Coach needs Help!!

[jam354]

I am currently coaching a high school junior girl. She has progressed nicely in learning the event but is now stuck because of a major flaw that I can't seem to correct. When she jumps in warm ups or over a bungee, it looks beautiful. Freeish takeoff, good swing, hips up, shoulders back and off the top. When she gets into a meet, she never drops her shoulders and goes over on her back. I know that turning is natural if everything else is done correctly, but that is the frustrating part because she does everything correctly except when a bar is up. She jumps 9'6" on her back and without dropping her shoulders and without achieving a vertical position. I have to believe that if she can do those things, she will be pushing 11 ft right off the bat like she does over a bungee. I have coached numerous 10 and 11 ft jumpers and almost all of them have run into this problem, and I fixed it pretty easily. So if anyone has ANY ideas on how to fix this, I would appreciate it. I've run out of ideas. I know that its mostly mental, I did things like this when I vaulted. But in my experience, there is always a drill or something that gets you over the mental aspect. I just can't find the right one. I'll try to get video up if I can. Thanks

[powerplant42]

Put a bar up at practice instead of just a bungee... And have mock-meets at practice.

[KirkB]

Since she apparently does fine over a bungee in practice, I assume that it's not an issue of "looking at the bar", else she'd also be "looking at the bungee".

Can you narrow it down to whether it's practice v. competition, or bungee v. bar?

If it's practice v. competition, then she just needs to gain self-confidence that if she vaults just like her good practice vaults, she'll clear the bar. (Easier said than done, I know.)

If it's bungee v. bar, then here's couple thoughts (obviously just guesses at this point, not having seen her vids or talked to her) ...

Perhaps she's accustomed to the "forgiveness" that the bungee gives if she misses the height? If that's true, perhaps reduce the amount of practice time over a high bungee? i.e. Don't set it at a height that she will usually miss. Instead, set it to a lower height, so that she treats it more like a solid bar.

Perhaps she's hurt herself before, by falling on the bar? (Psychological issue to deal with.)

In addition to the psychological considerations, perhaps focus on the specific technical flaw that she has. In this case, it sounds like "not dropping the shoulders". So trace that back to what causes it. Is she PULLING UP right after takeoff (anxiety factor due to the pressure of competition?), rather than "laying back and swinging"? Or maybe her top arm is straight on takeoff, but then it's after that when she "pulls up too early" - which prevents her shoulders from dropping, which in turn doesn't give her a chance to turn over the bar?

Have you noticed any difference between her first 2 attempts and her 3rd attempt at each height? Maybe she's panicking too early. Perhaps encourage her to take her attempts one at a time, and not to worry about missing on the 1st and 2nd attempts? This doesn't alleviate the anxiety of a 3rd attempt, but at least maybe her first 2 attempts at each height can be more relaxed, focussing more on her technique and less on clearing the bar?

You say that you've successfully coached other 10-11 foot vaulters with similar problems, so I take it that you've tried all the same coaching solutions as with them, but to no avail. Perhaps what you told her isn't what she heard? Maybe she doesn't "get it" yet, and you just need to be patient and repeat yourself on all the ways that you already know to solve this ... until she gets it?

A hint on this - which you probably know already - is to get her to describe back to you what she's trying to do, in her own words. Let her do most of the talking, so she takes ownership of the problem. And if she can't describe the technical flaw back to you (and what she's going to do to solve it), then you know that she doesn't "get it" yet.

Think introspectively about what YOU might be doing different in coaching her during a meet v. in practice. Are you making bigger demands (more pressure) on her during the meet, in your excitement for her to succeed? In this respect, be careful not to introduce any NEW ideas to her in the middle of a meet. If she does fine in practice (with or without a bungee), then there's no need to add anything new, right?

Your role during the meet should be to show her that you have confidence in her that "she can do it", without giving too much technical direction. Since it's apparently a confidence/anxiety thing, be sure that what you say to her in private (just before the meet), or in public (as she's standing at the end of the runway) are the things that she needs to hear to overcome her anxiety. Try not to overload her with too much information. "Less is more."

These are just wild guesses - the shotgun approach - in the hopes that something here might trigger you to realize something that you're missing in analyzing this.

Kirk

[jam354]

I definately use a bar in practice. Unfortunately, because of the winter weather, we've only been doing short runs and she does great. She actually can clear 9'6" on an 11 ft pole from 5 lefts because she completes the vault. Every competition, it looks like she's gonna break out and jump 11 ft and she just stops jumping how she knows how to. I think the cause is that she stares at the bar which causes her to never drop her shoulders. (not that both can't be done). My pshycological evaluation is that since the bar can be knocked off, she can fail. She then gets to the box and "tries" to clear the bar rather than executing the jump correctly. I've told her many times that I don't care what height she jumps as long as she does it the way she knows how. (i.e.-I'd rather her jump 8' correctly than 10' on her back)

The problem I have with identifying a technical flaw is that the flaws aren't there until meets. I also think one of the problems is that she wins the majority of her meets and has had an amazing career thus far. She may think that jumping differently may cause her to fail. I must sound like a therapist.

I think that's a good idea to just let her go in a meet. Any more ideas? I think if she does it once, she'll realize how much better it works and will never go back

[KirkB]

A few more ideas, based on your last post ...

1. If she's comfortable with 5 lefts in practice, then she should jump from 5 lefts in the meets. Whatever run length she's going to compete with, she needs ample practice until she's comfortable with it. Continue the shorter runs in practice, but also include ample "competition length" runs.

