Video Review: Vault analysis and post season advice

[thisismyusername]

Hi all,

PR: 12 "
What pole you are on (length and weight rating): 14" 7' 155 Spirit
How high you are gripping: ~ 13"3'
What bungee are you attempting in the video: 13"

1) I've read a few posts on here, many of which condemn rowing. The problem is, I don't think I fully understand what rowing is. On my pop up, it looks like a push the pole forward with my top arm to get inverted. Is this rowing? What should I be doing instead to avoid it?

2) I try to pull in with my left arm to bring my body close to the pole once my feet are over my head. Is this correct to actively pull or should my left arm break in naturally?

3) I have access to poles, a high bar, and a sliding box over the next summer. What drills can I be doing to improve? There is a pit nearby that I am able to use, but I will only have access to a coach once every two weeks. I'm avoiding full runs if I am the only one present (which is frequent).

Thanks for all of the help! I'm open to any advice offered!

[vault3rb0y]

Hello Username,

You definitely have some time to improve some technical parts of your vault over the summer. But first thing is first: Get away from the vault for at least 2-3 weeks and go to the beach, relax, and just do some basic fitness things or sports. You need this time to mentally unwind, and it'll also help you make changes to your technique more easily when you come back. When you do come back:

Focus on your run and drop/plant. From your pop-up I can see that you cover the pole fairly well, so your #1 priority should be fixing your run, drop and plant. Here are some technical issues I can see from the 1 vault you've shown, and a drill to help fix each one:

1.) Pumping the pole forward/backward as you run.
Do 30-50m running with the pole held high at about 50-60 degrees, and keep your left hand just slightly below your hip bone, and your right hand tucked underneath the pole with your elbow below your hand. It's over to move from the shoulders and you don't want to be stiff as a board when you run, but pumping the pole is wasted energy and will eventually slow you down.

2.) Over-striding and leaning forward
With a pole, take 20 steps in 20 meters with knees coming at least parallel with the ground. Do these as fast as you can. Then when you do the 30-50m running from above, also make sure you are staying tall with your knees coming up, and your steps only slightly in front of your body. Video tape yourself and compare it with the running mechanics of Bubka

3.) Right hand drops low during plant, then has to come all the way back up for the take off
Do slow-motion pole drops starting with the pole at 45 degrees, with a small pole (that won't pull you forward), with your Right hand moving straight away and up from your chest, into your finished plant position. The right hand should not drop at all. At the same time, your Left hand is moving straight up the side of your body. Only you've done about 30-50 of these, do the same thing while walking the last 6 steps of your approach. After about 30-50 more when you KNOW your bottom hand is not dropping, you can progress to jogging, running, and sprinting. Notice that this is a LOT of reps, but practically no impact on your body. So take your time and do these every day. By the end of the summer you'll be a pro

4.) Take off is Low and Under
Do Sand/Grass/Stiff Vaults, focusing on jumping up early and driving your hands through the pole. You should be off the ground and jumping up into the pole with strong hands, all before the pole actually makes contact with the ground/sand/box. This drill, combined with the 20-20's, will help you the most in improving your take off.

Combined all 4 of these details with at least 8-10 pole runs (not vaults) per week. At first, just focus on the timing and accelerating through the last 6 steps. After a couple weeks, you can start measuring your runs to see how consistent you are, but still don't worry about hitting specific marks.

Since you have access to a high bar, you may as well strengthen your core. Start with hanging knees-to-chest. If you can do 3x15 nice and slowly without fatiguing your core, then progress to Hanging Straight Leg Raises, only bringing your legs to parallel with the ground and keeping your biceps by your ears (don't push your arms in front of you). Try working up to 3x10 of this exercise. This one is a killer! If you can do 3x10, SLOWLY, so that you avoid any swinging back and forth on the bar, your core is exceptionally strong. At that point, Work toward 3x10 SLOWLY raising your legs all the way to the bar in the same way. If that gets easy, work toward 3x10 slow Bubkas. The reason I would have you doing everything slowly, is to build your strength base. The stronger you get in your core this off-season, the faster your inversion will be next season. If you work right to the bubkas, you'll likely be breaking at the knees and training yourself in a way you don't want to. Take it slow at first.

You could obviously do much, much more. But these will probably give you the biggest bang for your buck when you begin your training next season, and I don't want to over-complicate anything. This should give you plenty of homework. Feel free to do whatever other strength/conditioning you want to do as well. But I would avoid taking full vaults. Your vault needs work technically, and if you keep vaulting, you'll just be reinforcing bad habits. It's better to go back to basics, do months of these drills, and maybe test yourself in 6 weeks after 15-20 separate sessions of doing all these drills, and you could try it out on a flexible 6 or 8 step (3 or 4 Left) approach. But don't get back into the vaulting until you've really ingrained these drills and exercises into your head!

Jason

[thisismyusername]

Thanks for the response, Jake!

Thanks for a great resource. It's very helpful to see specific faults outlined in my vault with several different drills as a solutions. See you at the beach and on the track.

Best,

Username