Yelena's Back!

[PV Official]

http://www.iol.co.za/sport/athletics/ye ... k-1.875459

Yelena’s back!
November 22 2010 at 05:12pm

AFP

Polevault superstar Yelene Isinbayeva of Russia has returned from her indefinite sabbatical with definite goals in mind.

Monaco – Pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva, batteries fully recharged after she decided to take an indefinite sabbatical last April, has now set her sights on breaking Sergei Bubka's mark of 35 world records.

“It's not an ambition, it's a goal,” Isinbayeva told Reuters in an interview at her home in Monaco.

“Sergei fully supports me, he says he will be very happy when I do it. He says 'for you it will be easier now because you have a certain goal. When I started jumping I didn't know how many records I could set'.”

Ukrainian Bubka, who mentors the 28-year-old Russian, retired after the 2000 Sydney Olympics following a glittering career during which he set 35 outdoor and indoor world records. Isinbayeva, the first woman to vault five metres, has 27 world records to her name.

Isinbayeva spoke frankly about the physical and mental exhaustion which prompted her decision to take a lengthy break after competing constantly since 1998.

She failed to defend her world outdoor title in Berlin last year and finished fourth in the world indoor championships in Doha this year.


With 27 records already to her name, Russia's Yelena Isinbayeva has set her sights on Sergei Bubka's mark of 35.

AFP
“After my defeat in Berlin I was feeling completely empty inside,” Isinbayeva said. “I was tired and I had emotions from the competition.

“I thought, maybe, I should take some rest after the defeat, or was it just some mistake, an uncontrollable situation from which I could recover?

“It was a huge kick to my ego because I like to be on top and break world records.

“Now I was just nobody. I'd been defeated and was recuperating in Monaco. I was doing nothing. Then in Zurich I set a new world record and realised the defeat was in the past and I was great again.

“I was full of emotions. The adrenaline showed I was fully motivated and I finished my season good.”

But after raising her world record to 5.06 metres in Zurich, the twice Olympic champion's world came tumbling down again after she decided to compete in Doha despite missing six weeks' training with a knee injury.

“I was physically tired but I felt Doha was important and I had to perform at my best,” she said.

“However, I went to the competition completely destroyed. I didn't want to compete, I just wanted to rest. My body was completely empty, emotionally and physically.”

Even after leading the qualifiers for the final, Isinbayeva was not surprised when she slumped to fourth place.

“I did 4.55 metres with my third attempt to qualify and that was a signal something was wrong,” she recalled. “Then in the final I was not even disappointed when I was defeated.

“All I could think was 'I'm tired, I'm tired'. The body needed a rest because for 10 or more years I was testing my body all the time in training and competition.

“As a human being, sooner or later. people get tired mentally and physically. I never missed an indoor season and I always performed at the main competitions, the world championships and the Olympics.

“I never had a rest, it was not necessary. But I just felt this second defeat in a major championships, told me that I should have a rest from competition in the summer.”

After consulting Bubka and coach Vitaliy Petrov, Isinbayeva took time out to visit her family in her home town of Volgograd and her sister who lives in Tokyo. She jogged for pleasure and thoroughly enjoyed the absence of pressure in her life.

Isinbayeva resumed fulltime training under Petrov in Formia in June and plans to open her season at the Russian Winter meeting in Moscow on February 6.

“When I started my training I was doing mainly physical exercises running long, and short distance running,” she said.

“I did basic work to develop my body and speed and check my pole vault technique.

“From March until September, I didn't touch a pole and I didn't wish to touch it. My first session from eight steps was at the beginning of October.”

Isinbayeva's immediate goals are to win the European indoor and world outdoor titles this year.

“My coach says he can see me jumping at a level of 5.25 to 5.30 metres. I have to believe him because all this time when I was on my break and down with myself, he and my sports company Li-Ning in China supported me very well.

“When athletes have a kind of rest the sponsors try to stop the money or they try to cut many things, but they haven't and that was very kind of them.

