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Hi, I'm a senior in high school. I really need help pr'ing. I'm stuck and I really want to get 14+ my last season. Anyways, here is some practice video.
4 lefts ( 54' I think?)
5'5", 125-130 lb on a 13' 145
heights are at 13', 14', and 15'
(I'm usually on a 14' 150-155 at meets)

The errors I see are a low left arm in the pole drop (I'm fixing that and it's actually much better) and a slight tuck. Otherwise, I am having a hard time diagnosing why I am not getting more push off, etc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xp77fPUrUVg

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Your trail-leg is pretty 'mushy'... It sort of 'flops' as you swing... Do you get what I mean? It doesn't stay straight throughout, but it is long at one point... Do you see what I'm talking about?

hey, thanks for the reply! I kinda see what you mean. My flexibility (hip flexor mainly) is not so good, so during the takeoff my trail leg bends, but doesn't go slack. I just concentrate on keeping long and fast through the chord. Is this detrimental?

If you get yourself on a high bar OFTEN doing things like tap swings, kips, KB's whip-hinge, and some other basic drills, your hip flexor strength will improve immensely, as will your abdominal/hip/leg coordination (as in your swing technique!)... Try it!

only crucial factor i see is you cutting that trail leg in so that you can get upside down faster. This helps you get upside down and ready to shoot off the pole, but because your not swinging to that positon your not helping the pole out at all and it can hinder your push off if the pole is not extreamly over your body weight. Your also not gonna get too high of push off from a 4-5 left approach on a 13' 145. it would be a lot better if you had any videos of you on the 14' poles with a longer run. Right now just work on keeping that left leg straight the whole time and using that to get you inverted.

If you dont mind me asking, what are the specific reasons your coach tells you that you need to stay on 4 steps? I have my theories but i'd like to hear it from him and you.


On about 4/6 of your jumps, you are reaching your last step into the box. If you are like me, this is because you feel "out" and that you need to overstride to get to your comfortable take off. It's important to trust your take off and jump up at the plant, rather than in. I think you swing pretty nicely, but that it doesnt matter much because your take off has some issues. Think about these things in your vault:

1.) Trusting your steps, dont over-stride. If you cant get it from 4 it's only going to be harder from 5-6-7. Pole runs and your moving your hands up at the plant will help. Your cadence should accelerate, even from jump 4 steps.

2.) Be TALL during the run and jump UP, not in (i mean this from a mentality standpoint, obviously you will end up jumping both up and in, but jumping in comes from run-up speed).

You fix these things in your vault, post video, then its only a matter of a longer run and you will jump all your goals.

My coach doesn't really tell me to go from 4 lefts, I just do it on days before meets when I don't want to get too tired. Sorry I don't have good quality videos of my longer vaults. I'll get some soon.
I agree with what you say about my run...my posture and takeoff have caused a lot of inconsistency from longer runs. Thanks for the advice!

Totally. Think of it this way.... you can listen to bad music when its not very loud (the way you can tolerate technical errors in your jump from a short run), but when you turn the music up, its very noticeable that the music just sucks! Fix the music when its not very loud, so that when you turn it up, it sounds REAL good cruisin downtown.