5'6" - 6'6"; 2nd year vaulting.

[powerplant42]

Some immediate tips...

1. Raise your grip for the pre-jump drill by about a foot. You HAVE to get your top hand UP instead of OUT in front of you.
2. It is NOT a sit up on the bar. Hopefully, KB will have some good demo of his hinge-whip drill soon... I'm counting on it.
3. Stop worrying about the cheater Bubkas. You should be doing sit ups instead.

[birdi_gurlie]

1. Whenever I do this, I almost hurt myself...I think I have a few examples of this, accidentally of course.
2. Okie dokie! I hope so...[and if you're reading this KB, pretty-pretty-please-with-a-cherry-on-top get a good demo up...I NEED TO SEE IT!]
3. Okay.

On the bright side...at the meet today, I got over 6' AGAIN which means I'm consistently getting over 6.
On the down side, I still don't know if I can make it over 6'6"...we accidentally left my pole at our school so we had to borrow one. A 11' 110 Rocket. My pole IS an 11' 110, but I'm wasn't used to that pole and I'm not sure where I hold on it EXACTLY. But I DID get 6' with a new pole, so yay! [And my friend got videos of it for me! ]
I think I did pretty well, though not as well as on Monday.
BUT one of my school's previous vaulters is coming to our practice next week and he's really good. So I can get some tips and such from him too.

[KirkB]

It's going to be awhile before we take that vid, so please don't hold your breath. In the meantime, take a look at 6P's highbar swings. That should suffice.

PP can help you with that.

Kirk

[Andy_C]

Hello,

If you don't mind, I'd like to offer a different approach. This is just for doing jagodins on grass.

Looking at that jagodin drill you're doing, I think you really need to work on your takeoff. At this point, I would not recommend you increase your grip higher if you're getting close calls with hurting yourself. There is actually a different way of approaching this drill...

Try to jump before the pole tip hits the ground!

That may sound weird, but let me explain.

I suspect the reason you're getting close to hurting yourself if you grip higher on that drill is because your legs come out from underneath you, am I correct? In your jagodin videos, what you're doing is planting the pole and then jumping. Your grip is relatively low so you won't have too many issues with getting through using this technique. But if you grip higher while using this technique however, your drop will produce a smaller plant angle (ie. the pole will plant further away from you) so you will experience a greater horizontal resistance from your jump. In other words, if you increase your grip you're going to just "jam" the pole into the ground several feet in front of you while you're moving forward, causing your lower body to come out from underneath yourself. As you can imagine, this is very dangerous.

So what should you do? Learn to jump before the pole hits the ground!

The best way to do this is to learn from a one step jump and then build up. I would only recommend doing jagodin's on the grass for up to 4 steps (2 lefts), any more and I think you should go to a sand pit or a pole vault pit. As you increase your grip, you will come to a point where you can no longer safely jump on the ground and you will need a fixed plant box and matts or sand pit to do this safely. Keep in mind, the drill I'm going to explain to you is for jagodins on the grass, there are differences with jagodins with a fixed plant box/ sand pit. The main difference is the distance between your body and the plant but I won't go into that right now.

Your Grip:
Grip two hands (approx 6-7 inches I'd say for you) above your standing grip (standing next to the vertical pole), if you don't know what I mean then please ask. It's quite important you get an appropriate grip height for this. Two hands above your standing reach will probably be best for somebody at your level, it's not very high at all (so there's no way you're going to get hurt) but it will force you to jump and plant properly if you want to get through (especially off a one step jump since you've got zero speed)! Note: just so we don't get lost in translation, "one step jump" basically means "take off from a standstill", not "one left and then jump".

The starting position:
With your correct grip, have the pole above your head ready to plant. Both arms slightly flexed and in a position holding the pole just so the pole tip is about 3-4 inches off the ground. Lift your takeoff leg with your knee bent in of you (just like you're ready to jump) and you're ready to go!

