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what am i doing wrong with my takeoff, the second half of the vault i dont even think its worth talking about. right now. its looking awful. but if you have anything to say about any aspect of the jumps, please feel free

Im 6'3". 185 lbs. jumping on a UCS spirit 16' 190. Handgrip at 15 1. The bars here are at 15 11, i can run a pretty decent 100m pace. and i think that how high i can vault is limited because i have a rather wimpy, flacid looking takeoff, and a horrible approach. i think every aspect of my vault is too passive and slow, just sort of going through the motions, etc.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExOWKA4h ... annel_page

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzcw_2l3 ... re=channel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX2EsDvl ... re=channel

-jake

In the first vid, you were under quite a bit, so your body posture immediately after takeoff was poor - leaning back way too much.

Also, you seem to be arching your back. You seem to be doing this by throwing your head back. As your head goes, so goes your body. So if you throw your head back, your back will arch. You actually want your back to do the opposite ... you want it to follow your swing ... by "rounding" your back (whatever the opposite of arching is).


On your second vid, I caught a frame near the beginning of your plant where your top hand is waaaaay behind your body, and your bottom hand is almost on your waist. That's not setting you up for a very good plant/takeoff. Instead, you need to keep both arms higher ... and by all means keep the ELBOW of your top arm back ... but not the whole arm. Your entire ARM seems to be STRAIGHT when you're just starting to plant. (I noticed this more on the 3rd vid.) This is totally incorrect. Keep the arms higher, and the top elbow bent.

The camera angle on the 2nd vid wasn't the greatest to watch your takeoff, but based on the lack of oomph that you had over the 15-11 bar, you're right in your self-assessment that your swing needs improvement. Your 15-1 grip seems too high for a 15-11 attempt. Maybe you need to lower your grip until you fix up your swing? (Just a guess, don't necessarily take this idea seriously.)

The 3rd vid was pretty much like the 1st two, but on this one you didn't seem to stretch your top hand up as high on your plant. I think the pole hit the back of the box before your arm was fully stretched, causing you to flag out and veer to the right.

I think other posters can add quite a bit to what I've said. I'm only scratching the surface.

They can give you far better details about how to improve your run and plant than I can. You have the speed ... now you just need to learn how to use it!

Kirk

Kirk he might want to study Jack's takeoff. They are around the same size and this guy is on large poles. I am often told Jack Has the best take off they have seen for a high schooler.

Ive been watching jacks takeoff alot. i know what i want it to look like, i just have no idea how to get it there, i definately think my plant and takeoff, as i imagine everyone else here would agree would make the biggest difference in how high im jumping.

one thing ive been focusing on is trying to get my hands up higher earlier. like, having my bottom and top arms almost fully extended up over my head on my second to last step. is this a good idea, or does that just set up for a bad foot plant/slow runway speed?

-jake

Also, you seem to be arching your back. You seem to be doing this by throwing your head back. As your head goes, so goes your body. So if you throw your head back, your back will arch. You actually want your back to do the opposite ... you want it to follow your swing ... by "rounding" your back (whatever the opposite of arching is).

what do you mean by this? are you talking about my body position on takeoff? If so,aren't you supposed to drive though with your chest, which may in turn arch your back?

or do you mean during my swing?

and if thats the case , do you mean the swing is supposed to start with using the abdominal muscles to "round out" your chest and stomach while swinging through with the trail leg?

i'm just trying to get a grip on what you are saying everyone has different terminology and methodology, and i'm just trying to compare it to what i know.

i really do appreciate the help

- Jake Platel

Jplatel5000 wrote: ... or do you mean during my swing?

Yes, Jake, during your swing. I'm sorry I was rather vague about that. I thought the snapshot I took of you midway thru your swing showed your head back and your back arched explained it.

I'm guessing that you think throwing your head back like that will somehow get you to swing up better or faster. It probably gives you a false impression of your hips rotating faster, when the reality is that it doesn't speed anything up. It actually prevents your back from "curling" (if that's the right word). I use the word "slinking", but you'll have to search for that word on PVP to understand what I mean.

In your C after takeoff, you're right ... you're SUPPOSED TO stretch your back into an arched position. Not by leading with the head, but by driving your chest forwards while stretching your trail leg backwards.

Jplatel5000 wrote: ... do you mean the swing is supposed to start with using the abdominal muscles to "round out" your chest and stomach while swinging through with the trail leg?

Yes! But I wouldn't limit it to just the gut muscles. Include the leg, torso, shoulder, and arm muscles too. It's ALL these muscles that you need to use to transform from the "backwards C" to the "forwards C". Again, search for these key words to get a deeper explanation. You'll find that I use these terms quite often.

Kirk

Here's somewhere to start with 'slinking':
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=15483&p=117124&hilit=slinking#p117124