Getting Inverted

[flurbo]

From watching video I've noticed that i seem to swing my legs up to the bar and then stop. I've tried swing on rings bars to practice but nothing helps. Here's a video to show you what I mean. Btw, Im not a great vaulter I'm just a frosh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6w-_xe4OPM

[Greero]

I do the same thing. I never swing all the way to inversion. I get halfway, see the bar, and continue my jump horizontally rather than vertically. I also need help fixing this problem.

[powerplant42]

The key question is... how MUCH do you practice on the bar and/or rings? And just as importantly, HOW do you practice on the bar/rings?

If you can swing on the bar (rings aren't quite as good) correctly, it should not be too difficult to transfer that to a correct swing on the pole.

At the next practice that you vault at, try this... Come in to 2 lefts. Put a bungie around 10' as far back as you possibly can... Forget about how high your trying to vault, just think about swinging long and trying to shoot out over the bungie. Film it please...

Also, try using a bar in practice. It will probably help you be less anxious in meets.

[KirkB]

From watching video I've noticed that i seem to swing my legs up to the bar and then stop. I've tried swing on rings bars to practice but nothing helps. Here's a video to show you what I mean. Btw, Im not a great vaulter I'm just a frosh.

For a frosh, I think you're pretty dang good!

It's just a matter of technique, which you will learn from experience ... not only by vaulting ... but also (as PP said) on rings and highbar.

Once you get used to swinging to an upside down position on rings and highbar, you'll find it's easier to do on the pole.

Also, you'll find that they WAY to swing upside down is to get a good run/plant/takeoff, then swing DOWN as long and as quickly as you can with your trail leg. It's this downwards swinging motion that gives you the upwards momentum in the latter part of your swing.

Really, don't worry too much about the top half of your vault. That will come quite naturally as an outcome of a good DOWNswing ... and a good elastic stretch to a C ... and a good takeoff ... and a good plant ... and a good run.

Your run's actually quite good! I would work on your plant next. Then the takeoff. Then the elastic stretch. Then the DOWNswing. And so on.

BTW, I disagree with your comment about "nothing helps". You might be expecting instant results. You will find that rings and highbar work WILL help, but you just need to be patient. Maybe work on them all summer, fall, and winter, and then as a sophomore next spring, you'll find that it's helped IMMENSELY!

You should still continue your rings/highbar work this late in your school season, but it's too late to improve your strength or coordination much. Just focus on your technique for the remainder of the school season, then go from there.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Really, don't worry too much about the top half of your vault. That will come quite naturally as an outcome of a good DOWNswing ... and a good elastic stretch to a C ... and a good takeoff ... and a good plant ... and a good run.

Flurbo... you don't realize what gold this 'theme' really is.

And I too think that you're doing very well. I was immediately impressed by your run and carry and fairly decent plant! Not getting those things right EARLY ON is what keeps a lot of potentially excellent vaulters from reaching the top of their personal performance... I'm glad to see you're on the right track! You still need to continue to work on this though... You're killing your speed by running under yourself (watch where your feet land during your strides in comparison to just about any elite vaulter), and this balance problem can cause you to easily take off 'under'.

But how to go about fixing your swing... Normally I tell people to work on their run/plant/take-off first, but yours are alright comparatively! You really do need to learn to take off freely though. I have a teammate in a sort-of-similar situation. I guess I should have you do what I'm having him do...

In addition to (preferrably before) the other drill I mentioned, try this... Grab a stiff pole and head over to the sand pit. Take off from 1 left, and stay behind the pole as you ride it into the pit. There are three points of focus for you... Driving EVERYTHING UP (back leg, knee, hands/pole, chest, head), staying in control BEHIND the pole, and hitting a pre-jump (the pole tip does not hit the sand before you are already in the air). Challenge yourself to move your grip up as high as you can and still move the pole to vertical and land safely! After a few sessions of this (maybe ~250 reps total?), you can try to put in the swinging motion and go for LENGTH in the pit. Grip down a bit (maybe 4") from your previous grip height, and swing for LENGTH. Try to swing LONG to get your feet to the pole, then shoot toward the back of the pit and turn to land safely. After a while, you can move back to 2 lefts, then maybe even 3. Then you should head over to the pit.

There are some demos of some of this on YouTube, (try searching 'sand vaulting'), but I will probably put up a more comprehensive video for you soon.

You must also get some film of what you're doing on the high bar. If there's not enough focus on the DOWNSWING, then you're doing it wrong!

[flurbo]

Thanks for the advice I'll be sure to try those drills. But I was wondering what do you mean by swing down and downswing?

[powerplant42]

Mechanically speaking... It's all the swinging that you do before your trail-leg comes to the functional chord...

?

On the pole, the 'chord' is the line between your grip and the tip of the pole. On the bar, it is the vertical plane. (The difference between the two is why I put in the word 'functional'. )

KB can help you out more with the practical application... He's still the one holding all those pebbles!

[KirkB]

KB can help you out more with the practical application...

Yeh, the downswing is just the first half of the swing.

Most coaches just talk about the "swing", but I introduced the terms "downswing" and "upswing" to distinguish between the part of the swing BEFORE you pass the chord and the part of the swing AFTER you pass the chord ... to emphasize the importance of the downswing.

All the hard work is done on the downswing! There's no such thing as a lackadaisical downswing and then a powerful upswing! It's impossible!

But the opposite is OK ... on low bars. If you get a long, fast downswing going, you can "coast" to a good inverted position. On higher bars, you'll want to continue the momentum of your downswing right thru your upswing, as "coasting" isn't as good as "continuous motion".

And if your takeoff is "under", then you're not going to have a very long downswing. You need a free takeoff and you need to jump HARD off the ground to set yourself up for a good swing.

If your downswing isn't powerful, then your upswing won't be either ... so you won't get fully inverted before you start flagging out.

Kirk