PoleVaultPower.com

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVcQ8ecr3tA

from 6 steps focusing on a quick last 6 steps and pole drop with well timed plant. Lemme know any comments because this is about as good a run/drop/plant as i have gotten, and i would like to hear ideas of what to improve on HERE before i try to make this exactly what i do in a real vault.

On an unrelated note... this is the first video i have taken with the kodak Zi8 i got for christmas, and the video is slowed down to 1/3 speed. Pretty sweet! If anyone knows how to edit the videos to make the regular speed play first, followed by the slomo, in the same youtube video, let me know.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-Hx9mzaGWs

...Now this is an actual vault from 6 steps. The info is in the youtube description. I see a lot of things to improve but i won't muddy the water with what i think, i'd like to hear it from you guys and maybe find a few new gems or ques that could help me fix my "stuff". Also, any compliments on how amazing my camera is will be appreciated .

I really like the pole drop and rhythm you have on your actual jump! Looks very smooth, very fluid, and you have a good short last step, though you could try and even make it shorter and allow for more spring coming off the ground! I would say if you could get that step out about another 9 inches or so on that grip, and it would be looking great! Your posture looks good at takeoff as you transfer forward and get your body moving up and in at takeoff. Get that step out and a little more free and that will be solid! At the top of your jump I think what you could do a little more of is trying to keep your hands coming up through your body instead of back out towards the runway. That kills alot of your pole speed and causes you not get as much as lift as you could. Bring your right elbow right next to your ear and imagine getting both your hands right by your chin as you turn and push off back down the pole into your flyaway. Just some food for thought... Keep workin hard though man, looks good!

Your take off looks to be at about ten feet notice will you are still flat footed the pole is already bending. I would say with how tall you are with what you are gripping you should be at around 11'4-11'6. Other then that I would say when you are kicking your feet up right before you turn over try to keep a slight pike. You are currently throwing you hips at this point and causing your feet to drop. If you could resist throwing the hips and pulling in a very slight pike position then you would have a much better push off on the top. This is hard for me to explain without demonstrating so I hope it makes sence. Other then that very nice jump.

---Kasey

Hey I posted comments on your youtube page, but i'll re-post them here.

On the slide-box drill: if you had a better long-short, like in a high jump or long jump take-off, you'd spring off the ground better and not travel so far. you don't wanna totally stop moving forward though, so you'll need to find a happy-medium between height and distance (momentum placement, going into take-off).

On the actual vault: bottom arm MAY be coming down a bit low, during the plant. Push off the ground a bit harder with that trail-leg!! I feel that little break at your knee might allow your hips to move forward a bit more than they need to be (getting sucked under the pole a bit).  And loose that tuck! come on now haha. the extension and pull-turn phase looked pretty good though.

-6P

Maybe it's the camera angle but it looks like you carry the pole to the side of your body and you don't run square down the runway. Your bottom hand should be in the center of your chest when you start your approach. Yours appears to be more on the the side of your torso. If that's accurate, I'd fix that first since that's a problem that stems from before you even take your first step.

I like the ques and ideas for improvement! squaring up my run and keeping the pole upright should be an easy enough fix. I am currently working on getting my run out to around 11'6" before raising my grip up to what it should be (probably 14'3-14'6" until im in the low 17s). We are doing this by focusing on a quick last 6 steps and moving my hands quick, in hopes that my feet will follow. On my take off, shortening that last step is something i am trying to become more comfortable with. I had a meet today and noticed from film that my take off angle looks very low. During the meet, my take off was between 10'6-11' for my good vaults. Thanks for the mental ques, i will work them in on monday and wednesday!

When i see my jump compared to how i would like it to be (and what it used to be at one point) it looks like a train wreck. Luckily, this makes improvements vast and noticeable each week, and keeps me excited from week to week!


Thanks for the help guys, i will be sure to get some more video up here once i feel like i have improved on your current points enough to get some more thoughts out there. Loonng way to go but hey, that just makes success that much more gratifying.

kcvault wrote:Your take off looks to be at about ten feet notice will you are still flat footed the pole is already bending. I would say with how tall you are with what you are gripping you should be at around 11'4-11'6. Other then that I would say when you are kicking your feet up right before you turn over try to keep a slight pike. You are currently throwing you hips at this point and causing your feet to drop. If you could resist throwing the hips and pulling in a very slight pike position then you would have a much better push off on the top. This is hard for me to explain without demonstrating so I hope it makes sence. Other then that very nice jump.

---Kasey

I think i get what you are saying. Being that far under is just sucking my hips under pretty badly. Its all i can do to try to continue them moving to inversion. I think the more i fix my take off, the more the problem of my hips getting sucked under will disappear. But during the process of fixing my take off, i guess that off the ground i could press up with my bottom hand to help keep my hips back until my take off is finished. thanks!

I am actually talking about when you are inverted in pulling. You stay tight to the pole but you throw your hips causing your feet to drop. If you tighten your abs and stay in a slight pike will you are pulling you will be able to push straight down the pole, without the flag out.

--Kasey

Watched it again, i think i get it now (or i hope i do). Basically im not finishing my invert, and i should be folding back into a more inverted pike position where my legs and feet actually pass the pole, before i pull? That would be a lot of sense to me... and i'm glad you said that because my top end hasnt felt as "tight" as it has in the past, and i wasnt sure why. This is possibly the reason why.

That is basically what I am saying yes. You have you feet at one o'clock on the runway side of the pole as you pole through. (I Just think of it as staying slightly very slightly pikes in the inversion.


--Kasey