2. Work on increasing her run length SLOWLY. Perhaps once she vaults with only 5 lefts in the next meet, ask her to set her next goal to 6 lefts, and practice that. Once she gets 9-6 (or higher) in competition with that, move up to 7 lefts, and so on. Temper that with how she's progressing and the number of meets she has until "the big one".

3. "Dropping the shoulders" is really just a figure of speech. What does it really mean? It's only a sensation that the vaulter FEELS, as her hips rise. If you actually ask her (expect her) to "drop the shoulders", she might not know what to do. This doesn't explain why she's able to do "it" (whatever "it" is) in practice, but it's a possible source of confusion for her. Discuss this with her, and see what she's striving to do whenever you ask her to "drop the shoulders". Her feedback may surprise you, and it may also enlighten you.

4. I apologize for the "Coaching 101" here, but be sure that you tell her WHAT to do - not WHAT NOT to do. i.e. If you ask her not to stare at the bar, she'll be focused on the bar. Instead, (in practice) ask her to hang by her top hand and swing. Then, right after each jump, ask her how well she felt that she "hung by her top hand and swung". If she doesn't know (perhaps because she was focussing on the bar), ask her to try it again, and warn her that you'll be asking her the same question. After a few false starts (hopefully), she'll eventually forget that the bar's even up, and she'll be able to tell you how she thought she swung. Self-assessment is a powerful tool!

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

I definately use a bar in practice. Unfortunately, because of the winter weather, we've only been doing short runs and she does great. She actually can clear 9'6" on an 11 ft pole from 5 lefts because she completes the vault. Every competition, it looks like she's gonna break out and jump 11 ft and she just stops jumping how she knows how to. I think the cause is that she stares at the bar which causes her to never drop her shoulders. (not that both can't be done). My pshycological evaluation is that since the bar can be knocked off, she can fail. She then gets to the box and "tries" to clear the bar rather than executing the jump correctly. I've told her many times that I don't care what height she jumps as long as she does it the way she knows how. (i.e.-I'd rather her jump 8' correctly than 10' on her back)

The problem I have with identifying a technical flaw is that the flaws aren't there until meets. I also think one of the problems is that she wins the majority of her meets and has had an amazing career thus far. She may think that jumping differently may cause her to fail. I must sound like a therapist.

I think that's a good idea to just let her go in a meet. Any more ideas? I think if she does it once, she'll realize how much better it works and will never go back

How far is she running from at meets? If it's a longer run, I agree with Kirk to have her compete from 5 lefts until she consistently performs like she does in practice. Then back up to 6 and don't go back to 7 until that is nailed down.

Maybe it's just a tad more run and grip than she can handle in meets.

Also, do you watch her mid mark? If not, you should try it. It could be at meets she is changing her run and getting too close or too far back and stretching at the end.

[dj]

good morning

I don't know if it has been said.. but going over backwards is usually a result of "pulling" with the bottom hand instead of swinging "from" and around... the top hand.

i do a drill i call "getting on the horse" (i know. .hehhehhe and yes i do have two horses) if you grab the saddle horn with both hands .. how do you "swing" your body into the saddle?….

go to the side of the pit.. stand and plant the pole tip against the pit.. grip 6 feet. Ish. Use one step ..and swing into the pit.. land standing facing out..

if you "pull" with the bottom hand you will find it very hard to "turn" and will probably land facing in..

this may not solve the problem but it will "plant" the mental seed of a more correct swing... and start to give the athlete some of the "feel' to go with the picture.

dj

[dj]

hey

that was weird becca... you must have clicked "submit" at the same time as i did.. your post came up instead of mine... i had to re-post

funny.. from the other side of the world

dj

[rainbowgirl28]

hey

that was weird becca... you must have clicked "submit" at the same time as i did.. your post came up instead of mine... i had to re-post

funny.. from the other side of the world

dj

With the new board, if someone makes a new post between the time you clicked reply and the time you clicked submit, it will show you that person's post before you can submit yours (so an extra step to jump through).

[LHSvaulter]

I agree with Kirk on this ( not that I’ve disagreed before, but I have experience in the matter)

Perhaps she's hurt herself before, by falling on the bar? (Psychological issue to deal with.)

I have ruptured an ear drum from the bar falling on my ear and sealing EXACTLY the right way to create enough of a pressure differential to do so. That set me back several months, to the point of where I couldn’t even take off. When I finally managed to get off the ground, I always used a bar at practice. I took care of that problem as soon as I could. The whole falling on my ear was a 1 in a 1,000,000,000 situation and will hopefully not happen again to anyone…knock on wood.
Powerplant has a valid point from my perspective as well, I’m just way too tired to try and explain it right now. Maybe after I’ve had some rest

-Bill

[jam354]

Thanks for the ideas. You guys are right on the mark I think. Body awareness is something she definately has to work on. She's very shy and when I ask her how something felt, even when I give her specific cues, she usually doesn't know.

As far as the run length, I agree. However, it seems like it shouldn't be a problem because last meet she jumped from 7 lefts on a 12 ft pole and needed the standards at 30 in. And she was blowing threw it. Maybe that's why I want her to jump from 7 because she gets farther into the pit than from 5 or 4. It does make sense that even if she does get into the pit that it still is psychologically different with a longer pole.

Could you clarify what you mean by pulling with the bottom arm? I can't get a mental picture of how that is done. Do you mean she's using her left arm to try and pull herself over the bar?

Thanks again.

[dj]

hye

i believe that's what i meant.. trying to pull herself to the bar instead of swinging..

and the reason it is worse in a meet.. she tries to get to the bar quicker by pulling more and doesn't finish the plant and swing.

i actually don't know if that makes sense..

i hope so..

dj