First Meet of 2010 (Niswonger Invy)

[TylerPorter11]

Hokay so, after 4 grueling months of football, I have returned to the track! I've had maybe a week and a half of practice before this meet and I'd say 15' is not too shabby for my first meet back.

I opened up with 14' from 6 lefts on a 15' 180lbs pole then decided to cut-down to 5 lefts on the same pole due to a little hamstring pull. I really am trying to have a better drop with my pole and making sure that it stays level throughout my last few steps and really push both hands up at take-off. Could use some tips. I'm taking off practice 'till Wednesday to let the hammy heal up. Thanks in advance.


http://www.youtube.com/user/TylerP0rter ... 15xJi1OIo0

[KirkB]

... trying to have a better drop with my pole and making sure that it stays level throughout my last few steps and really push both hands up at take-off. Could use some tips. ...

Very nice season opener!

You're still vaulting well below your potential ... as you know ... so you just need to get more quality practices and meets in.

No comment on the pole drop ... yet ... but I notice that you're looking at the bar ... about the same time you seem to "pause" in the "flat-back" position. You come out of it OK, but I think one thing to work on would be the "continuous chain of motion" ... from takeoff thru pushoff. Work on keeping those hips moving THRU the flat-back. You do that with a vigorous trail leg swing. Yours is OK ... but it could be much better. And don't look at the bar ... it seems to slow down your rotation.

Kirk

[powerplant42]

Work on that free take-off!!!

[TylerPorter11]

Kirk B -- thanks for the advice! will definately work on dropping shoulders and have one continuous swinging motion. Also I will try to keep my eyes off that bar (i'm very rusty right now haha) Where should my eyes be exactly? I know i'm not supposed to throw the head back because i will lose my strength and tightness by doing so.

PP - I'm not really trying to change too much right now especially the take-off portionnow considering it is my senior year. I'll fix it during the transition from outdoor to indoor.

[joebro391]

PP - I'm not really trying to change too much right now especially the take-off portionnow considering it is my senior year. I'll fix it during the transition from outdoor to indoor.

Do you plan on vaulting in college?? Do you wish to be a good vaulter in college?? than changes must be done (as is so for ALL vaulters). I wouldn't recommend putting off a fix that could get you on bigger poles and in turn, put you over bigger heights. I know it's your senior year, I remember because when I made the decision to quit my high school team for better coaching, no one would let me forget it. But it's a sacrifice (and yours is no where near as 'drastic' as mine was). It'll take some getting used to (in your case, the free take-off), but in the end (and almost certainly by the end of indoor/mid-way through outdoor season), it'll pay huge dividends and you'll probably clear 5 meters at your state championships. Don't think towards the next meet, think towards the meet, next year, in college (if college vaulting is where you intend to go). If this is your last year of vaulting (perhaps you plan on playing solely football in college), then...have fun and enjoy yourself. That's all that's really important in the end; being happy. -6P

[KirkB]

Kirk B -- thanks for the advice! will definately work on dropping shoulders and have one continuous swinging motion. Also I will try to keep my eyes off that bar ... Where should my eyes be exactly? I know i'm not supposed to throw the head back because i will lose my strength and tightness by doing so. ...

Well, there's some differences of opinion on this ... but my opinion is that your eyes should follow your HEAD ... and you shouldn't PURPOSELY do ANYTHING with your head ... don't purposely look up ... and don't purposely look down. You should just keep your head in the "natural" position thru your downswing, and partway thru your upswing. As you extend, THEN you SHOULD take a peek at the bar ... to make sure you don't hit it ... but before that, just try not to exagerate a "look" in either direction. Instead, you should focus on other aspects of your technique (keeping your mind off your eyes and head).

As I said, there's more than one answer to this, so other answers are also acceptable ... mine isn't the only good answer. Search for other threads about this same topic ... there may be more than one.

Kirk

[TylerPorter11]

thanks kirk b will do...

[joebro391]

joe bro: i've been talking with a lot of college coaches and they would rather have "raw talent" clearing high bars rather than a person who has been professionally coached and has a close to perfect technique because they could be "tapped out" this is just what i've been hearing.

yea, i think I've been hearing a lot of that too, in D3...I've been jumping a lot higher than their jumpers. raw talent only gets you so far, and then you hit a wall. Perhaps it's just an american thing, to not think about anything in the future, but fortunately I don't have tunnel-vision. I'm not real sure what you mean by "tapped out', but if you mean "burn out", then athletes with "raw talent" tend to burn out a lot sooner than the athletes with technique. [ex: Dan Batdorf (power vaulter), Daniel Inge (tall and fast)] YOU HAVE MORE POTENTIAL THAN BOTH!!! I mean, if you don't have ambitions of ever being a 5.20+ jumper, then fine, be in a rush to be a 5-meter high schooler, if you have ambitions in college, fixing technique will ONLY help you. Remember, if you go to a D1 school, 5 meters still won't win you many meets, and certainly no big meets. -6P

[TylerPorter11]

by tapped out i mean they've reached close to their full potential in high school. colleges want someone they can mold and change their technique to have them produce higher bars. not just what they've learned from their high school coach

[KirkB]

... I'm not really trying to change too much right now especially the take-off portion now considering it is my senior year. I'll fix it during the transition from outdoor to indoor.

Tyler and Joe, I think this is the quote that initially stimulated your discussion re fixing technique now or later.

Good arguments on both sides but ... I think you should ALWAYS strive for technical improvements no matter how close you are to graduating ... or to key meets.

With just one meet under your belt Tyler, I agree that it's too early to fix this week. You have plenty of other things to work on. But to wait until "the transition from outdoor to indoor" is ... IMHO ... too late. Worse yet would be to not fix it at all ... and just put your faith in your eventual college coach ... who will try to improve each and every aspect of your vault ... as he should. But I don't think that's enough reason to postpone technical improvements for very long. I think you should CONSTANTLY be aware of where your technique is ... and where you want it to be ... and train accordingly.

You should prioritize your technical flaws by a combination of (a) how severe they are, and (b) by how easy they are to fix. It's very rare that you can fix multiple flaws in the same practice, so work on them one at a time ... with a technical goal in mind for each workout. Wherever the takeoff falls in your priority list, so be it. You'll find that even if it's not the top priority on your list right now, it soon will be ... assuming that you knock off all the other higher priority issues one by one.

Just my 2 cents.

Kirk

[TylerPorter11]

good post kirk b will keep all that in mind

[starkey480]

ya in my opinion the takeoff is one of the most important things to fix....having a nice free takeoff really helps everthing else on the top of the vault too. it allows you to swing ALOT better and to not have to tuck in order to catch up with the pole.... i would ALWAYS strive to improve the takeoff. it will help you get on some big sticks