2/22/09 PR Jump

[Thats.What.She.Said]

It's my PR jump from sunday. Going for 9 feet on an 11' 130, sorry I don't have my grip height. Let's see, what else do you want to know? I'm 15, 5'3" 112ish, a sophomore in high school, been vaulting for a little over a year and a half. It was my 3rd attempt at 9 feet. I wish the rest of the meet was up, but I'm happy with this for now. I had never been on this pole before the meet, but due to the was I was warming up, I got switched to this one, and got to take a few warm up jumps on it. So yeah, what do you folks think?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nn8VDPDq38w

[powerplant42]

My first advice is to stop using your left hand as your top hand... No good vaulters do that! It's not natural!

You have a pretty late plant... Because the pole is small, you're able to rush it, which causes a host of take-off problems that get you 'sucked'. It's relatively easy to see that you pull out of your swing, probably as a reaction to the take-off.

In other words, fix the plant! (You can start to do that by carrying the pole with your hands reversed... )

I'm just kidding, I lefties!

[Thats.What.She.Said]

yeah my plant is the main thing that i've been working this winter, but with previous commitments i havent been able to make it to as many practices as i would like. And yeah that whole lefty thing, after a year and a half they still havent been able to convert me. i'm convinced that righties are just jealous of us because you guys are just so generic. oh and dont forget about Stacy Dragila, she's pretty good, and a lefty.

[powerplant42]

Isinbayeva's left handed too... But she jumps right handed!

[rainbowgirl28]

I think I jumped on that pole when I visited a few years ago

[Thats.What.She.Said]

Isinbayeva's left handed too... But she jumps right handed!

well what fun is that?

I think I jumped on that pole when I visited a few years ago

really? no way. it felt like such a fatty pole to me. the biggest i had ever been on before that was a 11'5" 120 and that was like once or twice

[wurster490]

Looks good. Definitely a lot of potential to jump much higher in the next few years. As the other posts said about your takeoff, you just need to send your arms earlier, you are hesitant to be as tall as you can be. It seems like you are waiting a little bit for the pole to hit the box, but after that you do a very good job at stretching and waiting for the pole to move. As you gradually learn to bend the pole even more you will need to remember to stay focused on stretching as you are already doing after the takeoff. Your stretch is a little exaggerated here since your takeoff is a little late. A lot of vaulters start blocking with their bottom hand while trying to 'bend' the pole. You can see a very good example of what the almost perfect takeoff looks like at http://stabhochsprung.com/, scroll down a little bit and watch 11.03.2006 Moskau/RUS:470 - Feofanova, Swetlana - HiRes SloMo Reihe Serie. Just click on the HiRes or SloMo and you can watch the videos. Good luck!

[Thats.What.She.Said]

Looks good. Definitely a lot of potential to jump much higher in the next few years. As the other posts said about your takeoff, you just need to send your arms earlier, you are hesitant to be as tall as you can be. It seems like you are waiting a little bit for the pole to hit the box, but after that you do a very good job at stretching and waiting for the pole to move. As you gradually learn to bend the pole even more you will need to remember to stay focused on stretching as you are already doing after the takeoff. Your stretch is a little exaggerated here since your takeoff is a little late. A lot of vaulters start blocking with their bottom hand while trying to 'bend' the pole. You can see a very good example of what the almost perfect takeoff looks like at http://stabhochsprung.com/, scroll down a little bit and watch 11.03.2006 Moskau/RUS:470 - Feofanova, Swetlana - HiRes SloMo Reihe Serie. Just click on the HiRes or SloMo and you can watch the videos. Good luck!

thanks! yeah my takeoff definitly needs work. wow i guess i just need to learn to not be hesitant, because yesterday in practice I was practicing shot put for the pentathalon, and my coach kept telling me that it looked like I was doing like a fade away shot in basketball, because I would go to throw it, and then back off on it. Yeah I have been working on trying to wait for the pole to move, because I had a bad tendency to go right to my back which was fine last spring when i was using like a 12' 110 holding way down since my school has a wicked limited pole supply, so I was stiff poling, but then this summer, I started working with smaller poles and getting used to the bend and stuff, and well that habbit really didnt help at all. I hate watching people blocking with their bottom arm, although it has made for some good laughs. Because our rival club teaches vaulters to grip wide and block, so there was one girl who was unable to swing like at all, and so she basically pranced over 7 feet. I really wish the rest of the meet was up, because aparently my last attempt at 9'6" had a really good takeoff, and i would like to see such thing.

[Thats.What.She.Said]

oh here's the rest of the meet. I'm too lazy to put effort into editting it down to just me, but as we know I was the one wearing the bright pink shirt, cant miss it. A few notes for you, my hand grip/pole/all that junk stay the same the whole time. My first jump that is supposed to be 8' is actually my first attempt at 8'6". Yes the video is 6 minutes but I'm done at 2:10ish since it's just me and my friend up until 9'6". Oh and yes i do like making faces at the camera, don't judge me .
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0VW_eQIJUY