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Hi, so for most of the outdoor season I've been going from a run of 6 lefts (70ft), this was a step down from my previous run at 7 lefts (83 feet) which I felt was too long. Now that my outdoor season is nearing end in the middle of may and I have built my speed up, do you think it would be wise to move back to 7 lefts?

Pole: 13'6 155
PR: 12'
Gripping: 12+

if it helps at all i recently moved up to the 13'6 155 from a 13' 160 which I was kind of blowing through on

You probably shouldn't change anything that big until the season is over, but if you feel that you really need to in order to go your highest at states or wherever, then it might be a good idea.

No real reason to move back to 7 or 8 lefts till a greater take of speed is needed. Many many a successful high school vaulter has cleared 15+ with a 6 left approach. Till you move up to a pole that necessitates more speed I would keep working on getting height off the top of the pole.

i didnt want to post a new topic so im asking here but are we supposed to shorten the run length as we get closer and close to the box? and if so how do we get there? (sorry if this has been answered before... i couldnt find anything bout it)

i saw a kid that took big strides and once he reached his mid mark he started to take quicker smaller strides - accelerating into the pit.
weird thing about this guys jump was that as soon as he got on his take off he jerked his head back and started to initiate a quick straight trail leg swing which looked awesome, (he cleared 14)

Haverford123 wrote:are we supposed to shorten the run length as we get closer and close to the box? and if so how do we get there? (sorry if this has been answered before... i couldnt find anything bout it)

i saw a kid that took big strides and once he reached his mid mark he started to take quicker smaller strides - accelerating into the pit.
weird thing about this guys jump was that as soon as he got on his take off he jerked his head back and started to initiate a quick straight trail leg swing which looked awesome, (he cleared 14)

AHHHH NEVER Throw the head back, it puts you in a really bad and unsafe position. It may look cool but you should always keep your chin tucked in and look at your toes. You shouldn't necessarily shorten your stride, it should happen naturally. When you accelerate your strides vary in distance, at half way through (i.e. after 3 lefts in a 6 left approach) you should be at a basically constant speed. Those full speed strides will be shorter than the acceleration strides. Your penultimate step (second to last) will be slightly longer. Your ultimate (last) step will be slightly shorter but with proper acceleration will put your hips in perfect position to take off. When you see a vaulter's mid mark on and they are under they are striding out to "reach the box" (typically a few inches under because thats where they are comfortable). To cure this do consistent off runway on track pole carries and try to allow for a free fall of the pole, check out agapit and dj's posts about the manifesto and mid mark chart, that should help explain everything.

http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/vie ... hp?t=14284 This should help explain a lot.

My understanding is that after a few steps, maximum step length is reached and maintained until take-off, minus the penultimate and take-off steps themselves, and the vaulter should just strive for greater turnover. Is this completely incorrect? To me shortening stride length seems nonsensical, but maybe I'm wrong?

Also, what do you mean by saying the vaulter should look at their toes? When, which foot, etc.? Bubka said he looked straight ahead at his take-off and during his run up, but I don't know about his swing... I DEFINITELY agree about not throwing the head back, as this can really disorient you and I'm speculating some bad technical occurrences... right? What are they?

hm.. well with the kid i saw jumping throwing the headback didnt prevent him from getting somewhat of a free takeoff and a crazy straight/quick swing...

also,, i heard we were supposed to accelerate in to the box, doesnt that mean we should never be running at constant speed?

this whole run thing bothers me cause i can never keep it constant or i mess up a attemp cause i feel like i run different everytime,,

What I mean when I said look at your toes was once the swing was completed (i.e. when foot passes the entire chord of the pole and meets the top hand). From that point on chin tucked in and looking at toes, and flexing them toward you and not pointing them, until the fly away. As for the errors that can result from throwing the head back... one has no power to force their shoulders down and back and elevate the hips, plus you lose a spatial awareness as to where you are in relation to the cross bar. As for the run don't over think it, it should be natural, that is the key. Once you start trying to manipulate your run, during your run, bad things can definitely happen. Accelerate hard, run consistently, take off. Period. The penultimate and ultimate steps (with respect to stride length) should occur naturally. It is not something that you will have to consciously force yourself to do.

OK, I guess that makes sense.

you want to have an increasing rythm in your run you want every foot to land directly beneath your body so you can keep your body tall through the runway and take off. Perfect Posture allows for a perfect vault.

as for where your head should be ive always been taught to look at your bottom hand at take off so you can make sure your hands are moving through the entire vault. this also generates momentum upward. if your head is 'in the box' your not gonna go up and you wont bend the pole correctly because your focusing your energy into the bottom of the pole. your head should be tucked and watching your top hand as you drop your shoulders so you can focus energy there as you push off and from there its all bar awareness. thats what ive always been taught, please correct me if im wrong.

you want to have an increasing rythm in your run you want every foot to land directly beneath your body so you can keep your body tall through the runway and take off. Perfect Posture allows for a perfect vault.

you need to run infront of yourself, so each step should be slightly infront of your body, expecialy because your pole is infront of you and moves your bodies center of mass foward.