driving horizontal

[advath]

"Your center of gravity has to be over your take off foot in order to jump off the ground. You cannot lean back and jump off the ground. "

See: http://www.advantageathletics.com/jumps/clinger.html
http://www.advantageathletics.com/jumps/lavy.html
http://www.advantageathletics.com/jumps/damon.html
http://www.advantageathletics.com/jumps/brignac.html

All the above jumpers lean back before jumping off the ground. Their center of mass does eventually pass over their take off foot. They still can jump if they don't pass directly over their take off foot, but they won't travel straight up.

See Tommy Skipper's vault at: http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... ipper.html
Or Bubka at http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/bubka.html
They don't seem to be jumping up too much.
Don't seem to be "driving through the box" maybe over the box.
Don't seem to be moving the pole too soon...

The angle of take off we should be looking at is the line from the toe coming off the ground through the hip. In sprinting that angle is 45 degrees according to Carl Lewis's coach Tom Tellez (Pole Vault Summit Sprint Mechanics Seminar). You can see that angle in http://www.advantageathletics.com/sprints/boldon.html and http://www.advantageathletics.com/sprin ... hnson.html . The angle of take off in the pole vault from the toe coming off the ground and the hip is above 45 degrees. You can see that angle in http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/bubka.html , http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/harvey.html and http://www.advantageathletics.com/polev ... ipper.html . However how much does the pole hitting the back of the box affect that angle? And how much of that angle change from run to take off is trying to jump up?

I believe a problem overlooked coming off the ground is the action of the hips. Too many vaulters let the hips slide forward out in front of the shoulders coming off the ground too soon. This can be controlled. Many things can affect the hips sliding forward too soon (or leaning back) . i.e. an under step, poor sprinting mechanics prior to take off... This puts your swing too far out in front of your pole or top hand. To counter act this your have to shove your top hand forward or split your legs apart on top pulling your lead leg past the top of the pole.

Another big factor in the vault is the angle of the body when the top hand, shoulders, hips and trail foot line up. At this time the body should be at full extension. That line should be at a 45 degree angle to the runway with the foot in the direction of the box. Look again at Skipper and Bubka or Tye Harvey http://www.advantageathletics.com/polevault/harvey.html to see those points. This is what allows the shoulders to get under the rest of the body when the body is fully extended and inverted. Or in other words getting back.

[smokinvaulter1]

Get the pole moving upward not forward. Forward can cause a low bend and a big bang. I always jump up at take off. I don't think I slow down either , that much.

[KYLE ELLIS]

My point was that if a kid was to un-coordinated to drive through the plant and just sag on it, then he wouldnt be able to jump "up" off the ground. Ive seen a lot of people lean back slow down and jump "up". I didnt say the ELITE guys did it!! And I didnt say everyone did it. Of course everyone jumps off the ground at takeoff, I was implying the mentality at the time for some shouldnt be up, instead forward.

AND you can lean back and jump off the ground, what will happens is that your hips will get sucked through very fast and your center of gravity will be way out in front of you.

[agapit]

I teach people to jump up tall. The faster you can run down the runway, the more horizontal speed you will be generating. You don't need to jump forward, you are going to make it into the pit if you're gripping the right height on the pole. The taller you can extend and jump up, the better your takeoff angle will be, and the higher you can safely grip. If you tell a kid to drive forward and jump forward, a lot of times they just sit on the pole and bend the snot out of it without really going anywhere.

and if you told the same kid to jump up at takeoff he would run in there slow down, lean back and "jump" up.

We have developed an effective exercise to address this issue. We called it a pole climb.

Take a small grip (4 lefts, straight pole)) and tell your kid run fast jump and climb to the top of the pole, in the nutshell.

See what happens and correct it. If your kid does not jump at all, but “runs inâ€Â