Great vid! Thanks to you Coach Eric, and to Coach Butler for doing this.
I agree with all of the ten dysfunctional plants that you identified.
And I think it's a very good approach IN ADDITION TO explaining what a GOOD plant should look like. By identifying these pitfalls, we can categorize them and explain their pitfalls by category. I think it also gives the coach a keener eye in picking out one of these 10 flaws by their general characteristics. This is much easier for a coach to do than to consider each vaulters unique planting flaws, and then have to explain them one-by-one.
Dysfunctional Plant #1: "
Forward and Up Plant". Back in the day, we used to call this one the "
Shovel Plant". If you've ever shoveled snow off a driveway with a flat-nosed shovel, you will know why. For beginners, the shovel plant may be preferable to some of the other dysfunctional plants. At least it gets you and the pole moving in the right direction. However, I wouldn't suggest that beginners keep planting this way for very long - the longer you keep doing the shovel plant, the harder it will be to break the habit and plant properly.
Dysfunctional Plant #2: "
Roundhouse Plant". To varying degrees, every vaulter I know does this - some a little bit, and some a lot. It's impossible not to
Roundhouse a little bit, because you have to move your arm past your shoulder, and there's only 2 ways to get around it: (1)
Shovel; or (2)
Roundhouse. Optimally, I think you should strive for what I call a "
Through-the-Shoulder Plant". Of course this is impossible if taken literally, but by making your shoulder extremely flexible (through various drills and stretching excercises), you can reduce the dysfunctional
Shovel and
Roundhouse symptoms. If your vaulter is doing a
Roundhouse, the first thing you should check is his range of shoulder motion.
Coach Eric: What do you think about this? And what does Coach Butler recommend is the best FUNCTIONAL way to plant?
One additional dysfunctional plant type that I'd like to add is:
11. "
Leaning Back During the Plant". The reason vaulters lean back too much just before (or during) their plant is because they've let their pole drop too quickly (and then must hold it up by leaning back). Or maybe they didn't start their run with a high pole carry and then lower it gradually. Either way, leaning back just before (or during) the plant slows down the entire plant and takeoff dramatically. Good body posture is so important on takeoff, and you won't have good body posture (slight forwards lean) if you've been leaning back.
Kirk