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This is a video of 2 of the sophomores at our school at a sectional top 8 meet. Let me know what you think!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=8Hh28cCslRU

Well one of the things I definetely noticed was that one of those guys was practically sitting over the bar.

the kid who sits over the bar and goes over on his back is doing so because of his takeoff (or lack thereof). While he and his coach may think that it is simply a timing issue or an issue where he should force himself to turn, it is not the case. He could learn a few things from the other kid in the vids. All in all, however, the second kid doesnt look too bad at all for a sophomore. Both should just keep thinking about having good, aggressive runs, getting their steps down on their takeoffs, and jumping off of the ground. good luck!

I think the kid who sits over the bar is pretty good. I heard he got 11 feet as a freshman. He also straight vaults too, which is pretty amazing. He just needs to work on bending the pole and I think he will do fine. He can get that turn and other perfect form stuff later.

WeFlyNoLieVaulting wrote:I think the kid who sits over the bar is pretty good. I heard he got 11 feet as a freshman. He also straight vaults too, which is pretty amazing. He just needs to work on bending the pole and I think he will do fine. He can get that turn and other perfect form stuff later.

Bending the pole isnt quite the objective in polevaulting he should work on form and stuff now not later so he can vault high later

The bar sitter is having to rush his vault at the top by bailing out before the turn because he is not loading the pole with his bottom hand. this causes his body to sweep past the pole prematurely. He then can't really achieve the rockback and turn. I can't tell from the video whether he is also taking off in an "under" position (i.e. his takeoff foot may be too far past his top hand. This would basically force him to collapse his lower arm instead of resisting with it.

Make sure his takeoff foot is correctly positioned under his top hand and have him push out and up with his bottom hand at take off and until the pole is moving out in front of him. His body will then be able to swing through at the correct speed and then time up with the pole's releas. He will then have no choice but to make the turn over the bar.

The plant and take off dictate the enirety of the vault.

The other fellows all look like they are on the right track.

Good Luck !

Neutron wrote:The bar sitter is having to rush his vault at the top by bailing out before the turn because he is not loading the pole with his bottom hand. this causes his body to sweep past the pole prematurely. He then can't really achieve the rockback and turn. I can't tell from the video whether he is also taking off in an "under" position (i.e. his takeoff foot may be too far past his top hand. This would basically force him to collapse his lower arm instead of resisting with it.

Make sure his takeoff foot is correctly positioned under his top hand and have him push out and up with his bottom hand at take off and until the pole is moving out in front of him. His body will then be able to swing through at the correct speed and then time up with the pole's releas. He will then have no choice but to make the turn over the bar.

The plant and take off dictate the enirety of the vault.

The other fellows all look like they are on the right track.

Good Luck !

Actually there's only two vaulters, but WeFlyNoLieVaulting is right, that one kid who sits over the bar works magic when it comes to higher and higher heights.

need to work on turning...some vaults u turned real good then some u just didnt

NO to "loading the pole" and NO to "working on bending the pole". C'mon you guys! This has been covered to adnausia all throughout this forum. Bending the pole just happens after correct technique is achieved not the other way around. Loading the pole with the left arm is blocking and that's a technical no-no also. As agepit and altius say, "pole vaulting is not one extraordinary thing done well", instead, "pole vaulting is doing many simple things in a chain of events extraordinarily well". As to the video, both vaulters have vertually no leg drive at the take off. Notice the two leg swing rather than the straight left leg (trail leg) and a bent right leg. The sitter is looking at the crossbar also.....stop it. That happens when you start thinking about going over the bar. Steve White told me just a month or so ago that when I jump I start thinking about "getting over the bar" rather than thinking about going "up". Going over the bar is the same thing as going down (notice the flagging with the sitter also notice how far away the hips are from the pole when it comes to vertical) . So both jumpers need to start with concentrating on a strong take off, strong knee drive, and going up. Get those things down and we'll work on the next 97 things to be done extraordinarily well. There's good basic athletic ability there in both vaulters. Get them past the bad habits and they will do some good jumping. Later..............Mike

Hey Guys
I get the feeling this pair does a lot of bar jumping in practice. If this is the case, stop it, you are forming bad habits. What i see are decent runs, wrapped up with a very weak take off. This is due to little drive knee and no real jumping off the ground. Subsequently, the only thing the pair can do in order to add energy is swing, which is done early- before a trail leg is back and the body is in a good position to add energy. The sitter has probably looked at the bar every day in practice, ya cant do that. The other kid getting more of the idea of catching some of the energy he's put into the pole, however he isnt nearly inverted enough to get all the energy hes added (in essence, losing all the energy he's put in with the swing!)

Enough about whats wrong, heres what i would say the pair should do to help.
First thing is first, you need a strong take off before any other part of the jump can look right. Start with sliding box drills and work on take off power and angle, and position. Be big and tall at the plant. Then do some pop ups holding low and make sure you are JUMPING off the ground as hard as you would if you were trying to long jump. Dont even swing at this point, stay tall and jump hard.

Put it into your short run, and for the first day or two, still dont swing. Make sure you are jumping well off the ground, go back to box drills and pole runs if necessary. You should be able to jump without your hips getting sucked underneath you. This will take quite a while, but its important to be able to do.

After you can take your short run without swinging, and you are jumping hard off the ground, put a bungee 3 feet higher than either of your PR's. Make sure you are still hitting these good positions, but as soon as your body is as stretched as it can be after your take off, swing your trail leg hard, and try to get your feet up to the bungee. Its important to make the explosive take off second nature, because its virtually impossible to think about two things at the same time, especially in an event like pole vault. If you cant take off hard without thinking about it and concentrating on it, then trying to swing is just going to make your take off weak again. But when you take off hard every time, you can start to build muscle reflexes, and soon the take off is only in the back of your mind, and you can focus on something else. But, one step at a time. Next step- record more video so we can see how you are doing . Good luck and have fun!

No, they actually don't bar jump at all in practice.

Thats good, they just really need work on their take off and swing then, like i said. Tons of potential for sure.