New PR. Any help before Championships?

[AvariceDemons]

Beat my old PR of 14'9" jumpin 15'3" pretty easy at the Armory. First two jumps are on a 15' 160 UCS holdin around 14'6" or so, a little less maybe. Last jump is on a 15' 165 UCS at the same grip or an inch higher maybe. Also only the second time ever jumping on a pole that stiff, and the first time i didnt get in at all.
The youtube video is all of the jumps together, the last quicktime video is a better quality version just my 15'3" jump. Its 19mb, so it might take a min or two to see.
Ive got my champs meet next week, seein what you think I could fix up. I need to make 15'9" if I want to qualify for the next level, IC4As.
Let me know what you think

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaqXWW2MWGM
http://www.lehigh.edu/~dja209/101_0023.MOV

[AvariceDemons]

also, a few other notes. Im about 5'8" 150 to 155 lb, around there.
Sorry for not the best angle on these vids, Im waitin to get the side videos of the jumps, theyll be online in a day or two. Thanks

[Powervaulter]

I don't know how much you can change your technique at this point, but here's a piece of advice I picked up from Brad Walker about getting on bigger poles: he said that when you move to a bigger pole, jump as if you're trying to blow through and get on the next one. It's an attitude that will help the transition, and keep you from being complacent about what pole you're jumping on.

Good luck!

[powerplant42]

Good jumping! One of the two biggest things I noticed was that you don't have a free take-off. This wastes energy. Another energy killer in your vault is curling your trail leg up during your swing. Keep it as long as you can during the swing!

[AvariceDemons]

Yeah ive been workin on my trail leg for while. Its just a hard habit to break. Also Im not exactly the most flexible so when I do swing it fully straight I feel it stretch. Im just gonna keep workin on that. What do you think are good drills to work on that? I was thinkin maybe start on smaller poles and short runs and slowly move up in weight and height as I get used to it. What do you think?

[powerplant42]

If you have access to a highbar, then that's the way to go. If I had one I could use, I'd be on it at least 3 times a week for half an hour. Do swings in figure-4 and have your coach watch and help you out with keeping your trail leg straight. I basically have got the same problem as you do, except I've got it much worse, starting right after my unfinished take-off... Try visualization too. It apparently activates one of the same parts of the brain that learns while you actually vault. Short runs would probably be a good way to get a feel for keeping it straight on an actual pole. Vault in the sand if you can't in a pit. Take maybe a two-step approach run and then take off strong and exaggerate the delay between the finishing of the take-off and the swing. Then swing through hard, with the body completely extended through the chord of the pole. Break at the hips, and here's the part you need to focus on, KEEP YOUR TRAIL LEG STRAIGHT UNTIL YOU'VE STOPPED MOVING UP, then turn and land on your feet in the sand. What do you mean by you feel it stretch? Do you mean you feel your hamstring stretch? Abs? Whatever it is, you could definitely loosen it up if you stretch every day, whenever you have time. After a while, you'll be much more flexible. I'd say the most important areas to stretch are the abdominals and hip flexors, (the left one especially,) since this will help you get into a better position after take-off to set up for the swing. Good luck!

[Cooleo111]

That 15'3 really was a nice jump!
You have a great takeoff and it sets you up for a great swing. However, your swing is somewhat slow and you could definitely add more energy if your trail leg was long. I'm pretty inflexible myself, but if you swing hard enough, you get your legs and more importantly your hips into a good enough position to drop the shoulders down HARD.
I would first work on the rings and the highbar on whipping that trail leg through and dropping the shoulders aggressively. If you swing correctly, it almost feels like you're going to do a backflip right off the pole. After you master the rings, I would recommend some short run work just to get used to swinging fast on a pole, and then moving it to a long run.
Good luck!