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Outdoor Conference Championship meet (Old Dominion Athletic Conference) that I won with a new PR of 4.70 (15'5). Coming off an achillies injury so this is my second meet back (the first being from 3 lefts which I cleared 13'6 at). Haven't been able to jump much but my focus lately has been a proper forwards lean and keeping my trail leg back all the way through the vault. I noticed in previous videos that my trail leg was breaking during my back swing and allowing my hips to get sucked under the pole. By keeping it straight, I stay upright and can better move the pole into the pit.

Finally was able to borrow a 15' 155 from a local college and it served me very well. It's a shame I didn't have it earlier. although it's already a bit soft, it's a great medium pole at the earlier heights.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkwBJ2XALGg

JUMP 1 (4.10 o): Decent take-off (around 11'6) but could have been a bit earlier to the plant. Trail leg broke and hips started moving forward which is what I didn't want. Snapped it hard and had a powerful swing all the way to inversion without any passive phases. Got away from the pole quite a bit though and went over sideways.

JUMP 2 (4.26 o): Take-off was around 11'9 and I really like my position at that time. trail leg stayed straight and allowed me to properly stay "down" and set me up for a pretty powerful swing. Stayed tighter to the pole but blew through. I made it, but it was time to move up to a bigger pole. Really liked this jump.

JUMP 3 (4.57 x): Really liked this take-off. Very free and tall; but I let my trail leg break and this allowed my hips to get sucked under. This led to a weaker swing and lack of penetration. Wasn't as aggressive on this jump either and I got stuck in the dreaded 'V'. UGLY VAULT

JUMP 4 (4.57 o): Looked like a long last stride and step was around 11'3 but it looks like I jumped up pretty well on this jump. Trail leg was straight-ish and set me up for a good swing. Coulda have been tighter to the pole but I can't argue with 15" in my PR. Other than getting away from the pole, there were other things that didn't look right about the top. Ideas? I think it was just a bit of flat-back in the vault; I might have been a bit hesitant on this jump for some reason. And any tips on how to stay tighter to the pole. Been working on it from 3 Lefts but it's kinda different from full approach.

JUMP 5 (4.70 o): A bit under on this jump but i felt like I was much taller than I usually am at take-off and that made the difference. trail leg broke but I still had a very powerful swing. Don't see any passive phases but I never fully extended. Pole is a bit soft on this jump. I think that had I kept my trail leg straight during my upswing I would have really blow through the pole and missed the jump, though I probably could have made it just fine on the 160.

JUMP 6 (4.90 x): Not particularly under on this jump but my plant looked to be a bit late. In addition, I didn't have a proper forwards lean and my trail leg broke so my hips got really sucked under the pole. I guess it hit ME hard than I hit IT haha

JUMP 7 (4.90 xx): Ran myself under to 10'6 (ouch). Definitely over-strode on the approach run. I MIGHT have been able to muscle through it but...I didn't

JUMP 8 (4.90 xxx): I was still under but wasn't about to bail out at my last attempt at 16'. Little bit of flat-back but it was close. Top-end still looked really weird, but that was probably because I was muscling through the jump.

Thanks to all that commented on my vids on youtube and on PoleVaultPower.com, I probably wouldn't be here without you. -6P

Hey looks really good! I can see the forwards lean over the last 2 steps, and it looks like you can go even higher soon!
What's your height and weight?

sooch90 wrote:Hey looks really good! I can see the forwards lean over the last 2 steps, and it looks like you can go even higher soon!
What's your height and weight?

Thanks bro. And I am 5'7 1/2 @ 130lbs. -6P

Congrats on winning conference I bet the coaches at the other schools aren't looking forward to having you around for 3 more years

It looks like sometimes you don't really get fully inverted and don't continue to keep moving your hands through and almost ride the pole over the bars. The last attempt at 4.90 particularly you looked like you swung and started to keep going and just stopped for some reason and ended up getting into an inverted "L" position. You're clearances at 4.70 and 15' you both did a better job of getting upside down and i think if you wouldve done the same jump at 4.90 that you did at 4.70 you would've been over. Just work on finishing your swing more and keep moving your hands once you start to get inverted and 5.00 will come pretty soon I really wish I had a takeoff like yours haha.

6P, you're SMOKIN!

You make 15-5 look easy - it looked like you were just warming up. There's a lot more in you this year ... keep it up!

Looking only at that vault ...

You drop the pole a bit too early and then have to hold it up. Why put that extra strain on your body ... which is going to cause you to lean back in the last few steps?

It looks to me like you're stretching on that last step. Should be shorter. That will give you a little better forward lean ... cuz you'll be taking off a little further back. It will also put you into a better position so that you can actually JUMP off the ground. I know I'm a broken record on this point ... and I really commend you on a very smooth, tall plant ... but I just think that you're still letting yourself get picked off. JUMP!!!

I like your C! So much better than last year! Still, a bit of a backward lean ... should be leaning slightly more forward ... buy hey, you've come a long way!

I think you're coming out of your C just fine ... whipping that trail leg past the chord! That's what's giving you the lift that we didn't see last year. You know that!

OK ... this is where you begin to lose it. You're swinging your LEGS up and over your head ... but you're leaving your HIPS behind. They BOTH have to swing continuously ... thru that "dreaded flatback" that you used to have. It's now more of an "L", but I think if you can just think about moving the hips AS WELL AS the legs, then you'll pass right thru the flatback in a single frame. You're almost there.

The lift that you get ... despite your hips getting caught too low ... is absolutely fantastic! The best I've ever seen you do.

YOU'RE FLYING!

Kirk

Thanks Kirk! You too xjoeyc! I too noticed that my hips stay low while my legs go up. Do you have any drills that I could do to work on it? Or are Swing-to and Static Bubka's fine? Anything I should be thinking about during the jump to move past the 'L' phase or is it just as you said and I just need to focus on raising the hips during the swing? Thanks for the feedback. -6P

joebro391 wrote: ... Do you have any drills that I could do to work on it? Or are Swing-to and Static Bubka's fine?

Think about where your hips end up after each rep of the Whip Hinge highbar drill. If they're ending up low, then that's probably why you're doing that on the pole. If they were to end up high, then that would ... hopefully ... carry over to the pole.

Point is ... make sure your hips end up high on each rep!

If you can, post a vid of your latest rendition of that drill, and then I can give you better advice.

You're not still using that mixed grip are you?

joebro391 wrote: ... Anything I should be thinking about during the jump to move past the 'L' phase or is it just as you said and I just need to focus on raising the hips during the swing?

During the vault, there's no time to think about this. It needs to be automatic ... stemming from your drills. Your downswing has improved tremendously. In a sense, you just need to focus on THAT even MORE ... so that your hips have no choice but to rise up ... automagically!

Kirk

Rings are useful for learning how to swing into inversion without breaking at the hips.
Nice vaulting, congrats on your conference championship and PR
Keep working on the free pole drop
Tom

tsorenson wrote:Rings are useful for learning how to swing into inversion without breaking at the hips.

Yes! Good call, Tom. Even better than highbar ... come to think of it!

Kirk