Anyone Wanna Critique?

[JTred]

I think that:

A) I need to run faster
B) I need to drop my shoulders
C) I need to keep my trail leg straight
D) I need to turn more

What are your opinions?

Slippery Rock meet
http://home.comcast.net/~taylor147/onli ... y_Rock.wmv

Pitt meet
http://media.putfile.com/Me-Pole-Vaulting-at-Pitt

BTW 10'6" is my new PR

[MightyMouse]

You have a very nice run up for the height your jumping. You run tall and controlled without leaning to far over.
Dont work on making your trail leg strait, but having it be further back, and whipped powerfully forward. Check out some elite videos, none have a strait trail leg in the back. Also I wouldnt worry to much about your turn, It will come when you figure out the takeoff. If you start from the begining and work forward, I think things will be a bit simpler

Best of Luck

[advath]

I don't know what video Mighty Mouse was watching, but if you pause the video when the vaulter is passing the camera you can see that he is hunched over with his face so far out in front of his hips and shoulders that his nose is over his bottom hand.
Run tall read Sprint Mechanics by Tim Werner, Advantage Athletics http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=39 .

[souleman]

Nicely written. I know it will take me a couple of read thoughs to fully understand what Tim is saying. But yes I agreed with your observation on Jtreds jump. I also see a lot of things that could be worked on and improved with some short run jumping at lower heights. Once again bringing into play Bubba Sparks "face your demons" game. The issues that are showing up on your jumps at 10' & 11' will rear their ugly head at 8 feet as well if you hold on at DJ's top grip for that height of 9'10" a take off point of 6'8" and your 3 step start point of the mid mark for that height of 33'. Jtred, try this and sees what happens. Many correct things have to happen for you to get over that 8' bar under those stipulations. Not only that but the problems manifest themselves more so at the 8' and 8'6" than they do at the higher heights. Hopefully I can get Bubba to take a look at your video and clarify more what I'm trying to say. Later...........Mike

[Bubba PV]

Well first, CONGRATS on your new PR!! I know Tim quite well and I do see his point, but I also agree with some of what Mighty Mouse has to say. The video angle is pretty hard to tell much of what's going on but I like that you have your own critique. You're doing a lot of things right and part of improvement goes with more jumps and addressing flaws that you and your coach see.

Sorry to be so unhelpful but the angle makes me suspect some things that may not be the case if I saw it from another angle. I can see by the track set up that you didn't have a lot of choice of video angle so that’s cool.

My gut feeling is that you're running too far (14 steps) and holding too high for the heights you're attempting right now. Maybe in practice you can move in a stride or two so you can get more jumps in to work on things. I agree with Mike that you need to hold yourself to the grip/height requirement on DJ's chart http://www.bubbapv.com/Pages/dj.htm So for 10' 6" you would have been gripping 11'5.

Next, you're not accelerating but you're coming off the ground nicely, which doesn’t make sense. When you get the signal from the box that you're "on", you've gotta be able to show visible acceleration and power. This is probably the single fastest way you can improve TODAY because all sports are about acceleration and MAN does it help your vault timing. That’s pretty much a “one jump fixâ€Â

[JTred]

I just want to thank you all for your help. I will try to work on the things you guys have suggested at practice tomorrow. Since it's a shorter runway where I practice I'll be going from a 6 left run. Just checking to make sure I haven't missed any of your points I should:

Drive my top hand
Accelerate through the last 3 steps and the takeoff
run taller
drive my trail leg back to pre-stretch for the swing

Did I miss anything? I will try using DJ's chart once outdoor comes around, but where I vault now has so many people that I can't. Some things I forgot in my original post. That is a 13' 145# skypole I'm holding 6' from the top band and I weigh somewhere around 136-140.

[Bubba PV]

I vault tomorrow and I'll be working on the same things!! Have a good one and let us know how your season goes. Take care. Bubba

[mowad1]

Ahhh... Good Old Slippery Rock U.

[IndyCoach]

I would also start to really focus on getting an inverted turn correct. You are getting ahead of your pole without even beginning to turn. I would work a lot on figuring out how to turn correctly. Put the bar on (for you) 9' and learn how to turn. What happens is that you are going to learn some very bad habits and not want to change because your heights might not be as high to start with, but in the long run you will be better. Focusing on your trail leg wont have as much of an effect as vaulting with proper tech

[JTred]

I got some more video. The battery was beginning to die when we took the shots so some of them are a little cut off. It's on a little bit of a better angle.

http://media.putfile.com/Me-Pole-Vaulting-at-Pitt

I put a couple of freeze frames in. At the second one, what do I do when I get to that point? Like how do I drop my shoulders to get ready for the pole to unload?

[advath]

One thing you can learn to do is start your swing by tapping your trail leg foot down.

This will set you up for a faster swing. That will help you get inverted better. Also take a lot of vaults with your main goal to get your body in line with the pole.
Read more and see the photos in http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=78

[IndyCoach]

I just heard Jan Johnson speak and he talked about the that he doesn't recomend progessing until you have mastered the 3 step vault with making sure you are swining to an L and really shooting the turn with no/not much bend in the pole...
I have notes from his speach if anyone wants to read what I have, send me a message.