bending the bottom arm

[SweetPVJumps]

ok so when i vault, i keep my bottom arm too straight for too long, so when i try to get upside down next to the pole, i basically cant because of that. and the times that i do end up bending my arm its too the side, causing my pole to bend to the side.my coach explains to me well what needs to be done, but i just cant get the feel for it. my arms either too straight or collapsed too much. im pretty sure i cant find that happy medium of how much to bend my arm becauase of my plant. i plant the pole with my arms in front of me a little, which im finding very hard to fix. so any tips or thoughts on how to plant the pole with my arms more above me and then how to deal with my bottom arm? thanks
o yeah and one more thing. i thought that maybe i was having trouble planting the pole because when i lower the pole, i keep my top hand right on my hip and lower my bottom arm down, and then quickly plant the pole by moving both arms up. i experimented by trying to lower the pole by bringing by top hand slightly behind me so that it would be in a better position to be planted above my head instead of in front of it. was this a bad idea or what should i actually do while im lowering the pole to put my hands in a better position before i takeoff?

[LHSpolevault]

i wish i could keep my bottom arm straight when i take off.

[science geek]

if you focus on keeping your bottom arm straight you will never get beyond horizontal. The important thing to emphasize when planting is to be as tall as possible. When it is time to swing you want to emphasize keeping your top arm straight and pushing forward with both arms, similar to paddling a canoe. If this is done correctly your bottom elbow should move out of the way when your arm goes past the pole.

[nitro]

when u are trying to invert just try to break it in... there really isnt much help exept for just doing it

[SweetPVJumps]

yeah....its sad how true that is. youd think i would have done that by now

[Ming3r]

I've got the smae problem.

However, one good piece of advice - never be inside if you kkeep your arm straight - kills the deltoid (or it hurts really, really bad)

[tak]

Planting with your arms slightly in front of you? Keeping your left arm straight throughout the row? To me, it sounds like you're doing things right!

In fact, this year I've been working hard on planting slightly in front of my head (with my right arm just in front of my forehead). In fact, I think this is necessary for a free take-off... it means you are taking off out, so you should be in a better position to do a fast swing and row after you push your arms up, another good thing you mentioned that you do.

As to the straight left arm, I feel this is essential to a good swing and row. Take a look at this pic of Jean Galfione:

http://www.chez.com/galfione/sport/serie01/g10.jpg

As you can see, he keeps his left arm straight during the swing and row, better than any elite vaulter I've seen. In fact, he never really "breaks in" his arm. Instead, he keeps it as straight as possible, keeping pressure on the pole even during the rockback until he is throwing the pole away from him. His arm never bends more than about 90 degrees.

So what are you doing wrong? My guess is that you are not initiating the swing/row early enough, or you are not doing it fast enough (or far enough). If you swing too slowly, the pole will recoil before you are in a position to get inverted, so you will have no choice but to shoot out instead of up. Obviously I haven't seen your vault, but I know that this year when I started taking off the way you describe, I had a slow, tentative swing. It is much easier to swing fast when you take-off under, because your natural reaction to getting "jerked" is to row the arms back against the pole (I call it "fighting back"). But this is not the best way to do it! Taking off out will allow a bigger sweeping motion so you can load the pole better.

I suggest you try to work on swinging and rowing faster and harder, keeping the left leg straight and the arms fully extended, trying to get the right hand to touch your left leg... hopefully you will find that not only does this aid in getting you upside down, but it will cause your poles to role over more easily, letting you get on bigger poles and grip higher.

If you want to see someone with an awesome swing and row, take a look at some of Terasov's jumps.

[Tim McMichael]

Successful athletes with a straight left arm are not locked at the shoulder. The hand still comes back to a position just in front of their foreheads during the takeoff. One thing you will see in all good vaulters, regardless of whether they bend or keep their left arm straight, is that their hand reaches this position. It has to, or they cannot swing on the pole. A lot of people do not have the shoulder flexibility to do this without bending at the elbow.

Tak, one of the reasons for Galfeon’s straight left arm is his ridiculously wide grip. Also, if you look at his jump from the back, you will see a slight bend to the side that is not apparent from a side view of his jump.

SweetPVJumps, You probably need to learn that that the left arm does not have to push hard against the pole for it to bend. If you are crashing into the pole and pushing as hard as you can at the start, it is difficult to take the left arm back out of the jump later. Don’t try this at home, but it is possible to completely let go with the left hand right after takeoff, and the pole will keep bending just as if you were still hanging on. I sometimes do this at camps with a little pole as a demonstration. As another example, I once helped an athlete who was completely missing most of the muscles in his left arm to jump over 14.’

[vault3rb0y]

Is this because the pressure you put into the back of the box using your top hand is enough to bend the pole? In that case, is the bottom hand just a guide and an extra help in bending the pole?? i find that pretty cool, if so. Sounds like you would need some shoulder muscle to put that pressure into the box, though.

[Tim McMichael]

That is exactly what I am saying. The vault should feel like a strong pull through the right side, and not like a jabbing push with the left. It is not the right shoulder that has to be strong as much as the right lat. Try this: Stand on your takeoff mark and put your pole in the box like you are planting it. Relax your arms completely so that you are not pushing at all. Then have someone pull up on the middle of the pole so it bends a little. The pull that you will feel through your right side is what pole vaulting is all about. Imagine attaining that feeling, but traveling at full speed.

[blakedow]

DRILLS!!!!!!!!!!! You can fix both of your problems by doing a lot of the correct drills... First, to fix your bottom arm problem, I would suggest straight pole drills... This will teach you to use your trail leg and take off to swing, not just your arms... Also, they will essentially turn your bottom arm into a guide, not a device for the bending the pole... Poles bend under your weight, not under your strength... To fix your plant, do standing plant drills... My best explanation of how your arms should be prior to take off is that your top hand needs to be moving the last three steps, while your bottom hand acts as the fulcrom to the lever, which moves up during your last three steps... Basically it is like a see-saw... One end is the pole tip, the other is your top hand, and the middle is your bottom hand... You never want your hands to be moving down as that will set you up for a low take off, complicating your jump even further...

[AKell]

Don't block out your left arm!!! This will only block you from inverting. You'll get a big pole bend but get nowhere. your left arm should be in whatever position it takes when you place the pole in the box and hold w/ your right at normal height, standing on the runway with your right arm straight up. this may make your left arm almost atraight if you have a huge pole, but on a 13' you will definately have a bent left elbow. This is the correct takeoff position, not a locked out left. (And if you have a pole under 15' and your arm seems to be straight in this position, you grip is way too wide.