Looking for constructive advice

[superpipe]

First let me say you do alot of things right and I'd say your approach run is awesome. Not sure what PP means with your hands, they look decent to me. Here's the details I see you need to work on:

1. Keep that left elbow bent out at your plant and take-off. It's alittle tucked in. This will allow you to fully finish your take-off. You're getting alittle sucked under at take-off becasue of that elbow being tucked in too much. Elbow out will allow the shoulders to rotate back and keep your body upright more at take-off. It will also let you get into a maximum reverse "C" position where your trail leg is way back, putting you into a maximum pre-stretch for a fast swing

2. Finish the swing. The swing ends when your feet swing past the pole. When your feet swing past the pole it will also roll your hips up to get you into a better position to invert straight up the pole instead of "flagging out" Swinging Bubkas on a highbar or rings are good for teaching you to swing fast and finish the swing. If you don't have that equipment, do 3 left "pop-ups" with a straight pole concentrating on swinging your feet past the pole and then inverting straight up the pole. Hold that position so you fall flat on your back into the pit. Just make sure you finish the take-off when doing this drill. Most people forget about fully finishing a take-off when doing this drill.

3. Clean up your inversion. This will come easier when you finish the swing better, but one thing you can do even if you don't quite finish the swing, is let your shoulders drop back when you invert. This means your head will have to drop back with your shoulders too. Be careful not to whip your head back. That's everyone's bad first reaction to drop the shoulders. Regular Bubkas on a highbar or rings is the best to get the feel for this. You can work on this during the 3 left "pop-ups" I mentioned earlier too.

Here's that video we all love. This should help put pictures behind my words above. Compare your video to this and check out the differences.

http://www.mansfieldathletics.com/video ... r_jump.mov

These are just details. You have a ton of talent.

[ACvault]

2. Finish the swing. The swing ends when your feet swing past the pole. When your feet swing past the pole it will also roll your hips up to get you into a better position to invert straight up the pole instead of "flagging out" Swinging Bubkas on a highbar or rings are good for teaching you to swing fast and finish the swing. If you don't have that equipment, do 3 left "pop-ups" with a straight pole concentrating on swinging your feet past the pole and then inverting straight up the pole. Hold that position so you fall flat on your back into the pit. Just make sure you finish the take-off when doing this drill. Most people forget about fully finishing a take-off when doing this drill.

Great advice right there

[powerplant42]

If you watch Petrov's speech at Reno, you would understand what I'm saying about the hands...

If you want to learn how to plant, watch Isinbayeva... Her plant is better than Bubka's, and demonstrates what I'm getting at with keeping the bottom hand closer to the chest.

[vault3rb0y]

Superpipe knows the vault. Everything he said was spot on. Dont bring up a talk with petrov meant for elite coaches and only the most elite athletes into someones video, it's out of context and irrelevant.

I would just add this, some food for thought in reference to the inversion-

As soon as the pole begins to unbend, its game over, and if you arent in the position you want to be in, it WILL end with you flagging out. All of your jumps, i see a strong swing that continues until the pole begins to unbend, and all you can do is hold that position as best you can until it flags you out. In order to keep the pole from unbending too quickly, you must work AHEAD of the pole. What i mean by this, is that YOU must react before the pole does. The longer and quicker you swing, the longer the pole will stay bent, thus more time to finish your inversion. However this will only happen if the power from your swing comes from your core strength, not your bottom arm. I notice that you (conciously or not) pull with your bottom arm to speed up your swing. Working with rings and bubkas will help a lot with this, and i think eventually you will figure it out. Think about pushing upward (not inward) throughout the entire vault while you swing. Getting on a softer pole will make things easier to figure out, and you will literally feel the difference when your swing keeps the pole bent, and your inversion will seem simple. Good show!

[KirkB]

In order to keep the pole from unbending too quickly, you must work AHEAD of the pole. What i mean by this, is that YOU must react before the pole does. The longer and quicker you swing, the longer the pole will stay bent, thus more time to finish your inversion. However this will only happen if the power from your swing comes from your core strength, not your bottom arm.

