PoleVaultPower.com

Hello,

I am a first year pole vaulter. My friend is a vaulter and needed another to make a relay team so he pushed me into joining. I caved and did. I now would never want to stop pole vaulting. I love it. It's thrilling. Even as a first year i can't do much but it is so much fun.

Anyway to get to my point of the thread.

I have a problem. My run is great, my plant is even better, but whenever i start to go up i somehow pull in way too quickly. My coach wants so desperatly for me to not do it but it's seems to be lodged into my brain. Is there any tips or drills in which i can practice NOT pulling in right away?

Also whenever i start to make the turn i turn to the right instead of the left (i'm a right hand vaulter). I look hilarious but feel stupid everytime i do. Any tips with this as well?

The coaches and my friend say i can probably get 12 feet towards the end of the season and i really want to help them out so any tips or solutions to my problems will be great.

Thanks

Hey dude

I'm having a simular problem re your first 'issue'.

Whenever I get a spare moment either at my desk at work or at home..I try to visualise the perfect vault and what it would feel/look like....

That way hopefully your body will follow what your brain has been trained to do.

All the best

Rob in England

Like Murkinrg said, visualization is a great way to practice, because you can do it anytime. Especially in US history class when nothing important is going on.

Some of the things you described involve basic body awareness. Like not pulling up on the pole, the simple fix is to let your body hang and dont flex your biceps or shoulders after you jump. Do you jump with a bungee? that might be encouraging you to pull in to get to the bungee too quickly. Try relating it to something else you do. Imagine you are jumping onto a high bar from the ground and are just trying to swing back and forth. Your arms are relaxed, right? That could be a cue that might work, or remember that everything in the vault is LONG. Long body extension after you leave the ground, long swing, etc. Also, when you are working out basic issues like that, it is always better to hold really low on a really soft pole first. If you try to fix issues in a real vault, you will have the fear factor and not be able to change much of anything. Do it on a soft pole on a short run everyday before you start your long run.

As for the turn, you are going past the right side of the pole, correct? Lol If your right hand is your top hand, and you go to that side, it must be pretty interesting to see you still turn to the right. Work on keeping your top hand on the pole just as you start to turn. You will have no choice but to turn left. The turn will eventually come automatically if you keep pushing your body up the pole in a good vault.

Body awareness and control will be invaluable to you every year you vault, but especially your first year. Being able to change the way you are vaulting and tweak it can be a hard thing to do, but try to make cues and relate what you are doing to something you already know how to do. Good luck!

on your turning problem---- focus on keeping your drive knee up. once you swing back to the pole you should drop your shoulders and at the same time turn. so think about twisting your drive knee around the pole