Problem Taking off!

[skyshark177]

How do you help a vaulter take off?
The vaulter has been jumping for 3 years now and is having problems taking off.
What kinds of drills can you do to help the vaulter get back into it?

[swtvault]

I would definetely start them from square one. By that I mean start from two steps.....left right. Its sounds weird, but doing that gives you a real good foundation to build off of. The key is to get them to stand up and PUSH (put the feet down and finish the running cycle) and move through the take-off. Once you start to see them finishing, keep inching the grip up. Doing that forces them to constantly push their boundaries. From there you can move to four steps, than six, etc. More than likely you will find that most kids will jump higher from six and eight steps than they did from fourteen or sixteen. Essentially it leaves you alot of ammo in the bag. By this I mean that you make technical improvements first, and than you throw in more horsepower (longer runs.) Makes the athletes and coaches job much easier. Hope that was helpful.

GF

[blazerunner121]

maybe before two steps, do no-steps - pole already in box and practice take-off from there. or maybe this address if u haven't seen it: http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... e-off.html

[KYLE ELLIS]

have them do wall plants or three step plants every night

[Scott Go Pre]

Have them watch the Yoo Suk part of Bring It!

I watched it and I could relate to Yoo.

[skyshark177]

ya, got that dvd, it's great.
thanks for the idea's

[altius]

Hang in there. Four or five years ago Steve Hooker from Melbourne could not take off from two steps because of some kind of mental block. In March this year he jumped 5.87m - or 19'3" for those who want to remain locked in to the OLD measurements.

[Russ]

I completely agree with swtvault. As soon as one of my vaulters starts having trouble taking off, I have them move up to 3 lefts. 3 lefts is pretty much our standard distance for all beginning drills. So, if someone is psyched out with their full run, it just makes sense to go back to 3, do a couple from 3, then go to 4, etc., gradually progressing their way back up.

To a large degree, the problem is a confidence thing, and reverting to 3 lefts and working back up seems to restore confidence.