Rigid Bottom Arm

[yankee814]

Hey all,
So today while jumping from 6 lefts on a 13' 150 ( I'm 5'6" and 130 lbs) a college vaulter told me that I had one of the best plants he's ever seen and that i just need to fix my rigid bottom arm
EDIT: gripping at about 11'9"

Apparently, I've been planting great but keep my lower arm rigid through my swing which prevents me from getting fully inverted and pulling through to complete the turn.

I'M SO STUCK I CAN'T FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX THIS! I know it helps to have pictures and video, but anyone have any ideas or methods on trying to fix this really bad habit?

[KYLE ELLIS]

Lots of straight poling making a window with the left arm.

[rainbowgirl28]

Your grip is probably too wide, move your bottom hand closer to your top hand, and focus on it pushing up instead of forward.

[dj]

hye

i'll try and give you one you might not here...

turn the left elbow out (if you are right handed) and any "pressure" on the left hand should be on the ball of the left hand (thumb and fore finger)

this should eliminate the "stiff" left arm and allow the shoulder to rotate and let you "hang' and swing..

dj

[superpipe]

Definitely think press up, like RG said and the bottom arm elbow must be bent out to the left creating a "window" to see through (and allowing the head and chest to move through) like was already said too. You may still "block" even in this position if you have strong shoulders. I had this problem. You have to relax the shoulders, but still have a good grip on the pole. Relaxing the shoulders lets your arms move back over your head and your chest move forward. This is called getting into the "pocket". So, how do you know if you've done it? If you feel the sensation of "pulling" the pole towards the pit right after take-off, you've done it. When you don't allow movement at the shoulder joint, you will always feel the sensation of "pushing" the pole towards the pit just after take-off.

Here's where you want to be just after take-off. Note everything I mentioned above in this freeze frame:

[tsorenson]

In addition to the great advice given above, "jumping over the tip" on the grass or turf is another drill that helps teach the proper arm position at takeoff, by emphasizing the top arm instead on the bottom.

Establish your standing grip (the highest point you can reach on a vertical pole with your feet flat on the ground) and grip the pole about 6-8" above that point to start. You can either carry the pole high above your shoulder or down in the normal pole carry position, executing a "real" plant (I recommend this way once you get comfortable, we all can always use more practice on our plants). Jog a few steps, execute the plant, and jump over the tip of the pole, riding it forward with a straight, rigid top arm and a flexed (but solid) bottom arm. Your chest (or maybe your trail leg thigh) will impact the pole as it reaches vertical, stay solid and use your whole body to drive the pole forward, landing on the opposite foot you took off from (this ensures that you keep an extended trail leg). This drill takes some time to learn but will teach you to jump up at takeoff and extend, and to move the pole without blocking the bottom arm. In addition, any shoulder flexibility/strength exercises you can do will help a lot.

Make this drill and the stiff pole drills a part of your warmup and your bottom arm will take care of itself. As already stated, once you begin to transfer to a bigger pole just think UPWARD pressure with both arms...a relatively narrow grip will help this.

oh yeah, and if your pole carry/drop/plant isn't dialed you will have a hard time fixing the bottom arm problem...

Good luck!
Tom

[yankee814]

Thanks for all the positive feedback!

Practice today was better, still blocked out a little bit but that freeze frame really helped me out
Cleared an 11'6" bungee repeatedly on a 13' 150
I also landed much farther into the PLZ than i did yesterday, so all these ideas and drills are working well

will update soon!