The jump and plant:
Jump first before the pole hits the ground! With your takeoff leg up, drive it down an jump vigorously. Make sure you don't "dig" when you jump (ie. don't crouch down in preparation for a jump). As your takeoff leg is up just before you initiate your jump, try to minimize the bend in your standing leg as much as possible. As you drive your takeoff leg down and through for the jump, bring your standing leg up and drive your knee upwards and forward (this is the knee drive in a regular vault). As you jump upwards, push both your top hand upwards for the plant. Note: you're also pushing your bottom hand upward, but not too high (ie. equal with your top hand), just for the purpose of this drill otherwise the pole won't plant, just think about it! The best timing is when you begin to push your hands upwards just as your takeoff foot leaves the ground for toe-off. What should happen is that your pole will plant just in front (almost underneath) your body a split second after you leave the ground and WHILE YOU'RE IN THE AIR! This takes a lot of practice to achieve!

Though this may sound strange (and maybe scary) at first, keep in mind, you've got a very low grip. You should be able to almost reach this grip if you stand on your tip-toes!

Why is this way better?
Don't do it right now, but if you choose to go with this technique and you get better, you can increase your grip. You will find that on the ground, you can jump with a higher grip from any given number of steps using this technique than you would with your current method. This is because if you jump first before the pole hits the ground, you're actually "taller" when the pole plants and you will experience much less horizontal resistance from the pole planting! Also just for this drill, jumping high before the pole hits the ground will generate a space between yourself and the ground where you can plant the pole just 3 inches (or less) in front of you even from a decent sized grip. This eliminates the potential hazard you have with "jamming" the pole into the ground several feet in front of you when you do it the other way. Doing it this way will also begin to train your mind that you need to leave the ground before the pole gets there, in other words "Pre-jump 101"

When doing this remember; very high plant, strong take-off, drive down and back with the takeoff leg, drive the opposite knee up, chest open, drive your chest through, keep straight, strong rigid body, hang on the pole and stay behind the pole.

This way of doing jagodins will force your arms up because there's no way you're going though otherwise! It's also going to force you to jump vigorously and drive your takeoff leg, because you won't go through if you dont! You will also have to open your chest and push your chest through because you won't make it if you don't! It will also make you learn to hang on the pole, rather than pull because... well, you get the idea! Doing it from a stand-still will put you in a situation where you have no speed - therefore, you must jump efficiently! It's an interesting concept, handicap somebody so they are forced to develop their skills.

If you're going through without even trying, increase your grip by an inch or two. You need to make sure your grip is appropriate, grip too high and you won't go through regardless of how good you are. Remember, I only recommend this for stand-stills or short distances. If you want to add speed and increase your grip, go to the sand pit or pole vault mats. For jagodin drills there I STRONGLY recommend purchasing 'Beginner To Bubka and Isinbayeva Too' (with the DVD). There is a lot of good footage of how to do this drill properly.

Again, this is just a suggestion, and I won't take it personally or hold it against you if you don't use it. But it's so simple and safe, all you need is a pole and the ground so you could easily give it a try. If anything though, just let what I've said tickle your brain a little.

-Andrew

P.S. For your little issue with the other pole, Use the "standing grip" trick I explained. Again, place your pole vertically, stand right next to it and grip as high as you can on it with flat feet - this is your standing grip. From here put one hand on top of the other further along your pole and count how many hands it takes for you to get to your grip. Remember this number and you can find your grip on any pole you pick up without needing a measuring tape. It's a standardized way of measuring your grip based on your height, reach and width of your hand. These factors should not experience drastic changes so it's quite accurate. Also, teens who are growing will automatically adjust for their grip since their height and reach are included factors. Hope that helps!

[birdi_gurlie]

Thanks!
yeah, I've been TRYING to do that...I just don't quite "get it" yet.
I do have BTB2, book and dvd, but my coach is borrowing it [and to be honest, I don't really have the time this weekend to do much besides homework]

Also, I have seriously improved after the bit of drills I've done, even if I did the plant drills slightly incorrectly...up until 2 weeks ago, I had only vaulted over 6' 3 times TOTAL [2 last outdoor; 1 in indoor] and in the past 2 weeks, I've gotten it 3 or 4 times!

[birdi_gurlie]

At this past meet:
Best attempt at 6'6": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXIqA6-WbPc
Best attempt at 6': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdSIMgBlauk

This was at our past meet.
Also, remember, I had to borrow a pole for this, since we accidentally left mine at our school. It's the same height and weight though, but I'm not sure if I was holding as high as usual.