Yes, another getting inverted post!

[scootz42]

When trying to find past posts regarding "getting inverted" or "bottom arm blocking" we all know this wonderful site was able to find a plethora of advice on how to solve these problems of the vault. From jump specific advice to drills to help remedy the problem and the do's and don't dos, I'm sure I've read most of them and have heard them giving at meets and clinics. As a former vaulter and coach for many years, I still don't fancy myself as "all knowing" or an "expert" in all phases of the vault but I feel I know a lot about this great sport. Having said this, I'M STUCK!!!
I have a vaulter of two years thats still struggling to get on top of the pole. Tall, athletic girl who can get on some big poles (30 lbs over her weight holding close to 13') but SOMETHING IS NOT CLICKING.
The problem is mainly her blocking out after she taps. Can't seem to break this habit! She's starting to collapse her bottom arm but a little late and probably too much pressure still. She can do wonderful straight pole pop-ups with a great tucked bottom arm with a fairly high grip.

MY QUESTION: Does anyone have some advice how to break a bad habit of BLOCKING AFTER THE TAP? Any critique on her video's are welcome as well.

Things noted or working on presently:
Extends legs out too early when rocking back.
rolling butt up w/rocking back.
shoulders back/down w/rocking back.
whipping trail leg.
Plant on or a little out.
bottom arm palm pressing to the sky at plant.
Strength!

I feel there is a lot of potential with this vaulter if she can start shooting up the pole. It's been along time since she's felt like she's making progress and I'm afraid she starting to give up.
Here are some video clips (coaches eye)

https://www.coachseye.com/v/Dwib?utm_so ... d_email4-1

https://www.coachseye.com/v/upVl?utm_so ... d_email4-1

https://www.coachseye.com/v/PUOp?utm_so ... d_email4-1

https://www.coachseye.com/v/jabF?utm_so ... d_email4-1

https://www.coachseye.com/v/dBRD?utm_so ... d_email4-1

[mherrera]

It seems like she has a lot of things going pretty well for someone who's fairly new to the event. I would say the biggest thing I would tell her is that she should keep pressure on the pole with her arms throughout the whole jump. She will need to "roll her butt up" when she swings up, but she won't have time to do any of those things if she isn't rowing the pole with constant pressure the whole time. This was something I really struggled with until I spent a lot of time on the rings. It helped me connect the arms with my trail leg to swing up. Also check out beginner to Bubka if you haven't already. It has a lot of great stuff to say about active vs passive phases.

Good luck coach.

[scootz42]

Here are a few more videos of drills.

Focus this day was: LAND DEEP INTO PIT WHILE COLLAPSING BOTTOM ARM.
Played a little with stretched trail leg(bent leg stretched and straight leg stretched). Lighter pole(on weight) 12 and 12'6 poles.

https://www.coachseye.com/v/gtr3?utm_so ... d_email4-1
Noticed a little something with the swing. right when she taps(fully extended) her bottom and her head are connected. When the bottom doesn't roll up and if anything goes back, at the same time her head tries to go back as well. (not an advocate of a "head back" vs shoulders back)

https://www.coachseye.com/v/Qq23?utm_so ... d_email4-1
Asked her on this jump if she could lift the foot up in her stretch.(did it on first try). Trying to create a faster leg whip. Result: A little disconnected.

https://www.coachseye.com/v/SOoH?utm_so ... d_email4-1
Not much stretch but I think the focus on this jump was rowing…rowed right out of the box! haha

Do you think this drill is beneficial or heading in the right direction?

[KirkB]

... she should keep pressure on the pole with her arms throughout the whole jump.

There's an easy way to vault, and there's a hard way. Any time you're using your muscles (rather than swinging) is the hard way. So I don't think she should "keep pressure on the pole with her arms ...".

Instead, she should use her natural gymnastics ability (with the leverage that her long body already has) to SWING!

Compare the vault to the highbar (or the women's equivalent - the uneven bars). The successful athletes in these events aren't winning due to their muscular power. They're winning because they SWING LONG, and they use their body leverage to perform their tricks.

It should be the same in PV. The PV is just another gymnastic "trick". The only difference is that the objective is to propel yourself over the highest bar possible, rather than earning points for executing complicated tricks. The complicated tricks are easiest to perform when you use the natural leverage of the body to perform them. That means SWINGING around the bar rather than using muscle-power.

