PoleVaultPower.com

So when I jump, it seems that I always take off under by about 1 foot, which is limiting the poles that I can get on.

For example, if I start out my run at 87'6" for a 7 left approach, I will take off at 10'2" and be a foot under, then ill move my step back to 88'6" and eventually even 89'3" and still be taking off at the exact same place 10'2"-10'3". I feel like maybe I'm striding my last strides? I try to think about just staying tall, planting tall and strongly and even quickening my last steps but this problem persists.

Also, during practice I tend to use poles that I know will land deep. Should I start to use poles that are close to my competition poles during practice or is it good to practice with smaller poles during practice?

Here are some of my jumps from today's practice. Thank you so much for your help.

5 step approach run (14' 150 UCS holding at 13')

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chCM7ixD ... Iw&index=9

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96DgTaar ... w&index=15

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=am6LDWiU ... w&index=18



7 step approach run (14'7" 150 UCS holding at 13'3", competition pole is 14' 165 UCS holding at 13'4")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1b33ejV ... Iw&index=3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gb2LYMZ ... Iw&index=5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GUi7O4T ... Iw&index=8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-sOdTTU ... w&index=13

Andy, I really like how deep that you are landing in the pit: I had a quick look at the videos and the specs that you posted.
Based on where you are landing in the pit, you are blowing through your grip height on many of the jumps, landing deep in the coach's box and beyond (especially deep in some of the indoor videos)

In general, my observations involve...
It is time to begin moving your grip height up from both your 5L and 7L runs - an inch at a time...
As you do this, I suspect that you are going to blow through the poles that you are on and that you will be ready for the next poles... you and I have talked flex #s and the poles you are on now may very well be the same poles that we discussed before, if so I have that info and I can double check the flex #s - if they are different than before, let me know

As you move up in your grip, the poles you are on are going to flex more and will over-flex as you move your grip up: you will need to gradually increase your grip height and pole stiffness for both runs...

So yes, you need to practice on/near your competition poles/grips 1xweek in season and work on full length pole runs with a target in between fulls practice and comp.

I will need video of your run/vault w 1/2 cut tennis balls placed every 5' in order to make an informed observation about your run... I know that you posted that you feel you may be over-striding or that you may need a quicker frequency in your steps - both are possible...

Also, it is possible that you have simply gotten faster and that you need to change your run #s... in a different manner and amount that you have previously...

Could be a combination of any/all of the aforementioned - the video with the 5' markers will help... make sure and measure precisely and include your run distance#s, grip #s and pole flex#s and lengths...

Finally, your pole carry needs a bit of work...

Specifically, the pole is held parallell to the runway for too long in the last strides - this will change your run posture and take off efficiency - have a look at the recent posts on the pole carry - several posters have been discussing this as of late ...

coachjvinson wrote:Andy, I really like how deep that you are landing in the pit: I had a quick look at the videos and the specs that you posted.
Based on where you are landing in the pit, you are blowing through your grip height on many of the jumps, landing deep in the coach's box and beyond (especially deep in some of the indoor videos)

In general, my observations involve...
It is time to begin moving your grip height up from both your 5L and 7L runs - an inch at a time...
As you do this, I suspect that you are going to blow through the poles that you are on and that you will be ready for the next poles... you and I have talked flex #s and the poles you are on now may very well be the same poles that we discussed before, if so I have that info and I can double check the flex #s - if they are different than before, let me know

As you move up in your grip, the poles you are on are going to flex more and will over-flex as you move your grip up: you will need to gradually increase your grip height and pole stiffness for both runs...

So yes, you need to practice on/near your competition poles/grips 1xweek in season and work on full length pole runs with a target in between fulls practice and comp.

I will need video of your run/vault w 1/2 cut tennis balls placed every 5' in order to make an informed observation about your run... I know that you posted that you feel you may be over-striding or that you may need a quicker frequency in your steps - both are possible...

Also, it is possible that you have simply gotten faster and that you need to change your run #s... in a different manner and amount that you have previously...

Could be a combination of any/all of the aforementioned - the video with the 5' markers will help... make sure and measure precisely and include your run distance#s, grip #s and pole flex#s and lengths...

Finally, your pole carry needs a bit of work...

Specifically, the pole is held parallell to the runway for too long in the last strides - this will change your run posture and take off efficiency - have a look at the recent posts on the pole carry - several posters have been discussing this as of late ...

For today's practice I decided to work on two of the things that I felt like would benefit me most:

1. To work on my pole carry, I can see in my videos that my pole carry is still wrong and this will not be an instant fix but I felt that in the videos, especially from 5L, when I thought about not letting the pole go parallel for too long, I actually jumped perfectly "on."

2. Another thing I decided to do was since I was landing deep into the pit to raise my grip. I started with my grip on my 7 left run with my "practice" pole of 14'7"150 at 13'3", but I began to increase hand grip inch at a time and my last jump I was holding at 13'7" the highest I have ever held before (previous PR was with handgrip of 13'4")

So here are some videos from today's practice, for the 5 left videos, I am still using the 14' 150 holding at about 13'2" and as I mentioned I am using a 14'7" 150 for my 7L runs. As always, my standards are pushed to 75 during practices. For the 5 left jumps the bungee is set at 4 meters and for the 7 left jumps the bungee is set at 4.4 meters

7L run with grip at 13'7": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At-vfD4Y ... Iw&index=2

7L run with grip at 13'6": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sw1Q-DfL ... Iw&index=4

7L run with grip at 13'4": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYTusOc9 ... Iw&index=5

7L run with grip at 13'3": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRE7Fex5 ... Iw&index=6

5L run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQlPHr24 ... Iw&index=9

5L run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWN7_rSY ... w&index=12

5L run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTtFBcVI ... w&index=14

5L run: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh1La-80 ... w&index=15
(I felt like at this jump in particular, I actually JUMPED off the ground at take off, what do you think? I usually have a shallow jump angle at take off)

Thank you for the advice as always!

andy94566 wrote:1. To work on my pole carry, I can see in my videos that my pole carry is still wrong and this will not be an instant fix but I felt that in the videos, especially from 5L, when I thought about not letting the pole go parallel for too long, I actually jumped perfectly "on." ...

AWESOME!!!

I will have a look at the video - when the pole is held parallel as in your previous videos, the reaction is to compensate with postural tension and leaning back (summarizing) and resulting in a tendency to over stride... Not really a scientific explanation - Nonetheless, I am glad that there was an immediate and noticeable difference..

We have a meet tomorrow so I will look at the video and try to post before the weekend is over...
Keep up the good work
V

There is another thing that I noticed while watching these videos and that I felt while jumping. When I swung up, I swung up not with the intention of getting my feet to my hands like I usually did but rather to get my knees to my hands while simultaneously raising my hips up and I felt like this allowed me to invert alot smoother. Any comments on this as well?

I am going to take this conversation back to my other thread on VIdeo Review "Andy's Freshman Year Journal" for future reference..