PoleVaultPower.com

This past season I had trouble getting completely inverted, I would always flag out. Near the end of the season, it started getting a tad better, but it still wasn't as good as it should've been. From my 3-step however, I could get inverted fairly well. Now I'm going to be vaulting for the local AAU team during the summer. As I was practicing today, I decided to do something a little different... For my 3-step and 4-step I put up the bungee just to see how high I could get on them. For my 3-step, I start my run at 35' and hold at 10'8" on a 130, 13'. I put the bungee up at 9'6" and I got it easily. So after abouit 5 vaults at my 3-step, I moved back to my 4. I start at 47'6" and hold at about 11'2". I got 9'6" again, with even more room to spare. So I moved the bungee up to 10' after about 3 or 4 vaults, and I was just barely brushing 10' from my 4-step. So I moved back to 5 (my run starts at 60'6" and i hold at 11'8") and I cleared 10' with plenty of ease. With my 3, 4, and 5 steps, I was getting very nicely inverted. During the season, my full run was 6 lefts from about 73'6", with my handhold at about 12'6" or 12'8", and I struggled to get 10'. Can someone explain to me why I could vault so much easier from a lower grip AND a shorter run? Could it have something to do with the bend of the pole? Sure, I was still bending the pole a little from my 5-step, but not quite as much as my 6-step.

Every vaulter who is not vaulting above their grip should read your post and learn!

For beginners, the increased speed of a longer run does nothing for you until you learn how to vault properly, then move it back one step at a time. Moving it back prematurely in the pursuit of higher grips/bigger poles/higher bars only stunts the development of young vaulters. Only once you have learned the fundamentals should you start pushing the grip height (what this means is that you should be able to vault consistently at heights above your grip).

You should be jumping over 10' on a stiff pole before you try to grip 12'8, in my opinion. Your goal should be to learn how to stand up a 12'8 grip on a stiff pole...then you will be jumping high!

Good luck, build a solid foundation and your grip will go up a lot more than if you try to push it right now...focus on your run, pole carry, plant, and takeoff

Tom

tsorenson wrote:Your goal should be to learn how to stand up a 12'8 grip on a stiff pole...then you will be jumping high!

Tom, does this mean take a 12'8" grip through to the pit in a stay-down (one hander or two hander) drill? If so, isn't that grip height goal a function of how high a vaulter can reach (how tall he is)?

master wrote:

tsorenson wrote:Your goal should be to learn how to stand up a 12'8 grip on a stiff pole...then you will be jumping high!

Tom, does this mean take a 12'8" grip through to the pit in a stay-down (one hander or two hander) drill? If so, isn't that grip height goal a function of how high a vaulter can reach (how tall he is)?

Master, I would think that it would have more to do with the efficiency of the takeoff, including how well the vaulter JUMPS off the ground, and how smooth his technique is in getting the plant up high (and in time for the pole hitting the box).

I think taller vaulters have a definite advantage ... but ONLY with all else being equal.

An analogy is to say that a taller BB player will ALWAYS win the NBA slam-dunk contest, becuz they don't have to reach as far to get above the rim. Having seen quite a few contests of this sort, we KNOW that the tallest BB player doesn't always win ... especially since the contest requires TECHNIQUE as well as brute SLAMMING ABILITY (big air). In addition to TECHNIQUE, we've seen that some short guys can really outjump the big guys.

An extreme PV example might be Okkert Brits. At 6-6, he probably didn't get off the ground very high ... and his pre-loading technique probably made it even worse. Compare him to say Greg Duplantis or Kjell Isaksson (5-8 or 5-9), and it might well be that Greg and Kjell got off the ground higher than Okkert did when their poles hit. I don't have anything to substantiate this ... it's just a subjective observation that I'm making.

Kirk

Kirk,
The reason I asked is Tom is taller than I, and 12'8" is something that I can only dream of! I would be lucky to get 11'8". So, if you are giving someone a goal, it might need to be realistic for their physique. I realize I am not able to jump very high and should work on that skill/ability, but for me, a goal of 12'8" would be pretty much out of the question.

Remember, my urine sample at Worlds tested negative. I'm not working with anything more than what my 64 year old body can produce!

Of course, there was the other reason for asking the question, and that is, maybe he didn't mean what I thought he was saying.

John,
you are right, I should have said "jump a pole into the pit without swinging with a grip that is 5 feet above your standing grip on a stiff pole"

Regardless of the content of your urine, John, you are doing just fine physically! When I am your age I expect that even fishing will be physically challenging...

Tom