Help with run/take off

[Tincup1215]

I have an athlete who is struggling on his run and in turn, affects his take-off. I have video, but not on me at the moment.

He is 5'10 145. Right now we are on 6 lefts (81'6") on a 14' 165-170 with him 2 inches down from capping. We do a lot of form drills with and without the pole. Ostrich runs, A and B skips, high knees, butt kicks, slide boxes (from 2-4-6 lefts). During these drills, I have to watch him like a hawk because he struggles to maintain consistency with being square and under control. I tell him to keep his shoulders square, so he'll adjust, but then his head will be all over the place. After a few reps, he'll be square with his shoulders with his head under control, but then his strides and knee drive are terrible. Basically he struggles to put it all together consistently.

He is a consistent 14' vaulter with a PR of 14'6 (gripping 13'6 on the 14' 170). When we are doing pit work, I can tell he's trying to keep himself under control on the runway, but at the expense of his speed. Yesterday I asked him what % he felt like he was at "speed" wise on the runway and he said 70-75%.

The other drill I've done with him is what we call the 50% drill. He starts out about 80' down the runway on a 13'7 170. I have him jog down the runway at 50% speed and then attack his last 4 lefts. When we do this drill, he's been consistent on the runway, attacking 90-95% his last few strides, and his take-off and plant our on point. When we go to 6 lefts down the runway though, none of the drills transfer over to his run.

My goal is to get him moved up to my 14'7 series of poles, but I won't do that when his run and take-off are still inconsistent.

Any thoughts are appreciated! I will get a video or 2 on here hopefully later today.

[Tincup1215]

https://youtu.be/XO0ILpuEPUc

Off 6 lefts in flats, on 14' 160. Not one of his better vaults, but the only video I had on me of him. He is MUCH faster than what is shown in the video. He's hitting it at about 75% speed, yet still is pretty poor. I know he's under and not taking-off very strong, but I feel like if his run and approach was improved, the take-off and plant will improve. I just hate watching his hips get ripped up off the ground and not getting a high bend in the pole.

The very few vaults he has hit at 95% speed with a smooth plant and strong take-off, he is tremendous in the air. It's just a matter of getting him to do it consistently which is what I'm struggling with.

When we do 6 left slide boxes, he's pretty good. Attacks down the runway in control and hits everything smoothly, its just not transferring over to the runway as quickly as I'd like.

[CoachEric]

It has everything to do with his pole carry and pole drop.

If the pole tip drops below eye level before the plant is initiated, there is too much weight in front of the vaulter to maintain posture while sprinting, and posture and run tempo degrades, so the vaulter can't take off properly, and will usually be under. The other consequence in your vaulter's case is that the hands drop too low before he initiates the plant. This lengthens the distance his hands move during his plant motion, which makes his plant late, and it slows the rhythm of his run, since his feet will time up with his hands.

First, adjust his pole carry so that the left arm supports the pole from underneath, with the left wrist cocked up. This will make it easier to keep the pole tip up, and it will help prevent his hands from dropping down before he plants.

Second, practice pole runs and focus on keeping the pole tip above eye level until the plant is initiated.

[KirkB]

Eric made some good points about his pole carry and plant.

To add to that, his run is really quite ragged. Coach him to have a better, gradual speed increase as he approaches the box. Your 50% drill is good, now you just need to transition that to a full run, with a smoother transition.

The other drill I've done with him is what we call the 50% drill. He starts out about 80' down the runway on a 13'7 170. I have him jog down the runway at 50% speed and then attack his last 4 lefts. When we do this drill, he's been consistent on the runway, attacking 90-95% his last few strides, and his take-off and plant our on point. When we go to 6 lefts down the runway though, none of the drills transfer over to his run.

I would also encourage less pole motion while running, and a gradual drop of the pole - starting from a high pole carry. Even on the shorter run drills, it wouldn't hurt to use a higher pole carry, just to get used to it in prep of full run vaults. It will help to learn how to DROP the pole into the box (timing is everything), rather than PLANT the pole into the box with his arms.

This will give him better forward lean (a better attack angle) as he gathers for takeoff.

I know that you know that his steps are under (WAY under), so it's really hard to talk about any technique after takeoff (he's really getting jerked), but I can tell from the way he pulls his legs in that his core body strength is good. Almost too good, because if it wasn't as good, he'd have to swing properly (long trail leg) to invert. Now he can cheat by tucking - it's a bad, bad habit to get into.

So whatever you work on down the runway, and on the plant and takeoff, he first and foremost needs to hit a good takeoff point, with a good (slightly forward leaning) body angle so that he can actually jump off the ground (instead of getting jerked off the ground).

I would work on drills that enforce/re-inforce hitting the right takeoff point. Else the rest of each vault attempt is really a waste of time and effort, and is leading him into bad habits.

Kirk

[Tincup1215]

Thank you both very much! Good to know we're seeing the same problems and appreciate the different schools of thought on this.

[powerplant42]

I heard a story once about Petrov and a group of elite vaulters who had come to train with him. He took them to the track and had them do simple running drills with a pole to the point where they started to complain, either about the difficulty, the relevance, or the monotony... maybe all three. He said something like, "If you can't run correctly, how will you jump correctly?"

For what it's worth.

[Tincup1215]

I heard a story once about Petrov and a group of elite vaulters who had come to train with him. He took them to the track and had them do simple running drills with a pole to the point where they started to complain, either about the difficulty, the relevance, or the monotony... maybe all three. He said something like, "If you can't run correctly, how will you jump correctly?"

For what it's worth.

This is exactly what we did on Saturday and today and are going to continue to do throughout the season, focusing on rhythm down the runway and doing simple drills. After doing a lot of skips, high knees, straight leg, butt kicks, etc with and without the pole, the run is improving. I talked to him about the Rocky 3 montage when Rocky gets trained by Apollo and his gym. Apollo yells at Rocky about having no rhythm during footwork drills. Kid has never seen any of the Rockys

His last pole run after 2 days of work. It's getting better, now just got to hope it all transfers back over to the runway

http://youtu.be/jsACKdVPHOQ

[powerplant42]

Never seen Rocky!!!? That is a major training issue. How are they supposed to be motivated?