Still overstriding?

[rossi]

Hi again!

Thanks for all the comments on my last post. Very useful!

We have been working on - and still are..
1- shortening the last six steps (increasing cadence) (20/20-drill)
2- to glue his right foot under his butt at take-off - to ensure a solid body
3- to jump more powerful off the ground (pop ups, stay-behinds, drills, long-jump-training)
4 -to keep his bottom hand high throughout plant.

New PB, 4.42:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_7bv_8J ... NxopOZEfjf

I think he flexes his bottom arm to much, and his left foot flex to much through the inversion. I try to teach him to be more "one single unit" through the inversion.
Is he still overstriding?
He has a 14 step run up by now. Should we go for a 18 step run up, or focus more on technique before increasing the length of the run up?
Keep in mind that he started pole vaulting September/October 2010.

[tsorenson]

Doesn't look like overstriding, but hard to say without having the entire approach. Great improvements!

I would tell him to "punch" the hands up a little more at the plant if he wants to get on bigger poles. You've already taught him to take off properly, so now you can add the bottom arm. And to drive his heels up at the top instead of his toes...this will keep him in line with the pole longer and result in a higher push off.

I think that you should do all his pole runs from 16 or 18 strides (whichever he is more comfortable with), with his biggest pole. Let him jump from the long run as soon as he is ready, assuming that his approach doesn't fall apart when he moves it back. The hardest thing is getting used to the delayed pole drop of a longer run...many athletes will drop the pole too soon and have it affect their posture/carry/drop/takeoff.

Good luck
Tom

[rossi]

Thanks, Tom!

He is dedicated and serious about this, and willing to do what it takes to improve his technique. When he jumps from a short approach; 3, 4, and 5 lefts he has no problem with punching his hands up, but with his full run-up, at the time 7 lefts, he semes to collapse a bit. We just have to work on with short run approach sessions and drill-sessions to stabilize his teqhnique.

Thanks for the tip about driving the heels up to keep him in line with the pole. Will try to implement this element.

We arranged a small competition yesterday. He tried for a PB, but he "blew" through the pole. It got to soft and we have to move to a stiffer pole. The pole he is jumping with here is a 4.50m, 175lbs, 16.9 flex. Bar is at 75cm.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBMQ3lFz ... AAAAAAAAAA
His next pole is a 4.50m, 180lbs, 15.6flex.

[rossi]

He raised his grip to about 4.40 and blew through the pole:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rliOMoU8 ... e=youtu.be

[tsorenson]

The higher grip helped him have more time to get in line up top, nice jump, just not quite enough fiberglass. I agree he should go to the bigger pole and grip a hand higher, as long as he is consistently getting deep into the pit on the smaller pole and he has the standards at 80 cm. If he has trouble standing up the 180 pole, you could have him go back to 16 strides (probably not a bad idea anyway at this point in his learning). Make sure he knows that hitting the hands at the plant will help get him on the next pole, and beyond. From the looks of it, it shouldn't be too hard to move to the 180.

The plant tends to deteriorate as the run moves back, until the athlete gets used to the hand speed required to plant with a higher turnover rate. Also the timing of the pole drop changes...it must be kept high for longer. These aspects can be practiced nicely with measured pole runs. I also like to have the athlete attempt to drop the pole, plant, and take off at the end of the 20/20 drill...it makes them have to move the hands super fast. Also helps cure overstriding!

Keep up the good work! If I ever make it to Norway to pursue my heritage, I'll look you up!

Skål,

Tom

[rossi]

Thanks again, Tom. And thanks for accepting my friend request on fb.
You are of course welcome to stay at my house in Trondheim if you decide to pursue your heritage in Norway.
We have worked hard lately with his stride pattern, solid body at take off and high plant. A month ago, he moved to the 180-pole, and made a PB the day after. But as you can see his left arm collapsed at the plant.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD4RaIX6 ... AAAAAAADAA

Since then I think he has improved a lot, especially from a short approach. (3 - 5 lefts)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUCZ9naY ... AAAAAAAAAA

These days we are building the 18 step run up. Nationals in 10 days,,

[tsorenson]

Great job, he keeps improving!

The 5-left approach looks great. One thing I notice is that he needs to keep pressure on the top hand all the way to the top of the pole. Some coaches call this "closing off," trying to reduce the space between the top hand and the legs at the top of the swing. I find that this part of the vault requires some effort, because your swing speed is starting to peter out and you have to really do some work with the core to get back all the way and cover the pole. Vaulters who tuck have an easier time here because they can re-align and shoot their right foot back behind the pole. Both ways can work. He is sort of stuck between a swing and a tuck; he stops his hips from rising by tucking his knees at the top of his swing, but doesn't use the tuck to any advantage. I think the best method is to lock the right knee at maximum flexion and keep the left leg straight all the way. This gets you back the fastest. Then I try to pop the hips up, drive the heels, and hopefully get the right hand to the right hip, because the turn is happening simultaneously.

