Starmancer wrote:I am also confused on the whole left arm plant phase of the vault. I have heard it is supposed to be straight and tall, but you would still not want it to push, correct?
There's 3 ways to use your bottom arm ...
1. Press up on the plant as high as you can reach with both hands, and after the pole hits the box, continue to push hard with the bottom arm ... while you swing.
2. Press up on the plant as high as you can reach with both hands, and after the pole hits the box, continue pressing upwards to "punch" the pole momentarily with the bottom arm, then swing ... with most of your weight on your top hand.
3. Press up on the plant as high as you can reach with both hands, and when the pole hits the box, relax the bottom arm without punching or pushing it. Make sure you have a good forwards lean on takeoff. Swing from the top hand, and use the bottom arm just for balance.
#1 is the tuck/shoot method, which is not a good idea ... expecially if you don't have an expert coach that knows this method inside out. Most young vaulters that try this method get it all wrong and don't jump very high ... altho in a few rare cases, some do "get it" and jump quite high.
#2 and #3 are both acceptable if you're following the Petrov Model (like Bubka and Isi). I much prefer #3, but some other Petrovers prefer #2. The main differentiator of the Petrov Model compared to the Drive Model (tuck/shoot) is that you don't push with your bottom hand after the pole hits the box. That slows down your swing too much.
Trying to do a mix of these is a bad idea. In practice, there's every combination under the sun, but as far as intentionally vaulting a certain way, it's best to choose either #1, #2, or #3, as the 3 alternatives don't mix very well (IMHO).
There's much more to it than this, but these are your 3 basic choices.
Kirk
