Trail Leg bending early

[coach D]

I have a 12-6 soph boy vaulter who has developed a bad habit of over bending his pole early at takeoff while he is bringing his bent trail leg through into a somewhat inverted position. he currently uses a 13'-7" 163lb pole. He is gripping at 13'-3". Are there any specific drills that he should be doing that can force him to keep that takeoff leg straighter as he swings through.

[KirkB]

Straight-pole vaulting.

It sounds like his pole is too soft for him. Lower his grip, and work on a stiffer pole. If the pole's stiffer, he'll HAVE TO improve his techique to swing properly ... including swinging his trail leg longer.

Kirk

[billy_pacheco7]

Kirk is absolutely correct.

I had the same exact problem...though, i wasn't just over bending the pole, but i was also having a consistent under step, which yanked my hips at take-off...thus, making it hard for me to have a good efficient swing up - to invert.

My coach Jan had me start from the basics... We used a real small pole, went on the run way...and basically just started from a 3 step (usually around 35 - good mark to start from), used a small pole with a standing grip plus 3ft...then, i ran down and worked on stay down drills... once the step was on, and my plant was efficient - then we rose the grip, moved the step back, and continued to do the stay down drill untill if was close to perfect as i wanted it to be... You'll be surprised on how high your athlete will hold, and how smooth his (or her) jumps will look!!! then, slowly move it back...and continue the same drills at each step. Don't rush him to go to his long run to fast!!! this will rupture his muscle memory for the correct way to vault, and he'll go back to the same old bad habits that he (or she) feels comfortable with...

good luck, Billy P.

[coach D]

Thanks for the input. here is what we worked on the following day with our vaulters. Two and three left runs focusing on a staighter trail leg . They bribed me with a full run at the end of the session and you can see that everything we worked on was thrown out the window. Back to old habits with bending that trail leg. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww3jUgxCuYI

[powerplant42]

Needs to work on the run, carry, and plant much more than the trail-leg.

If you keep having issues with the trail-leg, and even if you don't, high bar is something to invest a good deal of time in... In particular, running and jumping to the bar and then swinging long with a good trail-leg is a drill to try, along with KB's whip-hinge.

[vault3rb0y]

Running and take off aside (although this does contribute to the problem):

They are pulling pre-maturely with their arms after they leave the ground. They leave in half-decent positions, but even on the pop-ups you can see their elbows bending before they are fully inverted. There should be no bending on the top hand until they have completely covered the pole, and begin to pull UP the pole. So really, their problem is bending on your legs AND their arms!

Rings and high bar are the best drill at this point. Make them keep their arms and legs straight, whipping long and fast especially in the down swing.

If you don't have the facility to do rings or high bar, you can teach it from a pop up but make them hold 6 inches lower and not try to run so fast. If they weren't so far under, their hips wouldn't get sucked under so quickly, and they wouldn't feel the instinct to bend and pull to make vertical. If they know they will make pit, they shouldnt feel the impulse to pull with your arms, and won't need to bend their trail leg either. First have them ride the pop-up out without swinging, having them hang long from their top hand. Then when they swing, tell them to keep hanging from their top arm, and to swing their legs as straight as they can. If they aren't under, they should be able to do this. If they are over-gripping and fighting to make pit, they probably won't. just keep telling them to "stay long", and most of those issues will get taken care of.

[powerplant42]

The "long swing" drill might be something else to try too...

Get them a very soft pole, maybe 30 pounds under their body weight, and have them go from 1-3 steps. They should perform a complete vault except the result should be horizontal rather than vertical. Put the emphasis on the trail-leg and moving the hands toward the plane of the bar.

[noobar]

This case is more than leg bending case,even i am not a coach and i had no coach,but i note the same case in my vaulting, so there is a reason for bending the leg,i think the problem occures because the vaulter is not staying behined the pole and he is trying to swing,so it looks like he his vaulting on a rigid pole as before,I will ask if he can do in the same conditioins(approach, speed,hand grip) a sand drill .I think if he did it with bending the pole he will not be able to land in the sand or the pit properly,he will go to the left side of the box.
anyway i am trying some thing to do the right,so if u had get a drill or a way to solve the problem, please inform me.

[baggettpv]

The problem is with the jumpong action of the athlete's. All takeoff's are incomplete. They should finish with a straight takeoff leg with the toe pointed down showing the bottom of the shoe from looking from behind. This jumping action will create the stretch effect necessary for an active swing.

Rick Baggett
Willamette Striders Training Center

[KirkB]

... Lower his grip, and work on a stiffer pole. If the pole's stiffer, he'll HAVE TO improve his techique to swing properly ... including swinging his trail leg longer.

The following advice might sound contradictory to my previous advice, but I didn't see the vid until now.

My advice compliments Rick's advice to "finish the takeoff". In addition to that, have them JUMP as hard off the ground as they can. Have them bump their grips up (gradually), so that they HAVE TO jump hard!

And as Rick says, if they finish the takeoff (after jumping HARD) then their trail legs will HAVE TO be straight ... and their top arm will HAVE TO remain straight. Then swing the trail leg LONG ... it will be quite hard to bend it before the chord!

Also, as PP mentioned, do the "hinge whip highbar drill". Search for that if you're not familiar with it. Basically, after 100s or even 1,000s of reps, the urge to bend the trail leg before the chord will be eliminated, as they'll discover the swinging motion with a straight trail leg is s-o-o-o-o-o much more efficient. But you need to develop a strong core (partly by doing the hinge whip drill) to improve the muscle tone needed to accelerate and WHIP the trail leg past the chord. Without this core strength, it's really asking too much to expect the proper technique on the pole. They need to learn it on the highbar first.

Kirk

[tsorenson]

It is definitely the early pull with the top arm that causes the early overbend. They are pulling with both arms as they try to pull their legs up above their hands, rather than swinging them up. This "cannonball" effect always overbends poles.
At least one of the kids in the video needs a stiffer pole to do "stiff pole" drills...it is bending. I think the kids need to grip higher on the stiff pole drills and not swing, to achieve Rick's takeoff position.

In addition to what was already said, try this:
Have the athletes use this drill every time they "dismount" (step down off the pit) as an opportunity to build positive muscle memory...with no added runway time, just more efficient use of time/space to achieve more repetition.

Have them grab their pole while stepping down off the front buns (tip is on the ground, pole is close to vertical) at a height which will keep the top arm straight, but not too high. Step off and hold the takeoff position while riding the pole forward onto the ground (keep drive knee locked, trail leg extended behind, top arm straight). Bottom arm will bend outward, but continue to resist and stabilize. Shoulders are active in this drill in disengaging/reengaging to move the pole forward all the way to the ground as the vaulter passes the pole on the right side, holding the takeoff position for as long as possible.

Good luck,
Tom

[noobar]

All takeoff's are incomplete. They should finish with a straight takeoff leg with the toe pointed down showing the bottom of the shoe from looking from behind.
Rick Baggett

I agree with this,and it has nothing with the swing,its a takeoff problem and as kirk said that the bubka drill is good to learn remaining the leg straight,but how can u do the straight take off,can u suggest any exercises