PoleVaultPower.com

Im a 16 yr old junior out of lecanto high school florida. have had a coach for less than a full season. am 5'6" and 135lbs the pole im on is a 14'6" 150lbs carbon im gripping 13'3" and 13'6" my run is at 7 lefts back at 86'6"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-DMYxMT ... annel_page

Im going to say something before anyone else does. People on this site will tear someone up for putting a video of someone getting tapped in. I have no problme with the tap, some coaches just feel safer that way. This however is not a thread to discuss who agrees or disagrees with the tap, so come on people lets not start this into an off topic thread. This is to help the kid with his vault!


With that said, those are some pretty good jumps. Your plant is pretty good, the step looks on to me but may be a little under. Then you kick out that lead leg which im not quite sure what that is all about, maybe just style. But there really is no swing. The vaulter gets a good streatch at the start with his leg back and knee up, swings it slightly then just decides he wants to take a short cut and go to inverted. It is even noticable that he seems to just be throwing feet up and back down to get in upside down position instead of swinging into it, this also causes feet to slightly fall foward. Being under accualy does hinder you even if you feel better when you are under than on, so work on that some but in my opinion there are more important things to worry about than being 3-6in under.

Just practice swing to get it whipping fast and strong, then you should be good to go as far as I can see. Cant really see run up from video to look at run and plant, very key factors in jump.

I will mention the tap - essentially because I refuse to help anyone who feels they need one! Secondly I would simply remind y' all that the pole vault begins with the first step! To show a video of take off and bar clearance indicates a lack of understanding of the integrated nature of the vault. Sorry but the truth must be told. Ignorance should never be encouraged.

woah woah woah IM SORRY if i cant be in a THOUSAND different places at once here. cut me a break. i cant exactly find someone or yell at someone to film every single vault of mine. My coach is actually filming separately and hes filming the entire run. As for me i place the cam on the tripod and hit record. and it runs all practice long. thats called being smart not ignorant. sorry i dont have a bunch of lazy teamates sitting around watching me vault all practice!


as for the taps i DONT believe i need it, my coach actually just insists on it for safety reasons. if i tighten up slow down or plant late then he can spot me through. But in the video hes bareley even touching me in the first place. and ive actually asked him not to push but hey i tend to listen to my 18 10 ft pole vault coach.. and it tends to work out for me. brought me from 11'6" to 15ft in about 3/4 of a season or less

But you haven't cleared 15' that tap is going to allow to move the pole easier give you a false since of completion of the vault. Spivey jumped high but never seen anywhere that he jumped 18'10". I once cleared 18' getting a tap on a 5m 180 that i could never plant on my own. I will never jump on that big of a pole without a tap. Safety first and he can't tap you in a meet or warm up at a meet. One other note just because someone was a good vaulter doesn't mean they are a good coach. I am a good vault but must admit not a very good coach right now. I got alot to learn and I only feel how to vault and I really don't see it to well. That why I'm not a good coach. I am not saying your coach is not a good coach. But he is creating a dependency for you.

Also you are insulting one of the most knowledgible coaches in the world you really should do more research on the pole vault.

Coaching techniques change over time. It used to be standard practice for certain coaches to recommend certain supplements to their vaulters. Supplements that are banned now and could get a coach in jail if they distributed them.

Tapping is the same way.

I've had coaches who were big into giving taps in practice. Just tell them you want them to take one giant step backward. They'll still be there if something goes wrong. But make it clear you don't want the tap. Even a small tap can make a big difference in your ability to move a pole. You and your coach may not feel like he is doing much, but you're both wrong.

If you can't get the pole in the pit by yourself, you are on the wrong pole. Period.

Despite VaultPurple's plea, the focus is still on the "tap". I think that's as it should be.

I can't get past the "pads over the standards" or the "tap" issues either.

And I can't tell if the pads are now over the standards or not. They MIGHT be, but the camera angle is just a tad too high to see. We discussed these issues on another thread here http://polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=17322 but there has been no response from Jason on that thread yet re any safety improvements concerning the pads.

How ironic that his coach is supposedly "tapping" for his safety, yet turns a blind eye to placing the pads over the standards. The pads are there ... and paid for. They should be used. PERIOD.

Is it just me, or should safety always come first?

Jason, I'm trying to help you, but I'm having difficulty biting my tongue on this issue. Please reply to the previous post ... in a constructive way. And please assure us (if true) that the pads are now over the standards.

Kirk

So much for everyone staying on subject! yall all posted and got out of line. No where did he insult altius. And I have a lot of respect for altius Alan but the kid was just defending himself. As far as anyone questioning the respectablilty and accomplisments of any athlete or coach is extreamly out of line. As far as Im concerned, the tap is a coaching technique just as any vault method is a vaulting technique and is still a matter of opinion. My coach in high school tapped and it was very prodcutive. It was not all the time, but he used it durring my first few tries on a new pole so that I could get the confidence to plant on a bigger pole. Then once I had a few good jumps on it he backed off, and if i didnt make it in, our matts were big so i figured out how to land it. But there is a lot to be said about the confidence level of getting in with a certain pole. If confidence was not a factor then we could all get good and warmed up off the runway, then hop on our biggest pole. But thats not always the situation. No one has to like my opinion or anyone elses opinion and no one has anyone the right to call anyone ignorant if they just chose not to believe how you do. There are plenty of unconventional ways to vault and new things coming up everyday. Look at Jason Colwick, one of the most non conventional techniques in all of pole vaulting. This is Pole Vault Power not Petrov Power, theres always more ways to skin a cat.

theres always more ways to skin a cat.

Clearly you have not read page 38 in BTB2...

Taps are dangerous, period. They also throw off the entire 'feel' of the vault... It's not just YOUR vault, now it's YOUR vault + an outside force. That tap screws with the biomechanics of your swing, not just makes you overconfident! So, it's not even worth starting to try to critique the jumps.

Tell your coach you won't jump unless he's at least 10 feet away from the runway.

There are no pads on the standard bases, you can tell by the way the girl is standing.

And VaultPurple, there is a difference between giving a tap the first time or two somebody makes a jump in poles, and tapping every jump all of the time. I have less of a problem with the occasional tap, when a vaulter is having a blow through without a tap, and it's a fairly big jump to the next pole. Sometimes that's the only pole you have, and maybe the vaulter has never touched it before and the coach doesn't know how it will look, but they know if the vaulter hesitates they'll come up short. If the coach knows how to tap properly, after 1-3 jumps either the vaulter will be using the pole on their own, or the coach will know it's too big for them and quit trying to force it.

No tap under any conditions. Just learn to run, plant and take off correctly and you will never need a tap.

If your coach was filming your run up, let us see it and then perhaps we can provide intelligent feedback. Certainly the gentleman giving you the tap would be far better employed filming the entire vault from the first step - or watching you from a sensible position from which he can give you feedback -about your left leg swing for example - rather than helping you to develop bad habits..