Falling

[scubastevesgirly]

Lately, it's been really uncomfortable when I land (after the vault). I either get whiplashish motion, or my head hurts, or my back hurts.

Coach says it's because I'm at the point where I'm high enough that's a far fall, but I'm not high enough to put enough pressure for it to be a comfortable fall....

Does anybody have any good ways to fall/land?

[VaultMarq26]

are you landing flat on your back....how old are your pits?

[Ming3r]

Well, I've got advice, but its based on the way I vault - I kind of roll/spin/something when I release the pole. On my way down, I've had enough falls on my head, and once just came right down on my neck/shoulder...

Try to land on your back and definately not your feet if you can help it...

[nitro]

its something to do with the plant sometimes if its not all the way up then you could twirl around on a rock back and on a jump land all messed up

idk thats just me

[scubastevesgirly]

are you landing flat on your back....how old are your pits?

I think i'm probably landing on my back with my head and legs elevated a bit...I suppose it's a natural reaction to fall with your head off the ground...hence the whiplash?

...the pit doesn't seem to make a difference...our pit's pretty old, and the last pit i was on was pretty new, and both hurt.

...I think i like to land on my feet if i can (i know...everybody says it's bad )

We haven't really started working on the top of the vault at all yet this year either...so I'm coming down in some pretty crazy positions

[rainbowgirl28]

Think about landing in a position to do a backward roll. You want your body to be more balled up, and less flat as a pancake.

Try to tuck your chin toward your chest before you land, that ought to keep you from whacking your head on the pit.

[VaultMarq26]

land on your feet all you want....but take into account that many of the parilizations, concussions, and deaths related to pole vault are directly the result of someone landing on their feet and bouncing off the pit.

keep working on ways to land on your back that don't hurt....a sore neck is nothing compaired to what could happen if you dont' land correctly

[achtungpv]

It's the pit. I jump on 2 different pits...it's not the age it's the design. One is a LISCO pit. They're built (the one I jump on anyway) so that it's a solid piece of foam all the way through instead of having notches cut out on the bottom to help the foam compress when you land on it. Because of this air can't escape the foam fast enough when you land on it so it feels like concrete. I get the same sensations...whiplash and a concussion. When I jump on the correctly designed pit, no problems.

[nitro]

are you landing flat on your back....how old are your pits?

I think i'm probably landing on my back with my head and legs elevated a bit...I suppose it's a natural reaction to fall with your head off the ground...hence the whiplash?

...the pit doesn't seem to make a difference...our pit's pretty old, and the last pit i was on was pretty new, and both hurt.

...I think i like to land on my feet if i can (i know...everybody says it's bad )

We haven't really started working on the top of the vault at all yet this year either...so I'm coming down in some pretty crazy positions

well A about landing on your feet its kind of bad because ive seen people break there ankle and tear their acl and mcl so if u wanna take that risk you can...

B idk about ur jump but i had the same feeling and it was when i was between getting really inverted and not getting inverted at all idk about you but it took about a week or 2 for it to pass for me

[indestructo]

Here's another thought to consider. Are you scraping your elbows on the mats when you land? For a short period I had the same symptoms as you. I realized very quickly that it was because I would put my elbows down just enough to support my back when I landed. Not enough to jam a shoulder but enough to support the back and allow my head to whip.

Just a thought...

[DecaRag]

I agree about not landing on your feet - the only time I want my vaulters to land on feet are during plant and drive drills. Full vaults - land on your upper back and keep your arms at your sides and a little forward (to prevent getting the mat burns mentioned previously).

I had a young vaulter a couple of years ago that broke an ankle landing on his feet. What made the risk higher was it was on a pit with a very loose cover, which caught his spikes as he landed and twisted. I also had a couple of HS girls that refused to land on their backs, and ended up bouncing/falling off-balance off of the pit which could have resulted in some more serious injuries.

ALWAYS LAND ON YOUR BACK FOR SAFETY REASONS!

[scubastevesgirly]

thanks guys...i'll try to pay more attention to what exactly i'm doing
...and I think I'll try to stop landing on my feet...that message is pretty clear