Trying to clear 8'6 by the end of the season...

[noellecrowley]

Hi everyone! My name is Noelle, I'm 15, and a sophomore. This is my second season vaulting, but my freshmen year only consisted of me jumping about a month (and clearing 7') before I broke my ankle swinging into the pads off of an 8 step. The poles in these videos are all varying lengths and weights: the light purple one is 11' and 130, the dark purple is 12' and 130, and the pink one is 11' and 130. I really am not sure where I am holding on all of the poles, but usually near the back.

I cleared 7' as a freshman right before I broke my ankle vaulting. I was also extremely scrawny last year, but had decent runway speed. Last summer, I started serious weight lifting, and I've become rather strong (benching 135, squatting 275 [I weigh 125 lbs and am 5'3]) and this has further increased my runway speed. I have the freshmen record at my school, and I want the sophomore record, which 8'3. So far I have cleared 7'6, and this was five weeks ago. The day after PRing, I developed severe tendonitis in my trail leg, and this has put all of my training on hold. I came back last week, and hope to clear 8'6 in the next three weeks of the season, which would qualify me for CIF. I am aware my form is not very good; my bottom arm collapses, which does not allow for any sort of energy transfer into the pole. Also, i shoot for the bar, and don't "row". If there is any sort of drills that can be recommended to fix these issues, or anything that I can immediately apply to my vault that will allow me to clear 8' and 8'6, I would be extremely grateful. Thank you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wpVSi1v ... e=youtu.be


http://www.flipshare.com/view.aspx?nRec ... M4YzYzNWUw

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http://www.flipshare.com/view.aspx?nRec ... M4YzYzNWUw (MY PR)

http://www.flipshare.com/view.aspx?nRec ... M4YzYzNWUw

http://www.flipshare.com/view.aspx?nRec ... M4YzYzNWUw

http://www.flipshare.com/view.aspx?nRec ... M4YzYzNWUw

[dlevear]

It's easier to watch the videos on youtube, since I don't have a FlipShare account, so I only watched the youtube one. There are some things you can improve on. In your pole drop, try not to let your left hand drop vary far towards the ground as you drop the pole. You want to keep your left elbow under your hand. Dropping the left hand makes it more difficult to punch your hands up at takeoff, which is another thing that would improve your technique.

As you swing your left leg through, try to keep it straight at least until it passes the chord of the pole - this means it should be straight when the bottom of your foot is aimed towards the box.

Most of all though, I think you need to focus on driving through the last step and jumping up into the takeoff. The last left should not just be another running step, but actually a takeoff step to a big jump upwards. I think fixing this jump at the end will help very much.

[noellecrowley]

Thank you so much for your post! Today I cleared 8', and I was actually jumping up on some of my vaults. The only reason I didn't clear 8'6 was I was getting tired, because my opening height was 5'6. So again, thank you very much for your advice!