trail leg

[flyinazn]

Im having trouble keeping my trail leg down when i go up. It seems as though every time i jump i dont even hesitate to leave it trailing. What drills can i do to get this down or whatever comes to mind for you guys.

[KYLE ELLIS]

Stiff poles gripping high as possible while keeping leg back. Swinging on a parallel bar( or something to that affect) keeping leg back. If you cant on the parallel bar have someone grab your foot when you try and swing. Helpful tips keep head down, chest out, point toe back towards runway, maybe one of these will work?

[zack]

One-handers would probably help.

[flyinazn]

how much does trail leg really matter?

[Barto]

The most important component of force generation in the vault...after the run of course.

Sorry, better practice swinging it.

Barto

[tim hutzley]

there are all kinds of drills you can do to help your vault here
http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault.html

[Robert schmitt]

Helpful tips keep head down, chest out, point toe back towards runway, maybe one of these will work?

While keeping the head down will help you keep your trail leg back, It will not help you jump off the ground. Giveing you a low take off angle. I learned to vault with my head looking down into the box. It is a habit that is hard to unlearn. Think about it if you were going to try to jump as high as you can (say triing to dunk a basket ball) would you be looking at the ground or at the rim?

[KYLE ELLIS]

Helpful tips keep head down, chest out, point toe back towards runway, maybe one of these will work?

While keeping the head down will help you keep your trail leg back, It will not help you jump off the ground. Giveing you a low take off angle. I learned to vault with my head looking down into the box. It is a habit that is hard to unlearn. Think about it if you were going to try to jump as high as you can (say triing to dunk a basket ball) would you be looking at the ground or at the rim?

Well there is different styles of vault, keeping head down look at guys like mcmicheals, dial, miles etc. Adrive vaulter gets tall as possible while keeping his angle---- forward. What u learned is the jump vault, there is not a set standard for right and wrong. There are lots of variations and styles!

[zack]

I'm pretty sure all vaulters want to get as tall as possible off the ground. As for where your head is looking..everybody is different but it seems you want to look forward/up...fixating on the box can cause problems for some people..

[bjvando]

IM going to have to agree! looking down lowers your take off angle, makes it harder to swing. I've also seen lots of people over exaggorate their head position. If they slam their chin to their chest at take off, sometimes it will lead them to throw their head back( over correcting) when it comes time to swing. When the head is thrown back, sometimes this leads to "dropping" hips.

Anyone else agree, disagree, have another opinion????

[Erica]

I believe that where you look has a great deal to do with how well you will vault.

If you look at all elite vaulters, they are looking at SOMETHING. The majority of them look at the bottom hand at the takeoff, which helps them have a good takeoff angle off the ground. Then if you follow where they are looking, they ALL look for their top hand, then for their feet, then for the bar behind their feet.

This is a great way to learn to swing as well without throwing the head back. If you que a vaulter to look at their bottom hand, top hand, feet, they will tend to have a better takeoff, and swing their feet so that they will see them. It also helps the vaulter to control the jump better because they see where they are at all times and dont get as crazy in the air. I have had a lot of success teaching beginner vaulters to do this, and have improved my own vaulting a lot by making sure I see these things when I vault.

I have heard many people say "Don't look at the bar!!" and had been told this myself by several previous coaches. However, Joe Dial said it best when he told me "You have to look at the bar, then go over it."

[jmayesvaultmom]

I know a vaulter who had the problem with throwing the head back during the vault. He wore a helmet and his dad taped a little stick with a point to the back middle part of the helmet. Every time he threw his head back, the stick poked him! He stopped doing it...it hurt!