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In my jump I definitely try to maximize the active phases. I work with my arms throughout the motion. I cannot, however, jump straight up off of the ground. I get my heel off of the ground before the pole starts to bend by leaning slightly forward at the takeoff so that my top hand is a little in front of me. After that I am active through the entire jump. My chest drives forward, but I do not drive it there; it just happens. My left arm is almost straight, but I do not push with it. Are we on the same page, or are we on different planets? I think you saw me jump back in the 80's. What do you think?

I think you had great technique very similar to Jeff Buckingham 5"8" 150lb(17’0â€Â

Tim McMichael wrote:In my jump I definitely try to maximize the active phases. I work with my arms throughout the motion. I cannot, however, jump straight up off of the ground. I get my heel off of the ground before the pole starts to bend by leaning slightly forward at the takeoff so that my top hand is a little in front of me. After that I am active through the entire jump. My chest drives forward, but I do not drive it there; it just happens. My left arm is almost straight, but I do not push with it. Are we on the same page, or are we on different planets? I think you saw me jump back in the 80's. What do you think?

We are in the same solar system. You are describing a free take-off. This can be achieved with a very little jumping ability of an athlete. The free take-off should have stimulated your jumping ability over time and your ability to make a maximum input during the take-off even though it was probably just falling though the take-off leg. You did very fast falling trough the take-off leg, faster then most, didn’t you?

With the left arm, in your case, is difficult to say without seeing the vault. However, the straight arm does not mean that the vaulter intends to push with it. It could mean many things other then push.