“Now I'm full of emotions and motivated for this comeback because when I leave a normal life away from competition I realise that I miss my sports world.

“I was living in, like a vacuum, no one could get in contact with me.” – Reuters

[altius]

“However, I went to the competition completely destroyed. I didn't want to compete, I just wanted to rest. My body was completely empty, emotionally and physically.”

Some readers may remember the lengthy discussions on PVP following Izzy's performance in Doha. I have been waiting to see if anyone else had picked up on this statement - which confirms what I said at that time.

[dj]

hey

Alan there is no doubt.. that this

“However, I went to the competition completely destroyed. I didn't want to compete, I just wanted to rest. My body was completely empty, emotionally and physically.”

Was an issue…

What I wish you and the world would accept is that being 18inches/45cm out between a good prelim jump and her finals “no-height” was THE prominent issue that made the difference.

If she was already “emotionally and physically empty” it is/was IMPOSSIBLE for her to make up the “speed” (length per stride) she needed to overcome an accuracy “error”, six steps out.

I also have found over my 40 years of coaching that technical errors (run accuracy/set up /speed and pole selection) creates the emotional state (crazy vaulters, cursing, pole throwing etc) of the athlete, every time! Physical issues, unless it's an injury , can never make more than a hand grip of difference.. that would have still given her a chance at Gold.

It created Tim Mack’s issues in 2000 that were corrected in 2004 and he won the Gold.

We.. you (world’s pv coaches) don’t want to accept that it is as easy as “fixing” the run. Some how if we don’t/can’t coach the “technique”, which most consider only from the plant/takeoff to max height, we are not a coach… ggrrrrruuuu when as coaches are we going to realize it’s not about us and being right.. it’s about helping the athletes be the best they can be.. regardless if it fits our metal picture.. they are the ones on the end of the stick.. trust that a world class athlete (thoroughbred) will let you know when something is wrong!! We as coaches just have to find out what. If it’s a late plant, stretched run, no swing etc.. it always goes back a step to the part just before the error we see as a coach.

I can tell you if I had not have coached the run with the 5 or more Olympic vaulters I had an pleasure to help, they would not have jumped as high or performed as well.

Thanks Becca for giving me a site I can keep butting my head against the rock. I’m getting old but think I have some butts left.

dj

[altius]

"Physical issues, unless it's an injury , can never make more than a hand grip of difference.." Well clearly IZZy is disagreeing with you there.

"We.. you (world’s pv coaches) don’t want to accept that it is as easy as “fixing” the run. Some how if we don’t/can’t coach the “technique”, which most consider only from the plant/takeoff to max height, we are not a coach…"

Not sure where you get that from because Petrov clearly believes and states that the pole vault begins with the first step - and as a messenger I have certainly devoted a lot of space to the run up in BTB. Admittedly I have not made an issue of your notion of the link between midmark and grip height because I am not sure it is valid -it does not appear to be used by Petrov model vaulters - but more importantly it has the potential to encourage people to hit marks instead of encouraging them to run properly - as I saw last year in Boone.


"it’s about helping the athletes be the best they can be.." Do you really believe that we do not understand that! "regardless if it fits our metal picture.." Three points . First I was the one who coined the phrase 'A coach has a thousand careers - the athlete only has ONE' - to stress the importance of doing everything possible to help the athlete in their ONE career. Second I travelled the world in the late 70s to meet Houvion and Jean Claude Perin in Paris , Krysinki in Warsaw and Krupsky in Leverskusen to see if my mental picture needed changing - and it did - before meeting Petrov and Bubka in Canberra in 85 completely changed my picture of what pole vaulting was about. Third I came to the event as a teacher not as a vaulter or even as a coach so I had no preconceived ideas from my own prior experiences and have always been well aware that my mental picture needed continual upgrading.

"it always goes back a step to the part just before the error we see as a coach."
I believe most of us learned that by about our third year of coaching -- but as I am arguing here it could go back to the mental or physical status of the athlete at that point in time -as it clearly did in this case.

