailed out on my biggest pole I would barely make it past the box. If I went with the jump aggressively on the same pole I would make it to the middle of the pit. For most vaulters the opposite is true. They can penetrate much further on a plant and hang than they can on jumps they complete. I ascribe this to a misguided attempt to get upside down instead of staying with the timing of the pole and increasing energy throughout the jump. I never tried to get upside down. On my highest jumps I never had that feeling at all. I just saw the crossbar coming at me at a high rate of speed and I simply turned over it.

[Mecham]

I didnt get that impression

That's because you didn't understand what I was saying! If you would have seen Tim jump in person back in the 80's you probably would have been under the impression that he was trying to stay vertical and drive the bottom of his jump untill the last possible second!

I haven't seen him jump. and you didn't say much

[altius]

Tim -I would love to have video of one of your better jumps. It sounds as though you were ahead of your time technically - in the US.

You might be interested in what Bubka said in Jamaica in 2002. I believe that the first sentence contains yet another technical concept in the petrov model which has been ignored. But the whole idea matches what you are saying.

"The body must be inverted in the moment of maximum bend of the pole with the body vertical and the feet upwards"!!!! This is hinted at in the partial photo on the front cover of BTB.

He went on to say "If you perform a wrong take off action. the pole bends too soon and in doing so you dont recoil energy from the pole."
and
"The concept must be to make a very dynamic movement, going into penetration and long pendulum phases, in order to be as soon as possible in the inverted position. By doing so you ensure the movement of the pole"

I interpret that last as meaning that the energy you put into the pole at take off and in the second - whip - phase is what enables the vaulter to cover the pole with an extended body - not tucked - and immediately move into inversion.

It is therefore interesting to note how many athletes still "Tuck and shoot" and how many coaches continue to promote that approach.

[gtc]

Tim definately was a masterful technition. Most guy's with his size, speed and vertical would do good to jump 5.10 let alone 5.65 He and Joe Dial were both ahead of their time technically. They were doing things at take off and in the air that few people realized Although Tim never did master volzing quite as well as Joe
I would say that Tim probably maximized his physical abilities as well as anyone in the world. Except for possibly Eric Forney(5.40m) while practically running in place.