This post is a preface to another couple that I plan to post soon. One will be re the "language of vaulting" and how vids are so much better than words; and the other will be some practical advice on how to SWING rather than use muscle-power.

Kirk

[KirkB]

I have a vaulter of two years that's still struggling to get on top of the pole. Tall, athletic girl who can get on some big poles (30 lbs over her weight holding close to 13') but SOMETHING IS NOT CLICKING.

You're right. She's quite athletic, and shows a lot of potential!

The problem is mainly her blocking out after she taps.

No, I don't think this is her main problem. Her problems start earlier than that. If you've read many of the previous posts on the topic, I think you must have expected this comment from me. The rule of thumb is that if a vaulter is in the "wrong" position in a jump, it's invariably because of what happened BEFORE that position. I'll get to the details of this in my next post. In this post, I just want to comment on the language that you're using in this thread, Scootz. And I imagine that you're using this same language in communicating with your vaulter.

"You're blocking out after you tap."

This would not be helpful to tell a vaulter (if that's what you're telling her). First of all, I don't believe that the word "tap" should even be used in reference to the PV. It's a gymnastic term that has no equivalent in PV. I know that some coaches have used the term, but it's misleading. A gymnastic tap is a specific motion that you use at a specific moment in time while executing a gymnastic trick (such as a giant or a kip-up). There is no equivalent to this in PV.

You did explain in your 2nd post that you define the tap as "fully extended", meaning when she passes the chord, but that isn't a moment in time when you execute any particular (new) motion. Instead, I view the SWING as one continuous motion from the C position all the way thru to the extension (coming out of the swing), with the passing of the chord just being a critical check-point to view the swing (and not being a moment in time when the athlete should swing any differently. If you practice swinging on a highbar, you WILL feel a bit of a snap as you pass vertical, but on a pole you won't.

Things noted or working on presently:
Extends legs out too early when rocking back. rocking back ... rocking back ...

I think the term "rock-back" or "rocking back" is obsolete. It also infers that the vaulter should move her body in a certain motion (it usually infers tucking and lifting the hips), but (as per my previous comment) I think it's accepted in the modern view of proper vaulting technique that the entire SWING is one continuous motion - from C to inversion. Yes, you should tuck (shorten the legs) as the swing slows down, but that's not (or shouldn't be) such a distinct part of the vault that it needs to be discussed separately. In fact, the less you tuck, the more mechanically sound your technique is. Bubka is the best model of this.

And especially when communicating with the athlete, I don't think the term "rock-back" is a good term to use. To me, it detracts from what should be the main coaching focus, which is to encourage the vaulter to SWING IN ONE CONTINUOUS MOTION.

Strength!

I think she already has almost (almost) all the strength she needs. She just needs to improve her technique, and the swing in her vault should be more like a gymnast would swing.

This post has been fairly critical, referring mostly to what she SHOULDN'T do (or what you SHOULDN'T say as her coach). In my next post, I'll analyze the vids, and make some postive comments (refraining from the negative).

But first, just a comment on the vids ...

You make it difficult for us to analyze these vids, because you don't provide grip height or pole lengths or weights, and you don't give bar (or bungy) heights. For the best critiques, always provide the metrics suggested in the sticky post here:

http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=39&t=11345

Kirk

[KirkB]

https://www.coachseye.com/v/dBRD?utm_so ... d_email4-1

I'm using this vid, since it looks like it's the latest attempt (Apr 4 or Apr 5), and a decent height was cleared (even tho the pole knocked the bar off).

Scootz, in your second post, you showed a few practice drills. I'll comment on those later, but I wanted to analyze a competition vault first.

I assume that the pole is about 14-0; her grip is somewhere around 13-0 (or a bit lower); and the bar is somewhere around 11-0? I don't know her height or weight, but she looks to be maybe 5-8 (?) and in good athletic shape (not under or over weight).

Her run and plant are fairly good (not the best, but also not the worst part of her vault). So I'll skip those (letting others comment), and move on to her takeoff and swing.

Her steps seem to be "on" for a good (free) takeoff. And her body posture is fairly good (good forwards lean). Good driving lead knee; good jump off the ground. So far so good. Most girls would kill for such a good run, plant, and takeoff.

But this is where things get strange ...

