10 Dysfunctional Plants

[CoachEric]

I would love to hear everyone's feedback, positive or negative.

http://artofthevault.com/10-dysfunctional-plants/

[KirkB]

Great vid! Thanks to you Coach Eric, and to Coach Butler for doing this.

I agree with all of the ten dysfunctional plants that you identified.

And I think it's a very good approach IN ADDITION TO explaining what a GOOD plant should look like. By identifying these pitfalls, we can categorize them and explain their pitfalls by category. I think it also gives the coach a keener eye in picking out one of these 10 flaws by their general characteristics. This is much easier for a coach to do than to consider each vaulters unique planting flaws, and then have to explain them one-by-one.

Dysfunctional Plant #1: "Forward and Up Plant". Back in the day, we used to call this one the "Shovel Plant". If you've ever shoveled snow off a driveway with a flat-nosed shovel, you will know why. For beginners, the shovel plant may be preferable to some of the other dysfunctional plants. At least it gets you and the pole moving in the right direction. However, I wouldn't suggest that beginners keep planting this way for very long - the longer you keep doing the shovel plant, the harder it will be to break the habit and plant properly.

Dysfunctional Plant #2: "Roundhouse Plant". To varying degrees, every vaulter I know does this - some a little bit, and some a lot. It's impossible not to Roundhouse a little bit, because you have to move your arm past your shoulder, and there's only 2 ways to get around it: (1) Shovel; or (2) Roundhouse. Optimally, I think you should strive for what I call a "Through-the-Shoulder Plant". Of course this is impossible if taken literally, but by making your shoulder extremely flexible (through various drills and stretching excercises), you can reduce the dysfunctional Shovel and Roundhouse symptoms. If your vaulter is doing a Roundhouse, the first thing you should check is his range of shoulder motion.

Coach Eric: What do you think about this? And what does Coach Butler recommend is the best FUNCTIONAL way to plant?

One additional dysfunctional plant type that I'd like to add is:

11. "Leaning Back During the Plant". The reason vaulters lean back too much just before (or during) their plant is because they've let their pole drop too quickly (and then must hold it up by leaning back). Or maybe they didn't start their run with a high pole carry and then lower it gradually. Either way, leaning back just before (or during) the plant slows down the entire plant and takeoff dramatically. Good body posture is so important on takeoff, and you won't have good body posture (slight forwards lean) if you've been leaning back.

Kirk

[CoachEric]

Kirk,

Thanks for the comment! This is our post describing a "Functional" plant. http://artofthevault.com/the-plant-simplified-and-specified/ I think you've seen it before, but the point that we wanted to drive home was that a correct plant motion is executed through the shortest path possible. This is why the "Forward and Up" plant (I've also called it "shovelling") and the "Roundhouse" plant are identified as dysfunctional. Butler believes in a "Straight Line Plant." Since shovelling and roundhousing both take a curved path toward vertical, they slow the feet and create tension. I think your point might be that there is no such thing as a perfectly straight line in the functional movement of the plant, so I would clarify that the vaulter should remove every excess motion and take the shortest, straightest path possible.

Butler and I believe, and I know you agree, that a correct pole carry and the pole tip accelerating into the plant (we call it active pole drop), facilitates an efficient plant. http://artofthevault.com/articles/the-straight-line-plant/ We're never going to get 100% consensus on this point on PVP, so I don't want to kick off another debate on it. But in my opinion the accelerating pole tip provides the pole with the rotational interia to quickly move the top of the pole towards vertical while reducing the effect of the pole weight on the vaulter while sprinting. We have another video coming out very soon on this topic.

[altius]

CoachEric - I have immense respect for Dave Butler's knowledge of Petrov's methods. It is also clear that you are an acolyte or protege of his so can represent his ideas accurately. However while what you have done is an interesting exercise I believe it would be far more valuable for you to continually restate your understanding of the ideal approach to planting the pole AND even more importantly, to provide a continuous stream of examples of athletes - of any level of performance who are good examples of this model. I hope that these examples would include some of your own athletes, because I am tired of experts pontificating on all aspects of technique on PVP but who never seem to teach these great ideas to any athletes.

On another related issue I would make the point that - given the importance of the precise positioning of the lower arm throughout the plant and take off I believe the hand should ALWAYS remain in contact with the pole. IMHO one arm drills are only trying to deal with an error that should not have occurred in the first place.

[CoachEric]

I believe it would be far more valuable for you to ... provide a continuous stream of examples of athletes - of any level of performance who are good examples of this model. I hope that these examples would include some of your own athletes

I will be happy to. I only work with athletes just once or twice a week, and I rarely take video, but we will be compiling some example footage. Hopefully we'll have it up on our website soon.

[KirkB]

CoachEric - I have immense respect for Dave Butler's knowledge of Petrov's methods. It is also clear that you are an acolyte or protege of his so can represent his ideas accurately. However while what you have done is an interesting exercise ...

I actually LOVE what Coach Eric has done here, and on his website. He's posted a vid of Coach Dave Butler lecturing in depth about a very important topic - the PLANT.

There is no question of Eric misunderstanding or misinterpreting what Coach Butler has to say on the topic - we're all hearing it from the horse's mouth! It couldn't be any clearer than that! And from what I can tell, Eric has been quite consistent in promoting good Petrov technique in all his posts.

Good goling, Eric! I hope you can have Coach Butler explain other aspects of the vault - just like you did here.

Kirk