He may find the top end easier if he moves his grip up a few inches on the same pole to get a more full bend (if the handle comes down to horizontal it is just like a highbar). Or that might not work...just an idea. Make sure the handle isn't getting pulled down past horizontal!

I think when he starts attacking the bigger poles the way he is on his 5-step, he'll figure it out pretty quickly.

Good luck!! Thanks for the offer...I'll hopefully make it someday

Tom

[rossi]

Hi, and thanks again, Tom

Nationals this weekend, and my athlete won the bronze medal with a 4.50-clearence and new pb. Not bad, since he started pole vaulting october 2010. The level in Norway is really low at the moment, but there are several youngsters coming up. I would guess we have three or four athletes above 5 meters within a year. Among them, the athlete I am coaching. He also competed in 60m, - new PB with 7.16 sek, which is good news!
We are working hard trying to "close up", as you mentioned, Tom, but first of all with stride pattern, free take off, powerful jump at take off, and punching his hands up.

4.50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iaCEhCR ... tiDjj5RR0f

Nice attempt on 4.60

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23GBPLZG ... treKH-lhhb

4.40
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZXmNGKS ... a9_XjtsBRn

[tsorenson]

Great looking jumps, amazing improvement you guys are making! Looks like you are going to need bigger poles as soon as he learns to finish the takeoff a little more and keep the hips back a split second longer.

He had 4.60 easy, if he could have kept the front of his body concave through the push off! Bar awareness is something that takes time to learn. I try to push DOWN the pole back into the box, slightly back under the bar, while staying rounded and flexed through the abs (similar to the hollow position in gymnastics). He is close, but he lets his chest come forward as he pushes off the pole.

I like to do rockback-handstands over a bungee, ideally on a soft floor or mat.
Also there is a good drill on the trampoline: tie a bungee to the top of 2 poles and have people hold them up on both sides of the trampoline (in the middle). Have your vaulter stand on one end of the tramp, with his back to the bungee, bounce a few times, flop back and land on his shoulders, and drive the hips up while rolling back onto the hands and pushing off through the extension (like a rockback handstand with a bounce assist). You can get some pretty big air and try to clear the bungee as high as possible. We used to make it into a contest to see who could clear the highest bungee. Great drill for learning body control in the air. Also diving on a 3M board into a deep pool can be useful, especially gainers. ***Kids, don't try these drills without supervision....you are better off doing pole runs ***

Big trampolines with lots of padding all around are needed for this drill. Make sure your neck and upper back are well stretched out before doing this one!

Good luck, keep up the progress! Looks like this kid is going to be great!
Tom

[altius]

He is already technically good enough to jump 5 metres plus! Just a question of his athletic qualities - and if his sprinting is as good as you suggest - then it is simply a question of grip height and pole stiffness - plus of course a run up up of at least 16/ preferably eighteen steps.

Sorry to disagree with you Tom but I wouldnt let any athlete of mine near a trampoline - can be great fun but always potentially dangerous. Athletes can get all the practice over a bar they need from repetitive - 200 a session - stiff pole jumps of 4/6 steps.

[rossi]

Thanks Tom and Alan!

Your comments are really inspiring. We work hard and consistently, and it is really important for me to hear that we are going in the right direction.
We are aiming against 5m this season, a tough but realistic goal. We base this goal on his basic skills, speed, ability to work hard, training- and analyzing-intelligence and a strong will. We have also set up a chart with season goals from 4 - 18 steps. He needs to work with his basics, core-strengh and gymnastics, but that is a matter of course,- he is new to this. To aim higher, he needs a lot more strenght and a better technique . Both physically and mentally. After I dropped my athletic "carreer" -- far to early, I escaped into Contract Bridge. I woke up 18 years later, still counting cards, asked myself "what am I doing"? My experience with this geeky "world" has learned me the importance of being true to, and obey, conventions. So BtB has replaced "How to become a Bridge expert" .I am far more happy to study the art of pole vaulting :-)

[rossi]

By the way;
He used a Nordic Evolution 4.50m 180 lbs, 15.6 flex last weekend. Gripped 4.40. His next pole is a Nordic Evolution 4.75m, 175lbs, 19.5 flex. Our goal for this season is a grip height of 4.60m. Probably we need a new and stiffer pole in quite a short time