Instead of driving the chest towards the bar, she seems to just "tighten up", and she seems to be focussing on her arm actions (while her legs just dangle). She should be focussing on what he legs are doing, and NOT what her arms are doing. AND she needs to drive the chest thru a bit longer (which requires shoulder muscles to be loose - not tight). She should just STRETCH her upper body, instead of using it to start her swing (or to speed up her swing).

Getting back to swinging on the highbar, the arms are both fully extended, and the swing is caused by the motion of the legs. It's the LEGS that initiate the swinging action, and it's the LEGS that need to be sped up. Don't worry, the arms will follow. Just let the arms dangle (instead of the legs), and let the legs do most of the work. From a physics perspective, this is the most efficient technique. Learn this on the highbar, then apply it to the vault.

How much highbar work has she done? I would guess NONE. She needs to learn this stuff on a highbar. It's far too difficult to expect her to learn it on the pole (with so many other factors involved).

And I don't mean just warm up on the highbar and then move over to the pit. I mean several weeks of highbar work before you can expect to transfer the same motor skills to the vault. (I know that it's mid-season, so this isn't practical. But this is what she needs to do in prep for NEXT year.)

Kirk

[mherrera]

... she should keep pressure on the pole with her arms throughout the whole jump.

There's an easy way to vault, and there's a hard way. Any time you're using your muscles (rather than swinging) is the hard way. So I don't think she should "keep pressure on the pole with her arms ...".
Kirk

I think you might have misunderstood what I'm saying. I agree that it is important to swing and let the momentum of your trail leg swing you up to cover the pole. It is important to keep pressure on the pole though. Imho it is important to keep pressure on the pole, especially with the bottom arm so that the pole doesn't uncoil prematurely, before you can completely swing up. It takes both "muscle power" and a swing, you can't have just one. I think we're on the same page though, you had very good feedback.

She does look very athletic, so hopefully she has it click soon.

Best of luck.

[KirkB]

Imho it is important to keep pressure on the pole, especially with the bottom arm so that the pole doesn't uncoil prematurely, before you can completely swing up. It takes both "muscle power" and a swing, you can't have just one.

With all due respect, I don't think I misunderstood you.

Just as it's a fallacy to think that the bottom arm is needed to bend a pole, it's also a fallacy to think that pressure with the bottom arm will keep a pole from uncoiling prematurely.

In both cases, you're fighting the natural swinging motion of the vaulter around the top-arm pendulum. And in both cases, you're slowing down the swing by this bottom arm pressure.

My point (in this post, as well as my other posts in this thread) is that the technique that uses the natural swinging action with the LEAST amount of muscle-power is the most efficient. This is especially true with female vaulters (who have less strength that males), but even for males, why not use physics and biomechanics most effectively?

Even when doing a clean-and-jerk (arguably a pure muscle-power lift), there's a lot of technique involved; technique that involves the use of the superior strength of the back over the strength of the arms (i.e. don't bend your arms as you pull); and technique that requires that you keep your CoM directly over the weights (i.e. don't lean over the weights; keep them as close to your body as possible).

In the clean-and-jerk, you should not bend your arms until the last possible moment. Ditto in PV: Keep the top arm straight, and don't pull with the bottom arm until you're almost inverted. Let the LEGS get you inverted.

Ditto on a highbar: It's the LEGS (along with good timing) that swing you around the bar. The arms are straight throughout, as there's the least amount of energy loss when the arms are straight.

Herrera, what is the reason why you want to slow down the uncoiling of the pole?

Kirk

[KirkB]

Do you think this drill is beneficial or heading in the right direction?

Yes, these are very good drills for her (in her predicament).

I especially liked the 2nd one:

https://www.coachseye.com/v/Qq23?utm_so ... d_email4-1

In this drill, she bent her leg way too much (90 degrees) before she swung out of it. However, I think by doing this, she is experiencing first-hand the POWER of her swing. The speed at which she swings or whips (taps would be the wrong word) DOWN to the chord, and then UP again (past the chord) is excellent! Get her to do the same thing on a highbar.

I would keep doing this drill, but strive for these improvements:

1. Don't throw the head back (as you already mentioned). Instead, keep the head and neck in a neutral position (not looking down, but not throwing the head back either).

2. Don't just swing to a V. Instead (as Herrera already mentioned), swing the entire body, curling up the hips along with the legs near the end of the swing. Most vaulters that get into what we call "the dreaded V" do so partly because of a fear of getting upside down.

And as Herrera mentioned, rings are great for getting the feel for this - better than highbar because you have clearance between your hands to curl the hips and legs in.

