PoleVaultPower.com

When I was little I was a gymnast and had a high bar build in my back yard. Now a retired gymnast and aspiring pole vaulter the high bar in my back yard is a little low. There is no way for me to raise it and while hanging on my bar with bend knees I am about 2 inches off the ground. I was wondering what drills I would able to do on a bar at this height and if there was anyway to tweak some of the other high bar drills so I could do them on my bar.
Thanks

Dig a deep hole under the bar.

You can't do the best stuff, but you can still do some great drills to build strength...

http://www.polevaultpower.com/media/vid ... anddrills/

You can do a cast swing to free-hip circle on a low bar. When you do it right you just fly up and over and land on your feet behind the bar. Here's a great video of a kid doing them:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOeqKA_Wess

Also just holding yourself in an extended position above the bar or doing muscle-ups.

Another low-bar drill, hard to explain but good for shoulder strength and flexibility and teaching the chest drive:
-stand close to the bar, gripping it, and swing down under it, allowing your shoulders to become elastic as your chest and drive knee move in front of your hands; trail leg stays back, both feet drag on the ground in the split takeoff position. When you reach your point of maximum stretch, "rebound" hard by contracting your abs and re-engaging the shoulders. If done right and hard enough, you will swing right back up to where you started.

Good luck
Tom

tsorenson wrote: ... Here's a great video of a kid doing them ...

If that little girl can do this drill then YOU can do it too!

Three versions:
1. As the girl demos
2. As the boy demos (right after the girl). In this version, he almost goes into a handstand BEFORE he does "almost a giant".
3. Castaway (like the girl does it), then try to complete the drill into a handstand (like the boy does it).

Re #3, the more you can use your PV "swinging action" (dropping the shoulders and raising your hips) ... and the less you use your "brute strength" ... the better you'll simulate what a real vault should look and feel like.

I recommend learning how to do this in the following sequence: #1, #3, #2. The reason for this is that #2 is more difficult than #1. I would also argue that doing a full giant (like #2) doesn't simulate a real vault as closely as #3.

#2 looks more technically 'elegant', but I also think #3 is more challenging. Gofor it!

Also note the pad. It's always a good idea to have something soft to land on when you do this drill - either a pad or soft sand. And for gosh sakes, if you put sand down, DON'T put a board border around it to keep the sand tidy. That's a safety hazard!

Kirk

Your backyard bar probably won't flex like a gymnastics bar will, so free hips and such are harder.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Your backyard bar probably won't flex like a gymnastics bar will, so free hips and such are harder.

Want FLEX? Make your highbar out of an old pole!

Kirk

KirkB wrote:

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Your backyard bar probably won't flex like a gymnastics bar will, so free hips and such are harder.

Want FLEX? Make your highbar out of an old pole!

Kirk

Only if you want fiberglass splinters Having it out in the sun all the time slowly evaporates the resin and the fiberglass gets very splintery.

What if you covered it when not in use?

Kirk

KirkB wrote:What if you covered it when not in use?

Kirk

It still wouldn't hold up well over the years. I really don't recommend it. Poles aren't designed to be outside all of the time like that an they are not designed to be used for that purpose. Fiberglass splinters suuuck. They are invisible and they hurt.