Mick Viken takeoff

[KYLE ELLIS]

This is Mick Viken of EIU, taking off at where he would make even some elites jealous. Poor coaching on my part, to much attention on the mid and didn't see he was a bit out. He was jumping on a 15'6 pole, grip around 15'4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ybgr5SJR ... detailpage

[coachjvinson]

nice work...

[CoachEric]

Very nice. I actually don't think he was out. If he's hitting his mid and is able to take off with some extra space behind the box, then it's a free takeoff! Kudos!

One improvement for Mick to work on would be to allow the bottom arm to bend slightly so that the shoulder angle is more open, allowing the left hand to move back so that is directly over the head, before pressing up and "realigning" to vertical.

Here's the correct position: http://www.mansfieldathletics.com/image ... ke-Off.jpg Notice how the bottom hand is directly over the head.

Mick is stopping short of this position and blocking his chest and shoulders from moving forward with his bottom arm. The result is that his swing must break halfway through, and he is forced to tuck to get to inversion.
Correcting this will:
1) make the pole move faster - since the bottom hand doesn't stop short and rises a bit longer, the pole moves with it
2) create a more "elastic" condition in the shoulders, allowing for a more dynamic and powerful swing. If he executes is correctly, you will see a longer and faster whipping trail leg to a more inverted position, and it will feel almost involuntary for him.

[KYLE ELLIS]

Coach I agree with everything you said. It's something that we are still working on. He had a back surgery a few years ago and his defense mechanism when getting on bigger poles is still to be a little blocky. Also people tend to be a little out when being out to stay connected to the jump. I think he was 4-5 inches out on some of those jumps.

I posted the video because I haven't seen anyone take off that far out on 15'6 poles.

[swtvault]

That Jump looks rock solid. Huge progress from
Some of his earlier jumps i have seen. Probably one the best left handed jump of all time. Chris Steddums 5.61 at Bells was totally awesome as well. If you haven't seen it check it out on youtube.