The only way I know to conquer the fear of inversion is to get used to hanging upside down in all the various ropes, rings, highbar, and uneven bar work that she should be doing on a regular basis.

And if she gets more POWER in the first half of her swing (the downswing), then her hips should fly up (extend up) in the second half of her swing (the upswing).

3. Once #1 and #2 are under control, then gradually start reducing the angle of flexing her trail leg down (from 90 degrees to less than a quarter of that).

4. Along with #3, work on her STRETCHING to an "elastic C" position. In this position, you don't need to flex your trail leg much at all (if at all). Instead, the trick is to drive the chest towards the bar, STRETCHING the top arm above and behind the head. She is ALMOST in this C position right after takeoff, but unfortunately she tightens her shoulder muscles (instead of stretching them), so she never quite achieves the elastic C position.

5. My last suggestion is to quicken up the entire swing, especially immediately after the elastic C. THIS is what covers the pole. The better the stretch, the quicker (and easier) it is to swing out of the stretch.

Kirk

[IAmTheWalrus]

I would refer the original poster to some of the 6.40 model materials found on this board. That has been my preferred model for vaulting and coaching the vault for the past 4 years and I have seen success especially in the swing. I'll leave it to you to read some of the posts and figure out for yourself whether you think it's for you or not. I don't want to get into the details here since some of the ideas in it can be a bet polarizing and I'd rather not start an argument. What I will say though, regardless of the model you use, is that I think her swing can be much more aggressive. It seems like she's reacting to the pole hitting by just bringing her leg up rather than aggressively swinging with the whole body. Often times people assume that the vault is athletic on the runway and then elegant or "pretty" in the air, when in fact there is just as much athleticism and aggressiveness present in a good swing. Altius would frequently quote Bubka as saying "It's run, jump, arrghhhhhhhh" (or something like that ).

[PVstudent]

Scootze42

Close examination of the videos you have shared show the issues quite clearly and have been identified by commentators so far.
The advice in regard to use of gymnastic type apparatus swinging is appropriate and helpful.

This vaulter also has a number of problems to be addressed in her approach run, pole carry and particularly the plant action she is using. For example she sinks and “gallops” during the plant rather than stay tall and attempt to increase her cadence. Pole carriage throughout the approach needs to be corrected before the plant action problems can be resolved. Given that these Approach Run technical deficiencies receive attention concurrently with what I am suggesting in what follows rapid progress will undoubtedly occur.

My coaching needs assessment of this vaulter, post take-off, is that she requires practices that will develop her “feel” or “Coordination Patterns” for:

(a) Swinging in suspension below moving hand / wrist pivot points
(b) Leg swing with backward roll into a suspended straight body inversion with her body vertically aligned with hips pressed to her hands whilst her shoulders swing into a final position suspended below her hand grip pivot supports
(c) Executing a longitudinal axis ½ turn in the inverted position and dismount by releasing the hand grips at the time and spatial location to be able to continue rotation and negotiate her trajectory path across bar (bungy) heights at least 1 .00m below her current personal best to land safely on two feet followed with no break in continuity of motion by a back roll to regain her feet well towards the rear of the designated landing zone.

https://youtu.be/yOWDsG-U-Gk

Scootze42 has received some good advice on how the three areas of technique deficiency can be addressed.

If the coach does not have access to gymnastic equipment here are some drill activities that can be carried out on the track infield, horizontal jumps sand landing pit and pole vault pads.

On the grass area: during warm up and with the pole

1. With the top grip located at vertical stretch along the pole when held vertically with the pole tip on the ground between the feet: With an over-head pole carry WALKING step plants take-off and swing past pole.
2. Repeat but having just swung past the pole and with body weight suspended tighten the grips and try to screw the pole downward into the ground turning the vaulter’s whole body in time with the twist on the pole.
3. Repeat 2 having raised the top grip by 1 fist width. Raise the grip by a further fist width and when the grip height is such that the vaulter has to jog and execute a spring upward in the take-off the vaulter can begin to swing further past the pole using the tightening grip pole twist action.
4. Repeat 3, raising the grip as needed, still using the overhead starting position for the planting of the pole. Coaching emphasis on the verticality of the pole (not planting too far out in front of the take-off foot) and momentary free flight before pole impacts the grass surface. On the pole tip ground contact the vaulter executes the pattern “Swing Past the pole, Spin (the pole is turned about a longitudinal axis), and Turn (turning the body in time with the turn of the pole). “Swing-Spin-Turn” the vaulter saying this phrase out loud helps to produce the desired timing and sequential action pattern order.

