Scootze42
Close examination of the videos you have shared show the issues quite clearly and have been identified by commentators so far.
The advice in regard to use of gymnastic type apparatus swinging is appropriate and helpful.
This vaulter also has a number of problems to be addressed in her approach run, pole carry and particularly the plant action she is using. For example she sinks and “gallops” during the plant rather than stay tall and attempt to increase her cadence. Pole carriage throughout the approach needs to be corrected before the plant action problems can be resolved. Given that these Approach Run technical deficiencies receive attention concurrently with what I am suggesting in what follows rapid progress will undoubtedly occur.
My coaching needs assessment of this vaulter, post take-off, is that she requires practices that will develop her “feel” or “Coordination Patterns” for:
(a) Swinging in suspension below moving hand / wrist pivot points
(b) Leg swing with backward roll into a suspended straight body inversion with her body vertically aligned with hips pressed to her hands whilst her shoulders swing into a final position suspended below her hand grip pivot supports
(c) Executing a longitudinal axis ½ turn in the inverted position and dismount by releasing the hand grips at the time and spatial location to be able to continue rotation and negotiate her trajectory path across bar (bungy) heights at least 1 .00m below her current personal best to land safely on two feet followed with no break in continuity of motion by a back roll to regain her feet well towards the rear of the designated landing zone.
https://youtu.be/yOWDsG-U-GkScootze42 has received some good advice on how the three areas of technique deficiency can be addressed.
If the coach does not have access to gymnastic equipment here are some drill activities that can be carried out on the track infield, horizontal jumps sand landing pit and pole vault pads.
On the grass area: during warm up and with the pole 1. With the top grip located at vertical stretch along the pole when held vertically with the pole tip on the ground between the feet: With an over-head pole carry WALKING step plants take-off and swing past pole.
2. Repeat but having just swung past the pole and with body weight suspended tighten the grips and try to screw the pole downward into the ground turning the vaulter’s whole body in time with the twist on the pole.
3. Repeat 2 having raised the top grip by 1 fist width. Raise the grip by a further fist width and when the grip height is such that the vaulter has to jog and execute a spring upward in the take-off the vaulter can begin to swing further past the pole using the tightening grip pole twist action.
4. Repeat 3, raising the grip as needed, still using the overhead starting position for the planting of the pole. Coaching emphasis on the verticality of the pole (not planting too far out in front of the take-off foot) and momentary free flight before pole impacts the grass surface. On the pole tip ground contact the vaulter executes the pattern “Swing Past the pole, Spin (the pole is turned about a longitudinal axis), and Turn (turning the body in time with the turn of the pole). “Swing-Spin-Turn” the vaulter saying this phrase out loud helps to produce the desired timing and sequential action pattern order.
The athlete self-checking to focus their self-directed corrective feedback on landing after each attempt (1) 2 feet simultaneously touch down?
(2) Face back in the direction of the approach turn after the 180 degrees turn?
(3) Pole angle is high and located in the plane of the midline of the vaulter’s body
(4) Whole body turned as a single unit in synchrony with the pole twist via the tight grips and all the parts turn at the same time?
(5) Head in the neutral position throughout the swing and turn?
(6) Landing under control with the whole body upright and extended on landing? Feet close together or wide apart?
Sand Pit Vaulting.The above can be repeated in the Sand Pit progressing to higher grips and (2 to 6 step run ups pole overhead carry then 6- 12 steps with a regular pole carry and plant). Initially the sand pit drills are best introduced with “Stiff” poles.
After the vaulter has mastered the swing pelvic curl /roll and ½ turn from 6 running steps a pole that will bend slightly when holding with the same top grip length, can be introduced and the swing with straight swing leg pelvic roll up towards inversion ½ turn practiced.
As the grip is progressed (2 finger width increments) the pole will deflect more easily and with larger amplitude until the desired movement pattern is about to break down. At the grip height at which this is judged to be about to happen, move to the next pole stiffness rating, grip up 1 fist width and take the approach back by 2 steps repeat with regular pole plant action and progress according to results.
Do not be in haste to progress back to full run. Allow this athlete to enjoy mastering swing to the bending pole chord, pelvic curl / roll into ½ turn and pole release exaggerating the high (both arms above the head) arm position post pole release in the descent to the landing and facing squarely towards the run up.
Grass infield gymnastics: 1. From squat reach forward, forward roll showing complete leg stretch until shoulders make contact with the ground then rapidly flex both knees to accelerate the roll to immediately stand up without any extra hand push against the ground or crossing the legs.
2. When 1 is mastered finish the roll accompanied by an immediate arm swing upward and stretch jump with ½ twist to 2 feet landing.
3. From a back lying position, heels and shoulders raised slightly by curving the upper thoracic spine( front chest dish shape), with both arms stretched above the head and in line with the ears, roll back and curl swing the straight legs backwards and extend them upwards.
