lowering the pole
Posted: Mon Dec 20, 2010 1:20 pm
When do you start to lower the pole and what do you actually do with your hands? like how do you raise the pole above your head.
This depends on how fast you are, and how efficiently you can achieve a "free pole drop."
Elite vaulters drop the pole late in the approach, and let gravity drop the pole into the box without lowering the bottom hand, keeping it high as a "fulcrum" for the pole to be rotated around as the top hand rises and controls the plant. Keeping the bottom hand high allows the vaulter to accelerate and move the hands quickly in unison with the accelerated strides, whereas if you drop the bottom hand you will be forced to slow down and lengthen your final strides because your hands are too slow. The key to the plant is the coordinated movement of the hands and feet; many of Petrov's drills are obviously focused on this element.
Read this article by Spencer Chang, I believe this to be one of the best articles ever written on pole vault technique. Most of the article is focused on the carry/drop/plant/takeoff:
http://www.usapolevaulting.org/articles ... SChang.pdf
Bubka and Petrov have stated that the drop begins six strides from the box. Most beginner vaulters will need to start a little before that because they will be controlling the pole drop more with the bottom hand and not really letting gravity drop the pole freely. On all of your pole runs you should be focused on a free pole drop and feeling the acceleration of the feet and hands simultaneously. Walking plant drills, and 3 step stiff pole vaulting, can help build the neuromuscular connections necessary to make these coordinated movements at high speeds. It just takes time and lots of repetitions!
Most of the time, the difference between bad vaults and good vaults is as simple as watching the pole drop and plant; many coaches try to coach what happens in the air, I believe this is meaningless if the setup was poor.
Good luck,
Tom