The athlete self-checking to focus their self-directed corrective feedback on landing after each attempt

(1) 2 feet simultaneously touch down?
(2) Face back in the direction of the approach turn after the 180 degrees turn?
(3) Pole angle is high and located in the plane of the midline of the vaulter’s body
(4) Whole body turned as a single unit in synchrony with the pole twist via the tight grips and all the parts turn at the same time?
(5) Head in the neutral position throughout the swing and turn?
(6) Landing under control with the whole body upright and extended on landing? Feet close together or wide apart?

Sand Pit Vaulting.

The above can be repeated in the Sand Pit progressing to higher grips and (2 to 6 step run ups pole overhead carry then 6- 12 steps with a regular pole carry and plant). Initially the sand pit drills are best introduced with “Stiff” poles.
After the vaulter has mastered the swing pelvic curl /roll and ½ turn from 6 running steps a pole that will bend slightly when holding with the same top grip length, can be introduced and the swing with straight swing leg pelvic roll up towards inversion ½ turn practiced.
As the grip is progressed (2 finger width increments) the pole will deflect more easily and with larger amplitude until the desired movement pattern is about to break down. At the grip height at which this is judged to be about to happen, move to the next pole stiffness rating, grip up 1 fist width and take the approach back by 2 steps repeat with regular pole plant action and progress according to results.
Do not be in haste to progress back to full run. Allow this athlete to enjoy mastering swing to the bending pole chord, pelvic curl / roll into ½ turn and pole release exaggerating the high (both arms above the head) arm position post pole release in the descent to the landing and facing squarely towards the run up.

Grass infield gymnastics:

1. From squat reach forward, forward roll showing complete leg stretch until shoulders make contact with the ground then rapidly flex both knees to accelerate the roll to immediately stand up without any extra hand push against the ground or crossing the legs.
2. When 1 is mastered finish the roll accompanied by an immediate arm swing upward and stretch jump with ½ twist to 2 feet landing.
3. From a back lying position, heels and shoulders raised slightly by curving the upper thoracic spine( front chest dish shape), with both arms stretched above the head and in line with the ears, roll back and curl swing the straight legs backwards and extend them upwards.
During this back roll pelvic curl and hip extension both arms are circled in a large arc opposite in direction to pass the extending hips and lumbar spine to make a firm partial body weight support contact on the ground timed to coincide with the time the whole body fully inverted shoulder supported extension is reached. The straight arms arc of motion brushes past the thighs by means of the shoulder joint extensors whilst dynamically stabilized by the co-action of the shoulder joint adductor and abductors.
The inversion into the shoulder balance position should finish and be held stationary for 3-5 seconds by the necessary isometric stabilizing action of the arm, legs, trunk, abdominal and lumbar core muscles.
Initially the extension pelvic curl and back roll with straight should be performed slowly. When the correct movement sequence and timing have been learned the speed of execution should be increased so that the initiating action involves a “ballistic” explosive initial muscle action burst and a similar muscle action burst of activity to arrest the momentum when the shoulder balance extension final position is reached.

4. When exercise 3 is accomplished correctly and with ease the exercise can be repeated from an identical starting position with the hands gripping a firmly planted vertical, or slightly inclined vaulting pole. The pole tip must not be allowed to move.
The exercise is performed slowly at first so that the timing of the sequential engagement of the muscles required to produce the movement pattern of inversion is performed using reversal of the muscle action (muscle origin moving towards muscle insertion under load) at the shoulders to assist the elevation of the vaulter’s whole body in the arc of motion inversion direction towards the extended arms ie the trunk moves towards the arms which are fixed in position by the grips on the pole.
For this vaulter this is a critical motor pattern coordination objective and will need to be carefully monitored to ensure correct motion pattern and timing of muscular effort. As in exercise 3 once the slow performance pattern has been learned and can berepeated with control and precision then the vaulter will be ready to learn the “ballistic” action. This will take time and care. Note this is not a “rowing action by the arms” but a force and pressure directed along the line of the longitudinal axis of the pole.