During this back roll pelvic curl and hip extension both arms are circled in a large arc opposite in direction to pass the extending hips and lumbar spine to make a firm partial body weight support contact on the ground timed to coincide with the time the whole body fully inverted shoulder supported extension is reached. The straight arms arc of motion brushes past the thighs by means of the shoulder joint extensors whilst dynamically stabilized by the co-action of the shoulder joint adductor and abductors.
The inversion into the shoulder balance position should finish and be held stationary for 3-5 seconds by the necessary isometric stabilizing action of the arm, legs, trunk, abdominal and lumbar core muscles.
Initially the extension pelvic curl and back roll with straight should be performed slowly. When the correct movement sequence and timing have been learned the speed of execution should be increased so that the initiating action involves a “ballistic” explosive initial muscle action burst and a similar muscle action burst of activity to arrest the momentum when the shoulder balance extension final position is reached.
4. When exercise 3 is accomplished correctly and with ease the exercise can be repeated from an identical starting position with the hands gripping a firmly planted vertical, or slightly inclined vaulting pole. The pole tip must not be allowed to move.
The exercise is performed slowly at first so that the timing of the sequential engagement of the muscles required to produce
the movement pattern of inversion is performed using reversal of the muscle action (muscle origin moving towards muscle insertion under load) at the shoulders to assist the elevation of the vaulter’s whole body in the arc of motion inversion direction towards the extended arms ie the
trunk moves towards the arms which are fixed in position by the grips on the pole.
For this vaulter this is a critical motor pattern coordination objective and will need to be carefully monitored to ensure correct motion pattern and timing of muscular effort. As in exercise 3 once the slow performance pattern has been learned and can berepeated with control and precision then the vaulter will be ready to learn the “ballistic” action. This will take time and care. Note this is not a “rowing action by the arms” but a force and pressure directed along the line of the longitudinal axis of the pole.
5.
Cartwheeling: Learn a single step forward and cartwheel to stand and progress upon complete mastery of the cartwheel to a fast walk pace “round – off”. (learning to perform body weight support and transfer from feet to hands back to feet in a continuous mode of muscle effort and “Ballistic” momentum
6.
Hand standing, Hand walking and Handstand Pivot Turning (weight bearing and transfer with body fully inverted): Step forward single leg kick to handstand and scissor legs to step down from the handstand. Initially the handstand attempt need only be to about 45 degrees above the horizontal.
Coaching should emphasize straight arms throughout the ascent and descent phases of the straight leg “scissor action” of the legs. Progress the angle up to the vertical in small unit increments until the handstand inverted position can be reached, held stationary momentarily before the scissoring action take place.
The scissoring action when performed with both legs in the straight extended position requires the dynamic stabilizing action of the hip adductor muscles as the hip flexor and extensor muscles act as prime movers and antagonists .
This is the movement pattern muscle activation pattern that will be used in the inversion on and extension from the recoiling pole. The emphasis on activating the adductors as the legs are drawn towards each other in the inversion has high transfer to actual pole vault inversion.
Vaulting Pad Activities.Handstand 2 Leg Snap Downs, Single Leg Step Forward to Round-Off followed by back roll:7. When the handstand can be achieved, with body segments vertically aligned (straight body rather than banana shape handstand) handstand turning or pivoting with a 180 degree turn and step down is a useful progression as it leads to learning of a handstand “snap down” to 2 feet landing. The “snap-down” is a movement pattern that shares many identical elements to the push off and body shape change involved in negotiating the flight to pass over and clear the crossbar. (This can be developed further by back roll extension through handstand and with “legs together snap-down” (Courbet Action) to immediate back roll performed on the landing pads).
8. From a standing start position, roll backward and push out through a straight body handstand to front drop with stretched body on the landing pads.
9. Repeat 8 when it is mastered then just prior to landing in the fully stretched prone position execute a “late” ½ turn to back drop landing. (Under no circumstances should this vaulter try to visualize in advance the direction of the ½ turn. Doing so will be disastrous!).
Platform Table.There are many more drills using for example a platform table from which the vaulter can use the height advantage to perform a 2 step overhead plant into the box, upspring take-off, long penetration trail leg swing to partial invert with ½ turn and push away clearance over a bungy located back as far as the uprights will permit.
The bungy height is initially set to a height level with the edge of the vaulting table/platform.
The bungy height is raised according to the confidence the vaulter demonstrates and the desired execution sequence “Spring-Up, Swing Long, Spin the pole with tight grip, 1/2 Turn with whole body as 1 unit with legs firmly together, Snap the body into a front dish shape ready to land on 2 feet followed by back roll.
As the bungy height progresses upwards and vaulter confidence grows the Swing invert and turn meld into a single continuous sequence and a back landing can occur naturally as the technique efficiency evolves. When this occurs regularly and is secure and safe, the vaulter is demonstrating readiness to progress to short run with full plant vaults over low bungy heights with the upright back on maximum setting.
