Problem driving into standards

[sghetti]

Alright so pole runs should do the trick for the pole positioning correct? How can I jump up without losing speed?

Nevermind I'm reading the other post on this subject.

[nitro]

keep a good left arm until ready to invert then pull it in...keeping the left arm out will put more energy into the pole

[sghetti]

I see what you're saying. So plant earlier and high, keep a better left arm, and I should be doing better right? If I'm running into the pole does that mean I need to take my step back a little or that I need to jump on my plant?

[bblinkwme182b]

I dont know if your rocking back all the way and getting inverted, but if you are it could also be a problem with your turnover. If you try to turn with your hips youll end up shooting off to the side, but if you put your right foot over your left (if your right handed) youll have a correct turn over and hopefully correct your problem. Hope this helps.

[Vault Old School]

Watched all of your vaults and they all seem to be at least 6"-1' under. Also I do think you are planting late which will have a tendency to push your plant arm to the right seeing as how you are right handed. Pole runs will help with the timing and efficiency of the pole plant. As well as all of this I also suspect you are pulling with your top arm sometimes which will also cause you take a little trip around the pole.

However, the most important issue here is your take-off or lack thereof. Right now you are not jumping because the pole is contacting the box way before you can effectively takeoff. Instead what is happening is that you are transferring your runway speed directly into the pole via your right arm. This is unsafe for many reasons. Without an upspringing takeoff you will have already greatly limited the energy input that you can translate into the pole/polevaulter system. Without this take-off every other element in your vault is also being hindered. So please for your own safety move your step back so that you can be consistently "ON" or a little bit "OUTSIDE". This will give you the space you need to jump up and push the pole into the pit rather than it pulling you into the pit. Work on your long jumping skills and do some pole runs and pole plant drills at full speed, half speed and quarter speed so that you feel very comfortable planting the pole and jumping on the runway. Most everything else will take care of itself if you make this change. Good Luck

[vcpvcoach]

I'm 5'9, 150 lbs. I'm learning to bend on smaller poles. My steps were horribly off today so I vaulted on a 140 lb. 12"(?)

So I think everything is back to normal so I go back up to the usual 14 foot 145 lb.

Here's my take on what you are doing.

First, you're 6" to a foot under on your take off and you're late with your plant. Remember that your take off foot should be level with your top hand. Think of a straight line from your top hand to your foot.

Second, by rule you are jumping on an illegal pole. If you're 150 lbs, you should be jumping a pole at 150 lbs or more.

But......with that said, I would find a 12' 150 maybe a 12' 155 pole and jump with your same grip before moving up to a 14' pole. You were rejected because you were hold to high on a pole too long for you. You made it impossible for you to get the pole to vertical.

Remember, every six inches your grip moves down a pole you add 10 lbs. So, if you are landing in the pit with your 12' 140, the next pole up would be a 12'6" 135, then 13' 130, then a 13'6" 125 and so on. This assumes that your grip stays the same.

One last thing, when you start to get your plant timing corrected, you will blow through the back of the pit in that 12' 140 which is very dangerous. Look at the last jump you made with it. The pole is way past veritcal!!!!

It is easy to forget that poles are designed for a three foot push off if you are in the proper posistion to use it.

Good luck.

[vcpvcoach]

Remember, every six inches your grip moves down a pole you add 10 lbs. So, if you are landing in the pit with your 12' 140, the next pole up would be a 12'6" 135, then 13' 130, then a 13'6" 125 and so on. This assumes that your grip stays the same.

Sorry, the old coach is math challenged.

The pole progression is 12' 140, 12'6" 150, 13' 160 and so on.

[sghetti]

Thanks a lot guys. I'm printing everything out and going over it with my coach. I promise I'll have updated videos once I fix these "minor" errors. This week I'm seeing Anthony Curran. He's an amazing pole vaulting coach. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

[vcpvcoach]

Coach Curran is a great coach. I competed against his brother who is the vault coach at Fallbrook HS in San Diego.
If you can video tape everything so you will remember and go over it later.

Good luck

[sghetti]

Great idea. I'll see if I can take my video camera.

That's really cool. Last year when we went with Curran we were the last group of vaulters so we had to take in the pits. We were there for a while so he was just talking to us about his pole vaulting family. He said he had something like 8 brothers and all of them pole vaulted. That's pretty crazy. Have any good stories about his brother?

Oh yeah, and thank you sooo much for helping me out. Today I went up to a 13" 150 and my coach says that I'm ready to go up again. For the first time I'm landing in the middle of the pit and I feel like I can improve so much. I'll see what Curran tells me tomorrow if it doesn't rain. If it does I'll be pissed off lol. Alright then, thanks for everything, everyone. I'll keep you guys updated.

[sghetti]

Okay guys, I'm back as I promised. Here are some video clips of me vaulting with Coach Curran.

http://media.putfile.com/vaultingwithcurran
The whole file is 1 mb. Each video will take a minute or two to download from a dialup connection, so let it load.

As you can see I'm doing a lot better. No more crashing into the standards! I believe I need to learn how to lower the pole better because it seems like I drop it from my hips. My left arm needs to collapse so I'm guessing it's all a matter of timing and practice. I'll look up drills for that. My plant needs to be taller, and I need to learn how to properly invert. That's a lot of stuff lol.

Vaulting with Coach Curran was amazing. That first video shows me using a 13" 160 for the first time. I got a little scared but I finally got to 11 feet. The last two videos they raised the bungee to 12 feet.

Any advice or comments are appreciated. Thanks!

[SKOT]

As you can see I'm doing a lot better. No more crashing into the standards! I believe I need to learn how to lower the pole better because it seems like I drop it from my hips. My left arm needs to collapse so I'm guessing it's all a matter of timing and practice. I'll look up drills for that. My plant needs to be taller, and I need to learn how to properly invert. That's a lot of stuff lol.

Any advice or comments are appreciated. Thanks!

take things one step at a time. work on one specific thing each practice. if you try to cognate more than one or two things while jumping, you lose focus and forget the basics!