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What are some benefits of the bottom arm press drill in which you stick your left arm out and "attack" the box? If i were to vault with a big pole the same way I have it with a smaller pole in this drill, will my vaulting improve? Or is it just preparing me for a small aspect and actually not doing anything?

Even if it doesn't prepare my left arm correctly, I feel like the mentality that I had during the drill of "I want to break this effing pole!" is a good one to have as I vault. My coach told me to attack take off as if "I'm running someone over".

Thank you,
AJ

If you are just sticking your arm out in front of you, and locking the elbow, then it is just teaching you bad habits that won't help you vault higher. You might bend the pole more that way, but it won't help you vault significantly higher.

My coach told me that my arm should be at a 110 degree angle. Recently when I would vault, I'd try to get it at 60 degree angle (My elbow would form the angle). Does that sound right?

I feel like the mentality that I had during the drill of "I want to break this effing pole!" is a good one to have as I vault. Absolutely wrong - you should not even be trying BEND the pole at take off.


"My coach told me to attack take off as if "I'm running someone over"." What in an Abrahams tank??? He also is completely wrong! What you should be trying to do is jump as high as you can OVER that individual - as any civilised person would!

If you want to see a perfect take off go to the Hooker swing in the Advance section and take a look at the one demonstrated there by Bubka.

I'm not trying to bend the pole necessarily. What he means by that and by the "run someone over" quote is that you need to be as agressive as possible at take off. I don't think anyone would disagree with that.

What he means by that and by the "run someone over" quote is that you need to be as agressive as possible at take off. I don't think anyone would disagree with that. A long while ago a very clever guy said "How often misused words lead to misguided actions". Te was right the image that phrase carries into the mind is of travelling forward - and this leads inevitably to a flat take off and an early bend - which should not be your aim. But you asked for comments - if you dont like them do whatever you like. But I repeat - you should not be trying to the pole at take off. As I suggested earlier take a look at the clips of Bubka in the Hooker blog.

Aggression at take-off is one thing... "warrior-vaulting" is quite another. The key is to be under control and still have a springy UPWARD impulse at take-off.

The run is pretty much under control. I just need to be more agressive at take off and get my bottom arm correctly placed instead of having it collapse in. In practice I've had it partly extended, like the 60 degree angle I was talking about, but now I want to get it to 110.

Forget the angle: ELBOW OUT (naturally), HANDS PUNCHING UPWARD (both of them).

Ajw118 wrote: ... I just need to be more aggressive at take off and get my bottom arm correctly placed instead of having it collapse in. ...

You're not the first one to think that collapsing the bottom arm is a bad thing. It's a common myth, IMHO. If you watch the Bubka vid in the "Steve Hooker's new swing" thread http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=19365&start=24, you'll see that his bottom arm DOES collapse in. Maybe not quite as much as yours, but it does collapse. The point is that the pole will bend NATURALLY away from your "collapsed" bottom arm if you have the right body posture on takeoff, and if you jump off the ground aggressively ... with most of your body weight on your TOP hand. It's the pressure of your body weight thru the TOP hand ... and into the pole ... that bends it NATURALLY away from your bottom arm. I know this might sound counter-intuitive if you've never experienced it ... and if your coach has not taught you this way ... but believe me ... it's the way Bubka does it ... AND IT WORKS!

BTW, I agree with the need to be aggressive on takeoff ... you can be aggressive with your leg action and your arm action ... but that's different than aggressively blocking out with your bottom arm. I think you've described this correctly ... by saying "get my bottom arm correctly placed" ... so I'm glad you said that. But some vaulters often confuse an aggressive takeoff with forcing a bend with their bottom arm. Glad you're past this.

Kirk