5. Cartwheeling: Learn a single step forward and cartwheel to stand and progress upon complete mastery of the cartwheel to a fast walk pace “round – off”. (learning to perform body weight support and transfer from feet to hands back to feet in a continuous mode of muscle effort and “Ballistic” momentum
6. Hand standing, Hand walking and Handstand Pivot Turning (weight bearing and transfer with body fully inverted): Step forward single leg kick to handstand and scissor legs to step down from the handstand. Initially the handstand attempt need only be to about 45 degrees above the horizontal.
Coaching should emphasize straight arms throughout the ascent and descent phases of the straight leg “scissor action” of the legs. Progress the angle up to the vertical in small unit increments until the handstand inverted position can be reached, held stationary momentarily before the scissoring action take place.
The scissoring action when performed with both legs in the straight extended position requires the dynamic stabilizing action of the hip adductor muscles as the hip flexor and extensor muscles act as prime movers and antagonists .
This is the movement pattern muscle activation pattern that will be used in the inversion on and extension from the recoiling pole. The emphasis on activating the adductors as the legs are drawn towards each other in the inversion has high transfer to actual pole vault inversion.

Vaulting Pad Activities.
Handstand 2 Leg Snap Downs, Single Leg Step Forward to Round-Off followed by back roll:

7. When the handstand can be achieved, with body segments vertically aligned (straight body rather than banana shape handstand) handstand turning or pivoting with a 180 degree turn and step down is a useful progression as it leads to learning of a handstand “snap down” to 2 feet landing. The “snap-down” is a movement pattern that shares many identical elements to the push off and body shape change involved in negotiating the flight to pass over and clear the crossbar. (This can be developed further by back roll extension through handstand and with “legs together snap-down” (Courbet Action) to immediate back roll performed on the landing pads).

8. From a standing start position, roll backward and push out through a straight body handstand to front drop with stretched body on the landing pads.

9. Repeat 8 when it is mastered then just prior to landing in the fully stretched prone position execute a “late” ½ turn to back drop landing. (Under no circumstances should this vaulter try to visualize in advance the direction of the ½ turn. Doing so will be disastrous!).

Platform Table.

There are many more drills using for example a platform table from which the vaulter can use the height advantage to perform a 2 step overhead plant into the box, upspring take-off, long penetration trail leg swing to partial invert with ½ turn and push away clearance over a bungy located back as far as the uprights will permit.
The bungy height is initially set to a height level with the edge of the vaulting table/platform.
The bungy height is raised according to the confidence the vaulter demonstrates and the desired execution sequence “Spring-Up, Swing Long, Spin the pole with tight grip, 1/2 Turn with whole body as 1 unit with legs firmly together, Snap the body into a front dish shape ready to land on 2 feet followed by back roll.
As the bungy height progresses upwards and vaulter confidence grows the Swing invert and turn meld into a single continuous sequence and a back landing can occur naturally as the technique efficiency evolves. When this occurs regularly and is secure and safe, the vaulter is demonstrating readiness to progress to short run with full plant vaults over low bungy heights with the upright back on maximum setting.
The long swing drills already being performed (Scootz43 video (2) above) post would be a good foundation on which to build a long swing to a half turn to front drop.
To attain a fully stretched position ready for the prone landing the vaulter needs to forcefully project the pole away through the long axis back towards the runway.
The drill is best performed initially with a stiff pole with the top grip gripping down about 1 fist from the end of the pole shaft. Gripping lower down on the pole than this the vaulter is at increased risk of getting hit at the side of her head by the pole if her pushing away force and length of force application to the pole are such that she is still retaining a grasp on the pole when landing prone on the pad!

Swing on Ropes, Rings and Bars.(gymnasium /some playgrounds).

Again, for this vaulter, I would highly recommend she does extensive swinging on a single rope as well as on parallel double ropes. On a single rope Start with jump to straight top arm hang, lower arm elbow flexed and abducted at the shoulder and hold vertical suspension legs together with rope stationary.

Then progressing from stationary hang drive the lead leg forward and upward whilst at the same time drive the trail leg back so that as the lead leg hip flexion motion is stopped by the rearward hip extension of the trail leg the vaulter instantly propels the trail leg forwards from the hip with a “whip kick action”. The arms are maintained fixed in their initial position.

Ultimately this progresses until the vaulter, can from a short run, take-off catch the stationary rope and by maintaining the hang positioning and orientation of the arms and by means of the “leg split whip kick action” coordination sequence set the rope into pendular swing motion. The forces and the timing of their application gradually will provide larger and successively larger rope swing amplitudes as the technique improves.

