Just remember that when you look at a film of any vaulter you are seeing ONLY that one jump. It may or may not represent what they are actually trying to do. This is because the large number of variable impacting any vault from the first step, means that every jump is a one off, a happening if you will- even on the part of Bubka. Of course the closer the athlete approaches their technical model the more consistent they are likely to be, but there will still be observable differences from one jump to the next - at least they will be observable to one who understands the model being used. So comparing the film of one jump by one athlete to a single jump by another athlete may be a bit like comparing apples and oranges. This is why you should watch many jumps by any vaulter -preferably in competition - before you try to analyze their performance - and certainly before you decide to give them feedback or make comparisons.
Anyway if you want to compare athletes - compare each against a specific technical model - preferably one that ticks all of the right bio-mechanical boxes and so is carved in stone so to speak. Incidentally I still see the inability or unwillingness to accept the notion of a single technical model on the part of many coaches - including elite coaches - as the single biggest weakness of the US vault scene. While this prevents many talented athletes from fulfilling their potential, an even bigger problem is that this unwillingness to subscribe to a clear technical model - leaves a knowledge vacuum -which - despite the best efforts of PVP and the efforts of many excellent coaches - is inevitably filled in by myths and misunderstanding.
