Spotted Swing Drill

[powerplant42]

I would like to discuss the drill that starts at 7:00 in the following video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAqhCfqPGAU

I tried it out myself today and had a few teammates try it as well... I really do like it. VERY fun, but a little on the dangerous side.

Thoughts? What are its benefits? What are the possible trouble spots? How should this drill be spotted safely?

[KirkB]

I translated the info on YouTube on BabelFish. Pretty rough translation, but here it is:

This promo is the synthesis of a video VHS of 67' that I have had the pleasure to realize with the greatest expert than jump with l' world-wide auction: Vitaly Petrov already trainer Sergej Bubka and dell' they puts into effect primatista world-wide feminine. The film has been devised and realized for being a valid support for Technical-Trainer-teacher of And gotten passionate Physical-Athlete and.

Through the proposal of numerous practices the video draft the following ones contained:

Historical signals
It is made technical of the jump
Exercises for the race technique
Exercises for the technique of I detach
Exercises for l' posturale alignment
Exercises of pre-crobatic
Exercises to the rope
Exercises to the slab
Exercises to the parallels
Exercises to rings
Exercises to the elastic springboard
Specific exercises to rigid auction
Specific exercises with loading dell' auction

Kirk

[KirkB]

The drill at 7:00 is Excercise 9 ... planting against the wall and then swinging up and placing your feet on the wall ... pausing there ... then swinging back down to the gym floor.

There's one vaulter that looks to be a 5.00m+ vaulter that does this. His POLE is spotted by the coach ... his grip is too high for the coach to spot him directly. This is safe, I think, since the vaulter is experienced enough to handle himself well in the air, and can land feet first if he gets into trouble.

There's a second vaulter that looks to be a beginner ... or maybe a 2nd year vaulter. His BODY is spotted by the coach ... and he's held to the wall by the coach. This drill looked safe ... since it was executed correctly, with everything under control.

The concern that I would have is if the spotter/coach is inexperienced (or not strong enough to hold the vaulter's weight), or if the vaulter is unpredictable. That's when things get out of control ... and when accidents happen.

The WORST combination would be a short, weak, inexperienced spotter with a tall, non-gymnastic, inexperienced vaulter using a grip that's so high that the spotter can't spot his BODY.

Re the utility of the drill ... I think it's interesting ... and it gives the vaulter some awareness of where he is ... or where he should be ... in the air (halfway thru his swing) ... but I'm a little skeptical as to whether it's a GREAT drill to do repeatedly. I think not. I think that once the vaulter can do this drill ... and learns to trust himself (not to panic) when he's halfway inverted on the pole ... he's better off spending time on other drills that are more difficult to do. For example, I don't think the 5.00m+ vaulter gained much from doing this drill, IMHO. He probably only demonstrated the drill to show how it can be done. But he's probably already advanced enough that he's not going to learn much new from doing it ... he didn't seem to have a "fear of being upside down" that needed to be conquored.

On the other end of the scale, I don't think first-year vaulters should do this ... unless they're already good gymnasts ... which eliminates most of them. There's other more important drills to work on.

PP, if you're doing these with your HS kids, I would at the very least do it on a wrestling mat ... to break your fall when you goof up. But I wouldn't spend much time on it ... I think it's more of something you can do just for the fun of it.

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

That's not a very useful drill for learning the swing, but it does have some usefulness for the takeoff.

[KYLE ELLIS]

Actually its a great way to teach the swing, teaches you how to swing your entire body rather than trying to swing one part (like whipping your trail leg).

And to Kirk I have seen many 5 meter jumpers who could benefit from this drill, those who get upside down by violently swinging just their leg, those who tuck, pull with their arms etc... Can't do this drill if you do any of those

[powerplant42]

I also see it as a fairly useful drill for the non-gymnastic beginner... permitted he/she is SAFE (had to ban someone from this drill already... too shy at take-off to be safe). It gives them the feeling of really swinging ON the pole, CONNECTED to it like a body-long pendulum, rather than the "RUN, JUMP, KICK/FLAIL!" that most beginners do.

Saftey's my only concern... I must admit, I was not too safe with this today. It will be much safer the next time I use it.

[bel142]

I honestly disagree with kyle, I think this drill is a poor drill to teach the swing, because the distance between the pole, wall, and chord of the pole puts an awkward timing on where the hips should be and when. However, I agree with rainbowgirl, I think that this drill does teach beneficial body position at take off.

There is a variation of this drill where the goal is not to get the pole to vertical and the athlete's feet on the wall, but try to take off and get the pole to about 85 degrees and then safely come back down. The focus is on a free take and elastic body to learn proper hip/torso/arm/body placement. To move the pole the athlete need to take off with proper body position, if you take off under the pole will not move very well (the variation being not getting the pole to vertical). If the athlete can get the pole to vertical then he/she bumps up grip a fist, the goal is to to eventually stall out on top and safely return to the ground. This teaches control over the hips, and should be (and usually is in my mind) paired with straight pole turf/grass vaults. As grip increases the vaulter needs to incorporate more of a jump-hit/free take off to get the lever to move into position.

However the drill that is shown really shouldn't be done without a coach/athletic trainer on sight. If beginners are teaching/spotting each other with this drill without a coach, well then... you can figure out the rest...

[powerplant42]

I would have to see the drill you're talking about... Is it anything like the one already pictured later on in the video?

I must respectfully disagree re the swing on ONE condition: the vaulter KNOWS the difference in knee-drive between this drill and the real vault.

[KirkB]

As a DYNAMIC drill (where the motion from the starting position to the ending position is important), I don't see nearly the value of this drill as others have "seen".

As a STATIC drill (where your body needs to become accustomed to being in a certain motionless position) I see its merits.

So if a vaulter is afraid of inverting, or if he doesn't know what positions his body parts should be in when he's in a certain phase of point of his vault (the "flat back" position, for example), then this drill can increase his body awareness ... familiarize the vaulter with those static positions ... and decrease his anxiety when he's hanging halfway upside down on the pole.

But as a DYNAMIC drill, I just think that the slow speed at which you're swinging is so different from a REAL vault (becuz the forces involved are wrong ... there's too much downwards pull from gravity and not enough forwards/rotational pull from the momentum of your run/takeoff ... that's it's not going to teach you "that much" about how to SWING.

However, IMHO it's not a "bread-and-butter" drill, so it's not that important ... one way or the other ... in an overall training plan.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Oh I was never suggesting that it be the cornerstone of a program or anything... I just believe it to have high value (not to mention the fun factor) for an auxiliary drill.

[KirkB]

Understood. And I don't mean to downplay the fun factor. Anything resembling PV can be fun! Go for it ... just remember ... SAFETY FIRST!

My mention of the dynamic vs. static advantages of this drill were more in reply to RG, KE and Bel ... who seem to like it as a dynamic TAKEOFF or SWINGING drill.

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

So if a vaulter is afraid of inverting, or if he doesn't know what positions his body parts should be in when he's in a certain phase of point of his vault (the "flat back" position, for example), then this drill can increase his body awareness ... familiarize the vaulter with those static positions ... and decrease his anxiety when he's hanging halfway upside down on the pole.

Wait, what? They never get upside down on this drill as far as I noticed. I just saw them sticking their feet on the wall. I don't see how it would help them overcome their fear of getting upside down.