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Hello. I am a 5 11 Junior on a 175 14 foot Spirit Pole. I go to Morrill High School (Western Nebraska).

I have never been very efficient on my vault, however I managed to go 12' 9" last year. I've been told to push my lower hand into the pole on take off, however, I have also been told this is unimportant. I am working on an earlier turn and would appreciate critiques.

Here is a link to a vault in practice. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYmgcgzAO8Y (Bungee is at 12)

Thank you.

A few things right away:

The run is off-balance... Leaning too much forward, which throws off the last 3 steps.

This of course means the plant is very late, and thus the take-off is severely under. (Pushing your bottom hand into the pole will certainly bend it for you, but you won't be able to swing. NEVER do it.)

Due to the lateness in the plant and weak position at take-off, the swing is an attempt to catch up with the pole... The legs curl up to speed rotation (to get to a workable position on the pole), and this makes the pole unbend quickly. We are left with an attempt at extension/inversion on a pole that is finished unbending.

This is the common way things go. It can be seen in most beginner-intermediate vaulters.

On the positive side of things, you seem to be pretty athletic. 12'9" with the degree of severity of the above flaws shows that you've got plenty of potential already.

Thank you. I appreciate the reply. Do you have any drills in mind that would help with my approach?

There are a bunch of drills for running.

Straight leg running (self-explanatory)... Do this with and without a pole. It's the best drill for running form out there. Petrov swears by it. (Make sure you're not just trying to go fast with these, but rather that you're staying balanced, in control, and keeping your legs straight. It's all about the footstrike and ankle extension here.) You also can't possibly be behind yourself doing this, especially with a pole, or else you'll fall over.

20/20's... The best approach drill all around. 20 steps, 20 meters, as fast as you can. Don't duck-run (letting your hips sink really low). Also, 20 steps here means 10 lefts/rights. It sounds very easy, and then once you only get in 15 on your first one you'll think differently. (Don't "shuffle" to get steps in at the end. That's cheating.) These are done with a pole.

Ostriches... An exaggerated sprint form. Or it can be thought of as doing all the same motions (with the same size) as a full out sprint while going slow. This is meant to replicate the actual run during the approach. If you speed this up enough, you have what your approach should really be like.

Pole runs... Do your run on a track. At LEAST 8 pole runs per week. Literally hundreds of plant drills should accompany.

Those are some basics. Maybe talk to your sprints coach too, or have him watch you run. Remember, during the approach, the center of mass is shifted forward due to the weight of the pole. That means where your foot strikes ought to shift forward too to accommodate that change.

Remember, during the approach, the center of mass is shifted forward due to the weight of the pole. That means where your foot strikes ought to shift forward too to accommodate that change.

What?!?!?

Don't worry about center of mass or where your foot is striking the ground. Focus on being tall, running with high knees and bringing each foot up over your opposite knee with each step, and accelerating your last few steps by quickening your turn over, not by reaching your steps at all. You should never feel like you are reaching or that you are low while you are running. Instead, it should feel like each step is bouncy and keeps you tall, sweeping the runway underneath you.

It would be a good idea to include some form-running drills into your warm up at least 3 times a week (i would suggest before each vault practice). I could tell you what drills to do, but it would be much more productive to have a coach guide you through your drills each day, making sure you are doing them correctly. Otherwise you might not be doing it right, and we would never know!