Halp

[herpderp]

I'm a highschool senior who has been vaulting for just under a year now. At the end of last season (my junior year) my PR was 9'0".

My stats:
Age: 17
Weight: 143lbs
Height: 5'10.5"
Best in practice: 12'
100m time: 11.70

The pole I'm using currently:
Height: 14'
Weight: 140 (I'm planning on moving up to a 150 as soon as I have access to one)
Grip: 13'

Video Here

I know I need to actually get to vertical, and swing more. Pulling in both of my legs isn't helping either, but anything you guys can add will be a tremendous help! My goal for the end of the year is 15 feet, and I'll need all the help I can get!

[KirkB]

Herpyderpy, that pole is too soft for you. As soon as you learn to run faster and jump harder off the ground (which won't be long), you'll break it. You're not yet using your 11.7 speed, but you soon will.

12-0 is very good for less than one year of PV training. However, your 13-0 grip is too high. You're relying too much on just hanging on and riding the pole. Instead, you need to learn to SWING upside down.

Get your grip down to 11 or 12 feet, and focus on trying to clear a bar higher than your grip. Once you learn that, then you can focus on swinging on a bending pole.

I also recommend doing highbar drills to improve your swing.

I think your goal of 15-0 is reachable, but remember that there's no shortcuts to success. It takes hard work, and SMART work. The SMART work is learning how to swing PROPERLY before you worry about how much the pole is bending. Otherwise, you're going to pick up lots of bad habits ... some of which you've already picked up.

Kirk

[herpderp]

Thanks for your help kirk,

As for drills for improving my swing, what would you recommend? I'm doing as many bubkas as I can right now, but I don't have great access to a highbar (I've already read through the "Highbars are Everywhere" thread). Is there anything in particular that I can think about while I'm vaulting that will help me get to vertical or any drills that I can do without a highbar that might help?

[KirkB]

Short of highbar, practice rope swings and stiff pole vaulting. Rings too ... you can buy them quite cheaply and hang them from a tree branch.

Someone else can explain to you how to do sand vault drills. I've never done it, but it sounds like a good basic drill in addition to stiff PV into the pit.

Kirk

[herpderp]

Kirk, you said earlier that the pole I was using was too soft, what height/weight would you recommend at say a 12' grip?

[VaultPurple]

u dont want to find the right pole for 12' grip, u want to find the right pole and grip for you. You could hold a lot higher. Because pole is so soft it squishes and if you hold higher its going to squish more. But if you get on a stiffer pole you can start working your grip up and it will be able to hold you, not to mention 140lb pole is illegal for a 143lb guy. You should probably be holding around 12'6 on a 150, and up to 13' on a 160, just depending on how it feels to you. Its just hard to vault with a limited selection of poles. So good luck.

[rainbowgirl28]

Kirk, you said earlier that the pole I was using was too soft, what height/weight would you recommend at say a 12' grip?

What poles do you have available to you?

[KirkB]

You could probably use the 140 if you grip it at 12-0. Try that, and go from there. The point is to learn how to stiff PV before you go for the big bend.

Regardless of the grip, the 140 is illegal for you, but I wouldn't worry about that until your first meet ... early next year (I assume). By then, I'm hopeful that you've gained a lot of experience and can choose a pole that's both legal and gives you the "right" amount of bend.

Kirk

[Capt Caveman]

How could you tell that the pole was too soft? The guy next to the runway was pushing him. From some earlier discussions, Chord Angle, on this site the bend looks "normal" and he is landing in the area where the white box would be, if that pit had one. If he is landing in the white box, but it takes a push to get there, and the pole is not bent excessivly, how did you determine that pole is too soft?

[KirkB]

... how did you determine that pole is too soft?

He's just loping down the runway, and on his takeoff he's not jumping off the ground ... he's just getting picked off the ground.

The coach is pushing his shoulders ... not his hips. So the coach isn't doing much at all to bend the pole ... I think he's more of a distraction than a help ... I do NOT like tapping ... but that's beside the point.

Herpyderpy has 11.7 100m speed, so as soon as he applies SOME of that speed down the runway on that pole ... and gets a decent JUMP on takeoff ... and starts to swing even a little bit ... he's going to break the pole. This could happen within just a few days of continued practice with that pole ... it's that close.

The way he can avoid NOT breaking that pole is to keep running slow, and keep letting himself get picked off the ground ... both totally the WRONG things to be working on.

I'm not basing my assessment on pole angle ... since there's really no swing then there's really no reason to analyze when the "swing" passes the chord. I'm just going by how easily the pole bent without much effort in the run and takeoff.

I could say "run faster and jump harder" ... but that doesn't solve the fundamental issue of SWINGING properly. Thus the advice for him to practice stiff pole vaulting with a lower grip ... then work his way back up to a higher grip on a heavier pole ... once he improves his technique.

Kirk

[AVC Coach]

Other than the tips Kirk gave you, I see something you're doing with your bottom arm that's going to make it impossible to get inverted. You jam your left hand out and down. Remember, the goal is to swing your hips to your hands. If either of your hands are below your head you're going to get stuck at the top with nowhere to go but down.

[KirkB]

... the goal is to swing your hips to your hands. ...

It's counter-productive (impossible, actually) to swing on a stiff pole when you press with your bottom hand.

That's why it's best to learn to stiff PV first ... then increase the grip and the bend ... as you run faster and faster down the runway and JUMP harder and harder on takeoff.

First things first!

Kirk