Going "up" and not "out"

[always_ambitious]

These jumps are from seven lefts gripping 13'3 on a 14' 165. Bungee is at about 14'. I've been working on completing my inversion and allowing the pole to work for me.( If you search the forum you will see that I've made decent progress on that aspect of the vault from a few months ago.) These jumps are from the day after a hard workout, so my legs were a little heavy. However, at meets, when I'm pumped up, I push the standards back to 80, I get a big bend, and I land deep, but I still can't seem to go up instead of out. This is the biggest pole at my school. Should I try to borrow a 14' 170 or even a 175? Should I move my grip? Both?
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4E4Nj ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4E4Nj ... sp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4E4Nj ... sp=sharing

Thanks in advance for your guidance and assistance

[KirkB]

The problem is not that your pole is too soft. If that was the case, you'd be blowing thru. You're not. I know that you said these vids were the day after a hard workout, but if you want us to advise you on how to improve your BEST vaults, then you'll have to take vids of your BEST vaults to show us. Show us how you clear the bar (or blow thru) with standards at 80 on this pole.

I also suggest that if you really want us to see how much you've improved over the past few months, then you need to at least provide a link to your old vids. Don't expect us to search for those ourselves - you need to help us with video evidence as best as you can. Then you'll get the best advice.

And while I'm griping about your vids, I also suggest that if you have 3 vids that are almost the same, just post your BEST one. Don't force us to waste our time looking at all 3. So next time, maybe post just your best jump (one vid) from a couple months ago and one from today. Only 2 vids altogether.

With what little I have to go on right now (I'm not going to search for your old vids - I'll just take your word for it that you've improved quite a bit), I suggest that you learn how to SWING on the pole properly. Your technique right now seems to be a little unconventional - you're sorta stopping your swing (probably with your bottom arm, which is a big no-no) and they getting stuck and having to do a wierd body contortion to invert. If you had a smooth swing, then you wouldn't have this issue. Actually, I don't see any swing at all. I only see a "hang" and then a weird "invert" and then a "flag out". That needs to be fixed before you worry about optimizing the pole you're on. Go back to swinging on a straight pole, and learn to swing properly on that. Also, get on a highbar (or rings) to work on your swing - lots of reps!

I KNOW that you haven't done any ring work or highbar work. If you had, you would have an actual SWING - not the technique that I'm seeing.

Re moving up in poles, I'm not seeing you land at the BACK of the coach's box with this pole, so why would you be thinking of using an even heavier pole?

If anything, when your legs are "a little heavy", use a lighter pole and land further in the pit. A lighter pole (and/or a lower grip) lets you focus more on your technique, because you remove the fear of stalling out. But perhaps an even better alternative is to not jump at all the day after a hard workout. You should be focussing on improving your BEST technique by being at your BEST whenever you vault.

This is quite a basic concept - pace your workouts to get the most out of each of them, and do your HEAVY workouts the day AFTER your vaulting days.

It may sound like I'm being a bit hard on you. I don't mean to pick on you, but I do mean to give you a reality check, and I do mean to tell you the harsh realities of what I see needs correcting. I mean this with your best interests in mind - please accept my advice this way.

Kirk