need help with form and pole advice

[Jungm1420]

ok. so i still need some help with my form. it is not that great. here are two videos of me vaulting that i put on youtube. the second one i actually PR at 11' with probably the worst form ive had this yr. the sad thing, im only gripping at about 12' or up on the pole. and 11'. not that good for what i hope to do. i really want to get 12' or 12'6 this yr. i think i can but first i need to get the right pole to use. that will help i think. i dont know how much but it makes a difference i know.

[urlhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_hQuncCclM][/url]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zqFu2GjHBA

[Jungm1420]

ok. so i messed up on the first video. here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_hQuncCclM

[vcpvcoach]

What do you weight? How much time do you straight pole during practice?

[vquestpvc]

Based on your utube video, you appear to have plenty of talent. However, that ain't enough. As already suggested, more straight pole practices learning to invert.

[Jungm1420]

Yea. I agree i do. I also have rings put up to use to do bubkas. How often should i do those an how many? I have been doing about 4 or 5 every other day. But with meets somedays i cant. Should i do more on the days that i can? I was also going to make an A frame to use.

[Jungm1420]

Sorry. Didnt se the first comment. I weight 128. And some but i probably should more than i do.

[Jungm1420]

Ok. So today i PRd again! I got 11'6" using a 13' 150 with 19.1 flex rating. Not to bad for my form. I am still not getting completely inverted. Still stuck in that L position. I think my problem is that i cant swing up all the way is bc i dont keep my trail leg all the way extended when swinging up. It is kind of bent and doesnt swing as much as ball up so i cant swing all the way inverted? Same deal with the two videos i posted earlier in this post. I think that is my inversion problem. Am i right?

[Vault101 Boy]

I would definitely say inversion is your problem, however i think you can easily get out of this phase and into near inversion. The second video shows a decent take off, no serious speed reduction and the hands were extended pretty well. Your right leg appears to be driving too but the left leg is just going along for the ride. Bringing the trail leg through fully extended is not easy to do. Ideally, well some say so, it should be but having it slightly bent is not the worst thing that can happen. The majority of the 14'+ vaulters in my state do not have a straight trail leg. The most agonizing problems that i see are barlocking and shoulder drop. These two go hand in hand.

IF you are barlocking, ie staring at the bar while you go through your vault, it makes dropping your shoulders harder to achieve and/or less effective. you say your standards are pretty far back so making it in the pit isnt a problem. Why not risk a little more by dropping the shoulders if you know youre going to land in a soft pit no matter what happens in the air. Id recommend doing bubkas and learning the motion that is required to drop the shoulders. The L position doesnt ever go away per say, but when the hands reach the feet/shins (the L phase upside down) , you just begin the pull through the pole using the back muscles. You are in the flat L position because of your incomplete swing. Practice swinging your feet to your hands to get used to finishing the swing then work on the back extension to get fully inverted.

You shouldnt have to use a 13' pole (if youre holding at the top) to clear 11'6, inverting will enable you to clear heights within a foot of your grip and then later above your grip.

[rainbowgirl28]

Are you vaulting with the standards all the way back? It looks to me like you're overgripping a bit on too soft of a pole.

I recommend seeing how high you can vault from 3 lefts with a straight pole. Your form will improve if you work on vaulting with less bend in the pole. If you can't access a bigger pole, hold lower and run from less steps on the poles you have.

You're pretty flat at takeoff. You're pretty far under and just letting the pole squish and pick you up off the ground. When you start jumping up at takeoff with the right pole and right grip, you'll find it easier to time the swing up.

[Jungm1420]

Okay. Yea they are all the way back. Yesterday at my meet i went up to a 13' 150lb pole. And i had to move them up to about 20.

[Jungm1420]

ok. so since i am under and not really jumping at all on my take off and making the pit still. once i fix that if my take off is on and i actually jump will that make it harder to stay on the same pole and i will have to go back to a softer one? or will it be about the same to jump on?

[Jungm1420]

I would definitely say inversion is your problem, however i think you can easily get out of this phase and into near inversion. The second video shows a decent take off, no serious speed reduction and the hands were extended pretty well. Your right leg appears to be driving too but the left leg is just going along for the ride. Bringing the trail leg through fully extended is not easy to do. Ideally, well some say so, it should be but having it slightly bent is not the worst thing that can happen. The majority of the 14'+ vaulters in my state do not have a straight trail leg. The most agonizing problems that i see are barlocking and shoulder drop. These two go hand in hand.

IF you are barlocking, ie staring at the bar while you go through your vault, it makes dropping your shoulders harder to achieve and/or less effective. you say your standards are pretty far back so making it in the pit isnt a problem. Why not risk a little more by dropping the shoulders if you know youre going to land in a soft pit no matter what happens in the air.

i think everything you said here is really the point to my problem. at my meet in lamar the other day i got 11'6 again. but their coach was kind of helping me once i was the only one left and he was saying that i needed to just focus on losing sight of the bar and extending up. i would start to extend up and then c that my feet were over the bar and think "oh im over now" and stop focusing on going up and turn to soon. when i did focus more on shooting straight up like in my 11'6 make i probably would have made 12' by looking at the vid. but then on my last attempt at 11'9 i started to go up and then gave out to soon like i always do. a habit i need to get out of. that when i think i am clear of the bar that i am really not yet there. and now that i think about it i havent ever rlly thought about my trail leg actually swinging through powerfully. your right it just does look like its kinda being pulled through and not rlly creating any of the momentum i need to extend up making it harder at the top.