[dj]

#2

Let me simplify my point… I think I wrote too much before

Point.. isi was 18inches/45cm different(out) at a 6 step check point, from her good jump to her bad (no-height) jumps..

Logic.. if you know/knew this you could make adjustments accordingly..

The “MID” Six Step Check Mark is simply a way of checking the consistency of the run..

Some people check the takeoff point (for a variety of reason, accuracy, free, on, out...

I personally want to know before that point.. for the simply reason of what happened to isi…

every PV “authority” I know has stated “HOW” you get to the takeoff (speed, posture, acceleration.. etc) is just as important as the “accuracy”.

Just my observations for the last 40 years tells me that I don’t know if the run is the same from one run to the next unless I have some type of a “check” between the first step to the takeoff.

Obviously it is not as important to a large majority of the vault community.. but when my research has confirmed that the success or failure of a vault, 90% of the time, is tied to a check point six steps from launch, I will check it every time.

If it’s not an issue I move on to other parts of the technique. If it’s an issue I fix it and then move on…

dj

[Branko720]

Hey I just wanted to make a quick comment. One I am a big promoter of the Petrov Bubka model. I have read BTB, cover to cover, three times and numerous sections over and over. However, I also use DJ's mid chart. I started using the chart after my second year of coaching because one of my athletes was no hieghting and the take off mark was not useful. Since I started using the chart, which is for years now, no heights have become rare for my athletes. And I feel a big part of the reason is the chart. Now I must say I do not use it religiously, meaning, if an athletes is off by an inch I am not making an adjustment. My adjustments are at 6" increments. And if an athletes does not run properly, obviously I work towards fixing that, I have to keep them a foot out.

Now as far as the argument here, yes I do believe when using all your coaching tools, like the mid, it helps prevent no heights, but nothing is full proof. If an athlete is not into it, they are not into it. Also I have had situations with the mid when an athlete, who is normally right on at the mid, out by 2 feet. I continually move them up and they never get closer than 2 feet out. I try and remind them to come out bigger. Nothing works. The psychological aspect of coaching is huge. I know when one of my athletes is in the zone they can be tight, out, or something else could be off, they make it work. And you know what if they are doubting themselves, or feel tired, bored, or just don't want to be there, the miss. They will find ways to miss the bar. I'm telling you they could be on the mid, they can be down a grip if needed and they still screw up. If coaching was all technical a lot more of us would be coaching 15' girls and 19' boys.

Trust me at this point of the year, I myself feel a bit worn out from all the counseling I do for my athletes. Often the counseling is more important than a mid, a pole, or technique.

Branko

P.S. Alan, DJ you guys are both great. I hate to see to guys who are awesome and I believe on the same page arguing so much. They are so many people out there doing it the wrong way and those people should be facing up against you guys. I owe the success I have had in my career to both of you. Thanks.

[dj]

#3
Thanks Branko…

I actually never though or intended this to be an argument! It’s a coaches tool.

i never though the chart would be considered "vodo-magic" .. it's math-physics, science and research...

that said.......

You don’t ever have to reference my chart.. find out where each of your athletes “MID” (six steps from the takeoff) is based on their speed and ability and simply reference that when you are coaching.

It’s also not something to look at by “inches”.. 8” or a foot will give you the “leeway” on a run that is a little faster or a little slower.

I used the six step mark in the long jump several years before I started using it in the pole vault.

The rule back then was one mark at the start, only.. no marks in between. But we found and knew that we could start the same, seemingly run the same but still be off from one jump to the next. Where were we missing up! So we found clever ways (shoe bag.. near the runway six steps from the board. Thinking if you are not “on” there you would chop or stretch and mess up the jump anyway.

When I started preparing to pole vault for the decathlon I used the same six step check mark with slight adjustments and though process. Knowing I didn’t want to have to take to many “run thoughts” on a 5 event second day.