To add to this constructive advice, be careful whilst making your swing LONGER and QUICKER that it doesn't become DELAYED. The EARLIER you get your swing going, the FURTHER you'll be in in your swing as you pass the chord, and the EASIER it will be to stay ahead of the pole!

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Dont bring up a talk with petrov meant for elite coaches and only the most elite athletes into someones video, it's out of context and irrelevant.

It's a very simple concept actually... If the bottom hand goes too far forward while the pole is nearing horizontal, excess pressure is put on the knees and the athlete will be inclined to lean forward or 'muslce' backward. NOT good! The top arm should come back more so that IT, much more as a part of the SKELETAL system supports the pole (instead of the bottom arm acting primarily through the muscular system) during this portion of the planting action. In other words... LEVERAGE!

Pat Licari also talks about this same thing in the speech that he gives (posted by the same guy I think).

[altius]

Greta potential - easy to be picky but I believe that the only thing you need to do in the short term - is 'connect' the swinging legs to your pelvis so that it is taken higher -you will almost immediately get a better position on the pole and jump 30cm higher.

[pvhigh1]

Great advice all! Thank you so much for helping!

[vault3rb0y]

It's a very simple concept actually... If the bottom hand goes too far forward while the pole is nearing horizontal, excess pressure is put on the knees and the athlete will be inclined to lean forward or 'muslce' backward. NOT good! The top arm should come back more so that IT, much more as a part of the SKELETAL system supports the pole (instead of the bottom arm acting primarily through the muscular system) during this portion of the planting action. In other words... LEVERAGE!

That sounds simple to someone who has studied the vault for years and understands its concepts. NOT for someone seeking specific tips to maximize results. I dont want to scold you for wanting to help, but i know im not the only one who notices its counterproduction when you are not certain what you see! Understanding what the ideal vault should look like, and having the 'eye' to pick out various aspects for improvement are two very different things. One comes while thinking on your own (which i know you have done quite a bit of) and the other from spendings years around experienced coaches and athletes and hearing what they tell athletes to do after certain jumps. Both are required for successful coaching. My advice, and what i try to do- only pick out the pieces of the jump you are absolutely sure of, OR build upon what other coaches say by simply putting it in a context that helped you understand when you learned how to jump high. Sorry for my digression. Anything further please PM me about.


pvhigh1- Try out some of these things and video tape yourself doing them!

[pvhigh1]

I worked on the inversion drills--- here is a video of one. Am I doing it correct?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csYIbDUQsx4

[KYLE ELLIS]

Am I the only one who thinks she needs to drop her grip a little?

[KirkB]

Good catch, Kyle!

Tasha, you're getting good advice from almost everyone here.

Instead of repeating the tips already given, I'd like to discuss the TIMING of your vault ... during your swing and extension.

You swing to a pike, then pause, then shoot out of the pike. I doubt that that's your intention. I'll guess that you're really trying to use the Petrov Model. And for your age and PR, you're doing it moderately well. However, the best tip that I can give you is to try to continue your swing right on up and through your extension ... in one continuous motion. That's the "continuous chain", and that's the Petrov way.

You may not recognize that you do this, but you swing to a pike position (instead of a rockbacked tuck position), then you pause, then you shoot out of that, as you flag over the bar.

I'll guess that you're probably a good gymnast, and you can do a kip fairly well on the uneven bars. At least that's what it looks like you're doing ... kipping up and over the bar.

So first of all, it's not all bad. It's not as bad as the tuck/shoot. At least it's a pike/shoot. Brad Walker does some of this, so it ain't all bad. But he doesn't pause nearly as long as you do.

So ask yourself these 2 questions:

1. Why am I pausing?
2. Why am I flagging out over the bar?

Think about it.

The answer lies in what Kyle said.

So what can you do about it? And how will that help?

I could just tell you what I think, but perhaps if you think about it awhile, then it might sink in better.

I'll get back to you as soon as you tell me what you thought about, and how you think you can improve this part of your vault.

Kirk