first college meet. kentucky invite

[LHSVaulterJJR]

My next meet is in 2 weeks on february 11th. Im looking for the one or two biggest things i can fix or change to help me jump as high as i can at my next meet.

Details of the vid.
grip 14ft on all jumps
jump 1 run 6 lefts 73ft3inch, pole 14ft 155 20.0 flex standards 75- blew through

jump 2 grip 14ft same run, pole 14ft 155 19.6 flex. standards at 75- blew through

jump 3 grip 14ft same run, pole 14ft 160 17.6 flex standards at 60.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FT8X9-PWJC0

MY THOUGHTS on biggest ways to improve over the next two weeks

Technically-
-1)Get my takeoff step on, -which for me is pretty easy ill just adjust my run length.
-2)drive my chest in more- and have a bigger drive knee along with more seperation with the trail leg (aka fix the takeoff position to have a big prestretch and attack the pole more)
-3) Actually start swinging! i have an awesome swing on the rings and bar and am a short vaulter with a ton og gymnastics ability. If i can swing from a big c position all the way to the top i could really jump high
-4)actually pull hard off the top

Energy wise-
1) move my run back to a 7 step- im definitely not at top speed from a 6
2)get on bigger poles - i blew through all the poles in the vid except the last one. and im not getting any pop.

WHAT DO YOU GUYS THINK? what should i change technically, and how should i do it?

[charlie]

You have a great early PRESS support plant. What you don't have, is enough COURAGE to get back and off early enough to catch the LIFT , and i did say LIFT from the pole your on!!!! You have to be able to put your butt on the line and FINISH the vault out in FRONT of the bar. Look at Bubka's 20'2" jump , and he has COMPLETELY inverted and extended and is still rising IN FRONT of the bar. It's not easy , if it was EVERYBODY would be doing it !!!

[LHSVaulterJJR]

Hey charlie. Thanks for the advice. there is a bit of a hesitation with my swing and invert. I remember jumping against some of your kids at Coach iras meet on the fourth of july. small world huh. thanks again


-- anyone else?

[vault3rb0y]

Instead of a 3-step plant, you have more like a 1 1/2 step plant. Your hands end up coming up too late, which is why you are under. From there, it's hard to jump up and salvage any real pole speed.

Work on the timing of your 3-step plant and make sure your hands are moving up and are fully pressed before your take off. Try this on a 6-step pop-up and force yourself to be reaching upward before you jump off the ground. From there, your jump should look a lot more smooth.

[LHSVaulterJJR]

Thanks Jason, I realized that to, but in the time frame of two weeks and the "level of impact" it will have on my vault compared to some of the other fixes i could make just dont seem to be at the very top of the list. but i definitely need to fix that.

[tsorenson]

Instead of a 3-step plant, you have more like a 1 1/2 step plant. Your hands end up coming up too late, which is why you are under. From there, it's hard to jump up and salvage any real pole speed.

Work on the timing of your 3-step plant and make sure your hands are moving up and are fully pressed before your take off. Try this on a 6-step pop-up and force yourself to be reaching upward before you jump off the ground. From there, your jump should look a lot more smooth.

Thanks Jason, I realized that to, but in the time frame of two weeks and the "level of impact" it will have on my vault compared to some of the other fixes i could make just dont seem to be at the very top of the list. but i definitely need to fix that.

All of the things you mentioned wanting to improve, would be fixed by following Jason's advice. Your technique is quite good once you are in the air (except you tuck because you are under). You are also planting nicely upward in the proper fashion. Your problem lies in the late plant. Once you spend the time necessary to make your plant early and high with proper timing, you will be jumping on much bigger poles with much higher grips. Then you won't have to wait for the pole to recoil at the top, or work any "magic mojo" on the pole at the top, you will just find yourself getting the "pop" you are looking for.

Taking off under is a disease, and plant drills that teach you "fast hands, fast feet" are the cure. At the plant, the hands must move in unison with the feet, and this can only be done properly from 3 1/2 steps out, with your hands kept high as the pole drops naturally (the drop starts at 6-7 strides out).

Good luck, keep up the good work
Tom

[vault3rb0y]

I understand that trying to fix a plant in 2 weeks is daunting. I'm not suggesting you try to perfect it. You know the science behind what you want to do in the vault because you are a smart vaulter, so here's some quicker things to think about:

1.) Think about jumping with a slight forward angle. Right now you are at a negative angle at take off, so by thinking about jumping with a forward angle, you have a better shot of being tall and staying behind the pole.

2.) Think about being aggressive with your hands at the box. This doesn't mean pull/push or anything crazy, but instead try to keep your hands straight over your head and really be aggressive with them moving upwards at the plant and before you swing. This will also unconsciously make you more impulsive and "springy" off the ground.

3.) Shorten your very last step. This allows you to jump UP more at take off, puts you at a better take off point, and makes everything quicker (and therefore more athletic) at take off.

You'll find that a proper drop/plant makes all of these three tips easier, and some of these tips won't even be possible without a proper drop/plant. But... you were also right about something else: even if you have a perfect drop and plant, but you are not accelerating and not aggressively jumping up and into the pole, you will still get clobbered at the box. So the real trick is to set up a good drop/plant, so that all three of these tips are 10x easier.

[LHSVaulterJJR]

well then its settled.

Ill be working on running taller down the runway,
creating more vertical force down the runway instead of overstriding,
continuing to increase my turnover, with fast hands and fast feet at the takeoff, hopefully with a well timed pole drop.
fixing my plant so that i dont bring my chest away from the pit as i initiate my plant,
and jumping over the tip of the pole at takeoff.

thatll pretty much set up everything right for when im actually on the pole, and will actually allow me to free up my hips for a big swing, instead of having them infront of my chest as a result of being under.

plus, itll make me faster and taller, which is always a recipe for success in the vault.

sound good?

[perezn03]

Hey!
From what i see, although i am not the most experienced vaulter,
It seems to me that your run is lacking knee drive. A very smart coach had told me that your knees determine the direction of your vault. At take off and during your run, your legs cycle but your knees lack upward drive. It seems that your run is flat and when you take off, you use your momentum to hit the pole and then rely on the pole to pull you upwards. Although you are blowing through the poles, if you redirect your knee drive at takeoff to a more upward drive, it might make the pole react a little differently, not to say though that it would have made you clear on your first two, but maybe on your last attempt.
Hope it helps
Nick

[altius]

Not much into to black magic coaching -ie solving problems in two weeks! However one thing you could sort out very quickly is the movement of your right leg immediately after take off. You are losing it as it flies forward - that pulls your hips towards the pad and slows down your rotation dramatically. Drive the knee up at take off and keep it up throughout the swing until it is above your head -take a look at the line drawing sequence on p261/264 of BTb and see what Bubby does. You will be able to use the rive of that knee to speed up the rotation of the hips. Longer term you need to sort your run up and plant - leaning forward too much early on -planting too late.

[LHSVaulterJJR]

Thanks Allan. The knee is something i definitely need to work on as well, ive noticed it for a while, just a dumb bad habit. ill get on it!.... and im not into the time frame coaching either, but i have to jump a certain height by outdoor to remain on the team so i cant help that.

[vault3rb0y]

Make sure you are only working on one thing in your jump at a time! Until something becomes somewhat habitual, it's hard to start working on something new.

My suggestion would be to take alan's advice first, and to take at least 5 jumps focusing on just this. If you do this well, move on to another tip. But don't overwhelm yourself all in one day! That's a lot of advice. It's totally understandable to be trying to make improvements fast given your circumstances, but also realize that if you stress yourself out with 5-10 things you have to fix, you won't get much accomplished. Best of luck to ya!