13'er can't keep long trail leg

[lakesidepv]

I've got a vaulter who has gone 13', but mainly on strength. He just can't seem to keep his trail long and extended. He'll curl it up and basically "lift" himself up. Thus, he's "pulling" too early and not loading his pole enough. Suggestions?

[distancejumper]

have this person hold a bit lower and make him do pop ups until he gets it

[PVPirate26]

i had a problem with my trail leg early in the indoor season. i thought i had a really long, straight trail leg until my coach showed me footage of a meet and i wanted to cry it was so horrible!! that was motivation for me and i worked really hard at it and now my trail leg is one of the strongest parts of my vault.

i think what helped me the most was going back to the basics. i lowered my grip and went from 3 or 4 lefts and really worked on my rock back and keeping my trail leg as straight as can be. after take off, i lock my trail leg in the knee and ankle for my swing up. i don't know if that will work for everyone, but locking my leg out allows me to keep my trail leg perfectly straight and swing up faster. hope that helps...GOOD LUCK!

[HighVaultage]

Im having the same trouble with my trail leg. drills using a pull up bar and just repetition of swinging the leg really helped me out. I was trying to bring my legs to my chest to early and it was cutting my swing short. Swinging all the way to the top of the pole is helping my invert come along a lot more successfully. The Swing is really esential for the rest of the vault.

[advath]

Start your swing by driving your trail leg foot down. The initial swing is at the knee not the hip. If the trail leg breaks at the knee on the way up, that is to help speed up the rockback phase. That is okay. When the ankles or shins are at the top hand, straighten the legs again. Once the ankles or shins reach the top hand, the "Bubka" phase has to be in timeing with the pole. If you shoot out of the Bubka, you will shoot out away from the pole not up. The higher the bar, the closer you need to stay to your pole during the Bubka phase.

You can read more about the Swing in http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=71

You can read more about the Rockback in http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=72

NEW!!! You can now leave comments on those pages.

[VTechVaulter]

Start your swing by driving your trail leg foot down. The initial swing is at the knee not the hip. If the trail leg breaks at the knee on the way up, that is to help speed up the rockback phase. That is okay. When the ankles or shins are at the top hand, straighten the legs again. Once the ankles or shins reach the top hand, the "Bubka" phase has to be in timeing with the pole. If you shoot out of the Bubka, you will shoot out away from the pole not up. The higher the bar, the closer you need to stay to your pole during the Bubka phase.

You can read more about the Swing in http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=71

You can read more about the Rockback in http://advantageathletics.com/2005/?page_id=72

NEW!!! You can now leave comments on those pages.

i must respectfully disagree with the above post. it is not a requirement to swing down first. The key is to be long through the box. That is the common ground between the great vaulters. Tarasov (arguable the best technical vaulter of all time) swung dead straight the whole way. Tim mack hits this almost swastica like position and then swings out of it. Bubka was somewhere in the middle.

in terms of teaching to swing. Make him do a three left straight pole jump without bending it in at all. swing straight to hands. when he can do that every time. Go to 4 lefts and start bending (small bend), then five.. etc... This is how i learned anyway... takes while but i think everyone agrees that a trail leg is a requirement to succesfful vaulting so its worth the time.. best of luck

[advath]

in terms of teaching to swing. Make him do a three left straight pole jump without bending it in at all. swing straight to hands. when he can do that every time. Go to 4 lefts and start bending (small bend), then five.. etc... This is how i learned anyway... takes while but i think everyone agrees that a trail leg is a requirement to succesfful vaulting so its worth the time.. best of luck

That is exactly what I do with all my vaulters. From a full run with bend, I change it a little.

Bubka's trail leg did bend after coming off the ground and then drove the trail leg foot down. By saying, "swing through" the trail leg can remain bent (if the vaulter bends it coming off the ground) as it swings through. By viewing the video http://www.stabhoch.com/movies/20040827_Mack_590.mov or the sequence photos at http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/mack.html you ca see that Tim Mack lifts his trail leg foot then drives it down at the box not really straight down vertically.

When I was coaching Denis Kholev (NCAA Pole Vault Champion) he did the same: http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/kholev.html

Toby Stevenson does it, BUT he minimalizes it by kicking his lead foot forward. This pulls his hips and trail leg out of line. When his top hand, shoulders, hips and trail leg line up; its not a straight line. If you look at his sequence photos http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... enson.html you can see that his hips and trail leg are slightly forward of the top hand to the box line.

Being "Long through the box" starts the swing off slower than the actions above. Locking out the trail leg between the take off and the box is a passive action. Lifting the trail leg foot then driving it down to the box is active creats a much faster swing.

Watch the new NCAA Champion, Tommy Skipper do it http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... ipper.html

According to Tim Mack's coach, Jim Bemiller the key is to swing fast.

Tarasov (arguable the best technical vaulter of all time) swung dead straight the whole way.

All I have to say has been said already in http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... rison.html

Hope to see you vault again soon my friend VTechVaulter

I learned all this a long time ago from Mike Tully, 19' 2" Olympic Silver Medallist and NCAA Champoin. Thanks again Mike.

[Erica]

The ability to have an effective swing requires an effective takeoff. The more speed and power you have at takeoff, the better and faster the swing of your trail leg will be. Without this, it is impossible to get all the benefit from the swing, you are just muscleing the jump. Once you have learned to takeoff well, it makes the above mentions techniques much easier to accomplish.

[RidinHigh]

I have the same problem of keeping my leg straight but those sequence photos helped me out a lot. The only question I have developing from all of this is...You are talking about having a fast swing and the way that can benefit a vault. My problem is that I just started getting to where I can really punch my bottom arm and when I do this I don't know if it is a confidence problem or if something is really going wrong in my vault, but I can't tell when I need to start the swing b/c it feels like I am going to blow right through my pole so I never get a good swing starrted. It seems like if I try to hold my take off for too long I don't get any penetration onto the pit. I have a new pole that i have been working on getting on but i just can't seem to get any penetration off of it. So I guess what I am trying to ask out of all of this is...How long do I need to hold my take off before I start my swing and when do I need to stop punching my bottom arm and turn it into a pull?

[advath]

stop punching my bottom arm

That's just it...Stop "punching" your bottom arm.

See http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... ipper.html

and http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... helle.html

and a 16' high school frosh http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/shuler.html

It may look as if the bottom arm is being "punched" at some point in the vault, but that is misleading. The bottom arm extends because the pole bends away from the shoulders with a good swing.

[altius]

1. Stop thinking swing and start thinking WHIP!
2. practice the whip on a high bar - emphasise flexion at knee of TO leg initially - this begins acceleration which is then taken up by the upper leg.
Drive the chest through the arms just before beginning whip to set up elastic pre stretch from sternum down.
3. FINISH the take off with a full driving extension of take off leg and ankle. This will leave take off foot into good position to initiate whip. See Bubka 601 Athens.
4, Improve your jumping ability so you take off OUT never under. In the end this is the key. You will never get an effective whip taking off under. See Markov 6.05 Edmonton/ Feofanova anytime.
5. Do not think of driving the whipping foot DOWN - if you initiate correctly it will seem to swing down - but the aim is to continue that whip of the foot UP to the top hand.

[LPVG]

If you are in or around the Sacramento area, stop by Bella Vista HS. We have a new toy that teaches athletes how to load a pole and swing up in the correct position with a long trail leg. Had a visiting female vaulter yesterday that tucked her legs and collapsed her lower arm all season. Ten minutes on the new toy and she was able to translate what she learned into almost perfect technique on a real vault