It’s a coaches tool.. it is simply a none intrusive way for the coach to check the accuracy of the run and have more information to coach the athlete up.

dj

[altius]

Just a thought -Like most coaches I have been using a "MId" for many years for precisely the reasons given here - I just dont correlate it with grip height! There are too many other variables involved to do that IMHO.

And Branko - I just thought PVP had become boring over the last three months so decided to spice things up -look at the difference in dates between my first comment here and when the original debate ended. And it is a debate -a difference of opinion - not an argument! Have a 'happy holiday"!!!!!!!

[dj]

#4444.

altius » Mon Dec 20, 2010 12:21 am
"Physical issues, unless it's an injury , can never make more than a hand grip of difference.." Well clearly IZZy is disagreeing with you there.

"We.. you (world’s pv coaches) don’t want to accept that it is as easy as “fixing” the run. Some how if we don’t/can’t coach the “technique”, which most consider only from the plant/takeoff to max height, we are not a coach…"

Not sure where you get that from because Petrov clearly believes and states that the pole vault begins with the first step - and as a messenger I have certainly devoted a lot of space to the run up in BTB. Admittedly I have not made an issue of your notion of the link between midmark and grip height because I am not sure it is valid -it does not appear to be used by Petrov model vaulters - but more importantly it has the potential to encourage people to hit marks instead of encouraging them to run properly - as I saw last year in Boone.


"it’s about helping the athletes be the best they can be.." Do you really believe that we do not understand that! "regardless if it fits our metal picture.." Three points . First I was the one who coined the phrase 'A coach has a thousand careers - the athlete only has ONE' - to stress the importance of doing everything possible to help the athlete in their ONE career. Second I travelled the world in the late 70s to meet Houvion and Jean Claude Perin in Paris , Krysinki in Warsaw and Krupsky in Leverskusen to see if my mental picture needed changing - and it did - before meeting Petrov and Bubka in Canberra in 85 completely changed my picture of what pole vaulting was about. Third I came to the event as a teacher not as a vaulter or even as a coach so I had no preconceived ideas from my own prior experiences and have always been well aware that my mental picture needed continual upgrading.

"it always goes back a step to the part just before the error we see as a coach."
I believe most of us learned that by about our third year of coaching -- but as I am arguing here it could go back to the mental or physical status of the athlete at that point in time -as it clearly did in this case.

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AND ..

I continue to try to show that I’m not “obsessed” with the “MID” but then I spend a huge amount of time and space trying to show why it is SO important to vaulting (or long jumping) BUT.. it's simple and very easy to use for a “feed back” while coaching purpose.

90% of vault issues can be correlated to that point on the runway………
So here goes…..

Everything I have read from you, everything I have read and heard from Petrov or Bubka “begs”, actually demands that we pay attention to a point 6 steps from the plant takeoff.

As you said you have used it as a reference, Petrov writes about it and Bubka actually used a six step mark to get his steps at a indoor meet in LA.

I know coaches and athlete’s world wide are aware and sometimes reference this point. You see markers.. I’ve seen athletes in Finland, Germany and beyond use a mark, BUT I don’t often see adjustments being made that are “logical” based on how fast or well they are running or jumping at the time. Or adjustments made when the athlete misses that mark by 2 feet. Many/most of the time I don’t see the coach “checking” where the is at (accuracy) 6 steps from the box.. yes the coaches are watching the rhythm, posture, pole carry, pole drop, AS THEY SHOULD BE but I simply factor in the accuracy by seeing how close they are to where they need to be to succeed on that jump, along with the other factors.. that piece of information is the key to understanding all the other technical issues I’m looking for. If the athlete over strides or reaches “under” at the takeoff, was it because they wanted to defy the coach and go against everything you were teaching them or because they were out at 6 and had to stretch to get to the takeoff. Was Isi’s inability to create enough pole speed to vault well in the final because of “physical and emotional” exhaustion or a combination of that AND the fact that she was off (out) at the “MID” by 18 inches in the final from her prelim jump 2 days before, where she cleared the bar by 40cm?

