loss of penitration with swing

[Enloe11]

Please post pole length, pole weight, and grip height. And, how much you weigh. Thanks.

15' 170 3 hand grips down. I weigh 160 average

[vquestpvc]

After looking at the last two videos you posted, one thing I noticed is that you didn't appear to be jumping at take off. Remember, vaulting is a jumping event. You appear to be flat as you leave the ground. Evidence of this to me is the fact that the pole is bent even before your take off foot is off the ground. In the last video your foot actually appears to be flat on the ground and yet the pole has bend in it. Tremendous loss of energy which should be converted into vertical lift. Now coupled with stiff arming with the bottom arm, this really makes it difficult to swing through. Work on a better take off and less stiff arming and you should readily progress. One last thing as you develop a better swing be patience (which is relative) taking a little more time to "cover" the pole with your legs in a pike position. But also remember that there are no phases in the vault. So, when you reach the "cover" position you will immediately thrust your hips into the pole dropping your shoulders and pulling through as you thrust up.

[vcpvcoach]

Vaquest hit what I was going to say. No jump at takeoff. Think about doing a layup in basketball. If you don't jump up, you will never get the ball in the hoop.
You can fix this with a couple of drills. String up a bungee at about nine feet in the air and work on run with trying to touch the bungee at takeoff. It helps to measure your run so you meet the bungee at takeoff.
The second is practice your run and takeoff with a slide box. If you don't jump at takeoff you will be on your back. Start with a short run until you figure out the resistance of the box. Be careful, this can hurt if you don't know what you're doing.
If you where my vaulter, I would put you on a shorter pole from a shorter run so you can get in more reps.
This is the pole jump not the pole vault.
Good luck.

[Enloe11]

Vaquest hit what I was going to say. No jump at takeoff. Think about doing a layup in basketball. If you don't jump up, you will never get the ball in the hoop.
You can fix this with a couple of drills. String up a bungee at about nine feet in the air and work on run with trying to touch the bungee at takeoff. It helps to measure your run so you meet the bungee at takeoff.
The second is practice your run and takeoff with a slide box. If you don't jump at takeoff you will be on your back. Start with a short run until you figure out the resistance of the box. Be careful, this can hurt if you don't know what you're doing.
If you where my vaulter, I would put you on a shorter pole from a shorter run so you can get in more reps.
This is the pole jump not the pole vault.
Good luck.

Ok so I'm fixing the jumping problem, but my take off angle is really low compared to most but I am jumping. I hit a good take off but immediately after I block and my hips start to come under. How do I keep myself from blocking with out just collapsing my arm. Like how do I stay perpendicular to the pole during the drive "phase". How to finish my take off so to speak

[charlie]

If you run properly with longer strides with lift, you will automaticly be some what up and through the take off!!!! Stride that is shorter, even if its quicker is going to be flat through the take off!!!! Your BLOCK stops the SWING and pentatration! Bent arm PRESS support is by far superior to a block!!!!! It lets the CHEST get through!!!!!! A BLOCK does not!!!!

[Enloe11]

If you run properly with longer strides with lift, you will automaticly be some what up and through the take off!!!! Stride that is shorter, even if its quicker is going to be flat through the take off!!!! Your BLOCK stops the SWING and pentatration! Bent arm PRESS support is by far superior to a block!!!!! It lets the CHEST get through!!!!!! A BLOCK does not!!!!

My take off is not completely flat. It is not optimal but its good enough for the time being. That is not what I am trying to fix at the moment. My "bent arm press" turns into a block. I press my arm up and my shoulder locks, sending my hips under. What im trying to figure out is how to keep my shoulder from locking and how to stay under the pole. if i just let my arm bend i lose everything penetration, hips, and swing. i have to maintain pressure with out the block and my hips coming under. How do i do that?

[charlie]

You CAN begin the press as the arm is bending!

[Enloe11]

You CAN begin the press as the arm is bending!

i know you obviously can... but i cant with out blocking... thats my entire question....

[KirkB]

so by letting my left arm bend i will drive my chest more, swing longer and faster, and end up on top of the pole?

Yes! Focus on your chest --- not on your bottom arm. To swing longer and faster ...

I thought I had adequately explained this to you. Please reread my post, and let me know of any disconnects you have with driving the chest forwards with good body posture post-takeoff, rather than pressing with your bottom arm.

Kirk

[grandevaulter]

I agree with the coaches on the jumping up at take off.

Two things: 1. Check your grip width and look at your left arm position at maximum C position. Ideally it should be over your head and not in front. If the left elbow is positioned out and not down or in you will have sufficient strength to support yourself without prying on the pole, stop worrying about it.

2. It appears that you stop adding energy into the pole when you stop sweeping your left leg. Pulling it in aids the speed of your rotation but leaves you short of the coaches box. Early bend and early stopping of sweep leg equal early straightening of pole and shallow landings.

Long swings (hundreds) with standards buried deep will help you develop a vault to the center of the landing pad. Rings or high bar drills with long sweep leg will also help.

You need to be patient with results and make sure you are landing deep in the pit for your safety.

[KirkB]

You need to be patient with results and make sure you are landing deep in the pit for your safety.

Enloe, I'm in synch with Grandevaulter on all his points.

It's not just for safety that you should strive to land mid-pit. It's also a confidence builder. Once you become confident that you'll land mid-pit, you'll be able to focus more on technical improvements, and less on fear of stalling out.

That will give you the confidence to stretch the chest forwards more fully.

[Enloe11]

You need to be patient with results and make sure you are landing deep in the pit for your safety.

Enloe, I'm in synch with Grandevaulter on all his points.

It's not just for safety that you should strive to land mid-pit. It's also a confidence builder. Once you become confident that you'll land mid-pit, you'll be able to focus more on technical improvements, and less on fear of stalling out.

That will give you the confidence to stretch the chest forwards more fully.

my confidence is not my problem. I am going to hit the pole has hard as i can everytime and i land safely. My coach tells me to lead with my chest and drive my left arm up. So this is the way that i have to do it. Im just trying to figure out how to do it. On he topic of my left leg, I have been working on that and it is staying much longer through out the swing and rolling the pole over better, but like i said i need to get my take off better so that my swing is more efficent. Im a short guy to be a vautler (5'9) and im not the fastest either. But what i lack in those areas i feel like i make up for in strength, because i feel like i am very strong at only 160lbs. I have to run and jump into the plant and be as tall and extended as i possibly can be. I need to drive my chest, extend arms up, and extend my trail leg back. My problem is that when i try to drive my arms up i block and it goes to s***. Im not going to jus let off completely with my left arm because if i do thats the first thing my coach notices, and my hips still come under as so. idk how to expain my problem any better than that without getting all kinds of different fixes for stuff that im already working on.