Again there are a plethora of rope swing drills including swing and inversion with ½ turn to dismount from the rope, land and roll backwards that can be selected. Some fun and challenge can be had by doing this to clear chalk marks, soft obstacles or cord laid out on the ground. The horizontal distance location of the target distance can be increased to encourages greater trail leg swing amplitude.

Swinging on the rings is also very suitable for this particular vaulter.

Swinging on the horizontal bar to teach back-hip circling action is an excellent tool in assisting the vaulter to gain confidence in the experience of the shoulders rotating about the handgrips and passing in suspension below them with considerable speed.

Because this vaulter has already learned that by stiffening her arms and shoulders she can pike swing about her hip axis and successfully make a bar clearance with the unfortunate consequence from this action being any form of 2nd phase pole support inversion is prevented from taking place.
The inevitable result is a “passive ride on the trebuchet type whip sling action of the recoiling pole”.

Performing suspended under-swings on a fixed horizontal bar will, in my opinion, merely reinforce the overlearning of this problematic movement pattern.

Swinging on ropes, rings or trapeze will teach this particular vaulter how to perform suspended swinging actions into a fully inverted position that can be readily transferred to the real vaulting situation.

Why? Because she will be learning the body and spatial awareness, effort and timing required to synchronize two connected pendulums to swing about 2 separate axes whislt she simultaneously raises her body COM to at least her hand grip level. Both pendulums remain in continuous motion about their separate axes such that the vaulter is learning the rate at which to apply torques to amplify their respective swing amplitudes. She is learning to do this whilst raising her COM to at least the height of her top hand grip on the supporting pendulum. High bar does not develop this sequencing motor pattern or the mutual timing structure relationship involved.

https://youtu.be/oDRefFBokDA

This video shows some drills being performed by a vaulter with no prior gymnastics experience to assist her to learn inversion and half turn technique motor action sequence coordination pattern. The video may be of help in thinking through some drills you may consider using or adapting to achieve your technique coaching goals specifically for this vaulter.

Generic drills do have a place to play in introducing the vault but they need to be tuned and adapted to deal with the specific technical improvement needs identified for the particular vaulter.

Coaching is therefore as much an art as a science because it requires creativity and personal experiences acquired through practice of the coaching art by making and acting on decisions on technique and selecting the appropriate tools to shape and hone the technique that results in the required vaulting performance outcome.

Some of the tools I have suggested have proved useful in my hands in addressing the inversion issues I see to be in need of repair and restructuring for this specific vaulter’s case.

At all times the vaulter safety is paramount and the temptation to progress the vaulter to the next level of difficulty as quickly as possible has to be resisted. To recognize the readiness to progress cues in the vaulters performance and behaviour requires detailed practical knowledge of the demands of the activity and the personal physical and mental attributes of the athlete which requires the coach to be as wise as Solomon.

Good luck with your coaching challenge and tool selection to correct and set the mold for the improvement of this vaulter’s performance.

[grandevaulter]

Because this vaulter has already learned that by stiffening her arms and shoulders she can pike swing about her hip axis and successfully make a bar clearance with the unfortunate consequence from this action being any form of 2nd phase pole support inversion is prevented from taking place.

I think this is it in a nut shell. Here are some additional observations:

If we pay close attention to the bottom arm position into the plant and at takeoff, well see that she aims the right elbow down and not angled out to the side. This is where she locks it. This starts a new chain of events. By pulling with the bottom arm she is creating a counter axis and stopping maximum swing around the top hand . Another result of lower right arm lock (elbow aimed down) into the take off and pole support phase, it stops the poles clockwise (left handed) rotation in the box and promotes the bend forward towards the back of the pit. This position does not allow her to swing through the hoop and leads her to pushing the pole farther forward with a locked arm which appears that she is making room to turn around the pole, this is where she ends up in the "passive ride trebuchet"

In addition to the drills that PVstudent has prescribed, I would move her down to a pole of her weight and do full jumps at a grip that she can adequately bend the pole (and create a hoop that she can swing through) from 3 or 4 lefts working on "disengaging" the left arm and rotating around the top hand axis and shoulders to get the feet to the top of the pole. When she is able to do this, you can work of dropping the shoulders and pushing the hips up. Add three step, straight pole "Swing, break at the hips and pivot over the bungee, these will carry forward to the top of the pole once the pole is covered and inversion is achieved.