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Okay, I was going to put this in the coaches but I haven't been written in as a coach so this is probably the best place.

I'm coaching 8 athletes.
Girls:5'6"-9th grade; 6'6"-7th, 8th, 9th; 8'6"-9th.
They're doing fairly well. The guys on the other hand, have this rather strange problem. 2 of the 3 have nice technique from a short run (4 lefts or shorter) but as soon as you move them to a 6 left, they technique goes down the tubes. Literally, one of our guys can't vault 7' from a 6 left but he can do 8' from a 4 left...he has nice form from a 4 but once he gets a 6, he brings both knees up, balls up, and mule kicks over the bar. The other just does better from a short run.

How can we fix this? They're kind of at the point where they need to move back to get some more momentum (cross country runs don't make great sprinters, but they're learning) but I can't figure out how to fix it. What do you guys think?

Our other guy's top hand keeps sliding down, so I'm going to have him try to hold a little lower on the pole.

hye

check the 3 left/6 stride frrom takeoff mark from the 4 left/8step run... then check it when they go to 6 lefts/12 steps

95% of the time the mark is "OUT" by 2 plus feet from the shorter run...
forces them to overstride and lose any posibility to vault correctly..

dj

Thanks? So, check what should be the mid/when he starts lowering. Got it. Will do.

Another question I might ask is if they practice pole runs at the longer run tempo so as to get the rhythm down. Also, find the takeoff point for their final steps to see if they're actually on.

How old are you boys vaulters? If they're jumping between 7'-8' they might be better served sticking at 4 for a while, there's probably still room to improve from that run and help them build reps and proper form.

If you feel they need to move, try to put them in a situation where they feel as confident as possible. In my experience sliding down the pole almost always indicates a lack of confidence more-so than inability athletically. The same goes with crazy changes on top of the pole. As you seem to imply, I think this issues are probably more mental than anything else. I would do some 6 step grass drills running past the pole or maybe some drills with a plant box to get them confident with the run and pole drop, and start them on their poles they use from 4 at 6. This should give them a tremendous confidence and help them attack the takeoff more, which may fix the problem right there.

dj brings up a good point too, on top of what he said, maybe put down a cone at their optimum takeoff mark so both you and they can see where they're supposed to be. Using these two checkmarks can help ensure that they at least get to their takeoff point correctly which goes a long way towards having a great jump.

Hope this was helpful, please feel free to disregard everything I said if it sounds crazy or you get better advice from someone with more experience

1 guy is 14, I think one is 15/16, and the other is 17. The one whose 6-left technique is really having issues is the 14 yr old. the 17 yr old is sliding down the pole. I took the 14 yr old's mid mark and he was hitting it right on target.

We do the 6 left and 6 step running drills, we have no slide box, and they only have 1 pole they use; they just hold lower for the shorter drills.

We're all out of meets but we're going to keep practicing until they have to turn in their poles.