The long swing drills already being performed (Scootz43 video (2) above) post would be a good foundation on which to build a long swing to a half turn to front drop.
To attain a fully stretched position ready for the prone landing the vaulter needs to forcefully project the pole away through the long axis back towards the runway.
The drill is best performed initially with a stiff pole with the top grip gripping down about 1 fist from the end of the pole shaft. Gripping lower down on the pole than this the vaulter is at increased risk of getting hit at the side of her head by the pole if her pushing away force and length of force application to the pole are such that she is still retaining a grasp on the pole when landing prone on the pad!
Swing on Ropes, Rings and Bars.(gymnasium /some playgrounds). Again, for this vaulter, I would highly recommend she does extensive swinging on a single rope as well as on parallel double ropes. On a single rope Start with jump to straight top arm hang, lower arm elbow flexed and abducted at the shoulder and hold vertical suspension legs together with rope stationary.
Then progressing from stationary hang drive the lead leg forward and upward whilst at the same time drive the trail leg back so that as the lead leg hip flexion motion is stopped by the rearward hip extension of the trail leg the vaulter instantly propels the trail leg forwards from the hip with a “whip kick action”. The arms are maintained fixed in their initial position.
Ultimately this progresses until the vaulter, can from a short run, take-off catch the stationary rope and by maintaining the hang positioning and orientation of the arms and by means of the “leg split whip kick action” coordination sequence set the rope into pendular swing motion. The forces and the timing of their application gradually will provide larger and successively larger rope swing amplitudes as the technique improves.
Again there are a plethora of rope swing drills including swing and inversion with ½ turn to dismount from the rope, land and roll backwards that can be selected. Some fun and challenge can be had by doing this to clear chalk marks, soft obstacles or cord laid out on the ground. The horizontal distance location of the target distance can be increased to encourages greater trail leg swing amplitude.
Swinging on the rings is also very suitable for this particular vaulter.
Swinging on the horizontal bar to teach back-hip circling action is an excellent tool in assisting the vaulter to gain confidence in the experience of the shoulders rotating about the handgrips and passing in suspension below them with considerable speed.
Because this vaulter has already learned that by stiffening her arms and shoulders she can pike swing about her hip axis and successfully make a bar clearance with the unfortunate consequence from this action being any form of 2nd phase pole support inversion is prevented from taking place.
The inevitable result is a “passive ride on the trebuchet type whip sling action of the recoiling pole”.
Performing suspended under-swings on a fixed horizontal bar will, in my opinion, merely reinforce the overlearning of this problematic movement pattern.
Swinging on ropes, rings or trapeze will teach this particular vaulter how to perform suspended swinging actions into a fully inverted position that can be readily transferred to the real vaulting situation.
Why? Because she will be learning the body and spatial awareness, effort and timing required to synchronize two connected pendulums to swing about 2 separate axes whislt she simultaneously raises her body COM to at least her hand grip level. Both pendulums remain in continuous motion about their separate axes such that the vaulter is learning the rate at which to apply torques to amplify their respective swing amplitudes. She is learning to do this whilst raising her COM to at least the height of her top hand grip on the supporting pendulum. High bar does not develop this sequencing motor pattern or the mutual timing structure relationship involved.
https://youtu.be/oDRefFBokDAThis video shows some drills being performed by a vaulter with no prior gymnastics experience to assist her to learn inversion and half turn technique motor action sequence coordination pattern. The video may be of help in thinking through some drills you may consider using or adapting to achieve your technique coaching goals specifically for this vaulter.
Generic drills do have a place to play in introducing the vault but they need to be tuned and adapted to deal with the specific technical improvement needs identified for the particular vaulter.
Coaching is therefore as much an art as a science because it requires creativity and personal experiences acquired through practice of the coaching art by making and acting on decisions on technique and selecting the appropriate tools to shape and hone the technique that results in the required vaulting performance outcome.
Some of the tools I have suggested have proved useful in my hands in addressing the inversion issues I see to be in need of repair and restructuring for this specific vaulter’s case.
At all times the vaulter safety is paramount and the temptation to progress the vaulter to the next level of difficulty as quickly as possible has to be resisted. To recognize the readiness to progress cues in the vaulters performance and behaviour requires detailed practical knowledge of the demands of the activity and the personal physical and mental attributes of the athlete which requires the coach to be as wise as Solomon.
Good luck with your coaching challenge and tool selection to correct and set the mold for the improvement of this vaulter’s performance.
You're right. She's quite athletic, and shows a lot of potential!
No, I don't think this is her main problem. Her problems start earlier than that. If you've read many of the previous posts on the topic, I think you must have expected this comment from me. The rule of thumb is that if a vaulter is in the "
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