Getting Inverted Question

[coleman]

I am having trouble with one of my girls getting inverted. She gets in a pike position and then bails out of the vault before its finished. Sometimes she gets inverted and still wont ride the pole up all the way.

Are they any drills or tips that might help her finish the vault?

[charlie]

First you have to understand that you PULL your hips up and through the turn to vault high and that takes core strength. We do rope inversions with ankle weights from the split position every day. We have a 7th grader 11-6. Two seniors (boy 15') girl (12'). Your welcome to come to our private facility. We train 7 days a week. Minimal charge. 35$ for a one day session. Coach Polhamus Cell 229-425-0575

[altius]

The mechanics of this aspect of the vault are commonly misunderstood. The key is the redirection of energy of the long whipping swing after take off. The body should whip to the chord of the pole completely extended from top hand to left toe - see Wendy Young jumping at 4.40 on the back page of BTB - then as they pass the chord the athlete breaks at the hips and LOCKS the lower body to the trunk using muscle power to fix the legs/pelvis/trunk relationship. Now some of the energy of the fast swinging legs is transferred into the pelvis which rolls up over the head. This action is aided by the continuing swing of the left leg AND a powerful punch of the right knee which begins at take off and should continue until the athlete is completely inverted and ready to extend up the pole. Without the lock -the feet continue up and leave the pelvis hanging down - in a V position as you describe with your athlete.

This swing, break and lock can be developed on a high bar as shown in the BTB dvd. Repetition of the correct action on the high bar is the best solution - but remember, this action is based on the redirection of energy from an efficient whip swing - which cannot be completely effective if the athlete takes off under. Finally you cannot graft a great inversion onto a technique with inefficient first and second phases.

[BadMotherVaulter]

The mechanics of this aspect of the vault are commonly misunderstood. The key is the redirection of energy of the long whipping swing after take off. The body should whip to the chord of the pole completely extended from top hand to left toe - see Wendy Young jumping at 4.40 on the back page of BTB - then as they pass the chord the athlete breaks at the hips and LOCKS the lower body to the trunk using muscle power to fix the legs/pelvis/trunk relationship. Now some of the energy of the fast swinging legs is transferred into the pelvis which rolls up over the head. This action is aided by the continuing swing of the left leg AND a powerful punch of the right knee which begins at take off and should continue until the athlete is completely inverted and ready to extend up the pole. Without the lock -the feet continue up and leave the pelvis hanging down - in a V position as you describe with your athlete.

This swing, break and lock can be developed on a high bar as shown in the BTB dvd. Repetition of the correct action on the high bar is the best solution - but remember, this action is based on the redirection of energy from an efficient whip swing - which cannot be completely effective if the athlete takes off under. Finally you cannot graft a great inversion onto a technique with inefficient first and second phases.

Altius... beginner coach here.... can you elaborate more on this "lock" you're talking about?

I have a girl who's a senior this year jumping 10 feet... she seems to have this inversion problem too. Her hips/pelvis just plain stop moving right after her initial swing and she never can extend up, she just shoots out. I'm positive its really holding her back right now.