Thanks to everyone that has contributed to this thread so far. I appear outnumbered on this issue, and I'm not going to argue my point on this any (much?) further, although I still think that my heel didn't touch. I attribute this conviction to my memory of how my takeoff FELT, rather than any photographic proof - which I don't have.
I concede that the acceptable technique is that the heel does indeed touch the ground, albeit without any (or much) force.
But to be perfectly honest, I'm wondering if this is one area where my strength was superior to most elite vaulters. To answer ADTF's question, I definitely DID NOT have a heel-to-toe takeoff action - which would infer braking. I purposely avoided any areas of leakage- ESPECIALLY during the takeoff. Without a very strong calf muscle on your takeoff leg, I can appreciate that you will simply not be able to take off without your heel touching. Although my ankles are "shot", my calf muscles - even at my ripe old age (59) are still "ripped". I attribute this strength to my years and years of high-jumping and basketball prior to and throughout high school (and SOME natural, God-given strength). Very strange how I ran so slow, but jumped off the ground so well. But hey, you make do with what you have!
However, I did misquote Petrov, when I said ...
... according to Petrov, you should roll on the ball of your foot on takeoff.
I had read Rick Baggett's blog, where he published "
Petrov’s Artical @IAAF" here:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=46293324&blogID=332035272Petrov said ...
The foot is placed for the take-off firmly with a quick roll-up on the ball of the foot.
... so when I recalled the quote from memory, that's what I said. However, when I re-read the article today (to try to answer ADTF's query about this), I now see that he said ...
The whole foot is placed on the ground with a bias for an instantaneous roll (active placement); the shock absorption phase will increase if the foot is placed starting with the toe.
... a few paragraphs above the part that I had recalled. I remembered that part because it impressed me that that's exactly how I did it (according to my recollection of the FEEL of my takeoff). However, due to the earlier quote, I took his comments out of context - there's nothing in his second quote that says your heel SHOULDN'T touch the ground.
I also take Rick's comments as gospel - I don't believe that Petrov is the only expert coach in this regard. I think Rick Bagget is too, and in this thread, he said ...
baggettpv wrote:The foot sets down flat with no weight on the heel. Weight is on the ball of the foot.
When the foot contacts the ground it is in a dorsiflexed position ready to propel the vaulter into the air. ...
I believe that his statement matches my experience. After all, I didn't FEEL any weight on my heel on takeoff, and I didn't analyze any film of my takeoff in detail to see if my heel touched, so I quite naturally ASSUME that my heel never touched.
I hope that we can all agree that you should strive not to:
1. Put much weight (if at all) on your takeoff heel on takeoff
2. Brake on takeoff
These are LEARNED skills. IMHO, beginners will put a lot of weight on their heel, and brake. Intermediates - not so much. They'll learn to put less and less weight on the heel. Only elites will master this, without any weight on their heel, and without any excessive braking action. Any comments on this point from any elite vaulters or their coaches?
On Point #1, your milage will vary according to the strength of your takeoff leg.
Point #2 might be controversial, since there is ALWAYS some braking action to convert horizontal momentum to vertical momentum. What I really mean to say is that you should not brake OTHER THAN the braking that's inherent in jumping off the ground. I'm sure someone else can say this better than I can.
Lastly, I caution you to not try to figure this out by analyzing vids of vaulters. Instead, you need to EXPERIENCE it. Just because a vid APPEARS to prove that the heel touches down, that doesn't mean that the vaulter should touchdown his heel BY INTENT. And just because you see on a vid that the heel's touching doesn't mean that there's weight on it. In other words, for elite vaulters, the touching of the heel is only a natural CONSEQUENCE of Rick's description of what occurs BY INTENT.
Maybe I haven't budged from my position all that much (other than admitting that I misquoted Petrov) ...
Kirk