And Alan please view what I’m saying from a coaching, teaching, scientific standpoint, I am not being personal on any of this… I analyzed what is happening and have been trying for 40 years to explain why the accuracy 6 steps from takeoff is a key piece of information to the technical picture as a whole..

And not to side track here.. but yes you can “scientifically” predict where the grip “should” be based on the speed of the vaulter. .. and of course that doesn’t mean Carl Lewis or Usain Bolt can grab a pole at 17 feet and set a world record. But if an athlete is already jumping 16 feet that athlete has conquered many of the technical issues that will not hold them back from improving if they can run faster on the runway.. which will allow them to potentially grip higher, which potentially will up their PR. Scientific data collected by McGinnis and others over the years states that vaulters jumping 16 feet have an average speed level of 8mps? And if you look at the grips they will average around 14-6. I did those “numbers” in 1972 from Ganslens book and my own experience and data collection. For example I gripped 14/14-4 and jumped 15-6 and had a “mid” of 48/49 and a 115 foot run. A high school kid gripped 13-6/13-10 had a “mid” of 46 and jumped 14-8/15 feet. Earl was 14-6/14-10 grip, 50 foot “MID” (enter the term 50 foot or “MID” mark) and a 16-8/17’ vault. Will Freeman 15-2 grip, 17-2 vault 50/51 foot “mid”.

Back on the “MID”

I see coaches here in the USA that have used a six step mark for years but never adjust that mark for the speed of the athlete on that day. They have a mark usually based on where the athlete was on their best jump or fastest run or on where they think (farther out than it should be) it should be based on how high the “want” the athlete to jump. 100% of the coaches that use the “MID” in this way without understanding that it changes based on speed creates a run that is over-stride in all their athletes, which leads to several other technical problems.

This was what Tully was doing when I first worked with him. To him his “MID” was 54 feet. He used that mark for warm up, meets and practice and got as close to it as possible based on “feel”. Our first practice from a a 7 left approach he put down a 54 mark and asked me to check it. I put a mark down at 53 and knew based on his grip (15-3 for his first warm-up) and speed it should be closer to 52. He took a run and couldn’t go up.. he hit right at 54. He ran again.. couldn’t go up.. he hit 54. I tried to tell him to move in.. he refused, saying he would be under and rip his arm out if socket…… six runs later he went up.. his “MID” was 52-8… this is when he began to understand that how fast you were running created the stride length. He knew that from before and working with Tellez but had not really thought about the correlation to his approach run distance an accuracy. What he an other vaulters and long jumpers had always done was put their marker down for the start of the run and come through over and over until they qere finally running full speed and were “ON” and go up.

What this creates/created was an over-stride/stretched run, poor posture, stepping “under” and a late plant. And this was before the competition started!!

To use another analogy, long jumpers were doing the same thing. My run was 121-6 and I would measure this out, get on the runway and run. The first few times I was behind the board and if I looked down I would stretch to hit the board setting me up to stretch and reach at the board even if my speed got up to par by the first jump, my mind set was to reach!!!! Then when the meet started I ran faster (normal) but was in a “stretch” feel and would scratch! So finally I started using a 6 step check point and ran the approach on the track so I would not reach and got my run “on” before the first jump on the runway. Also on the track I would put a towel down for the board and put it one foot closer so that I would finish the practice approaches with “quicker” piston action last 6 steps.

I used/use the same process for my vaulters and they are “ON” the first time down the runway. Depending on the athlete I adjust the run for warm-up according to the speed and grip and tell them to always get the feet down takeoff “OUT” and explode “UP”. It works. Tully never took more than two warm-ups after that and went up every time. He once waited and entered the competition at 18-6.. he knew the grip he needed and the approximate “MID”.. He “dialled” up the speed he needed, hit the marks, cleared the bar, won and stopped jumping because it was 103 degrees.

I’m not challenging that Isi wasn’t physically or emotionally drained, all I’m trying to get everyone to see is if the run is not close at 6 steps out to were you should be based on your speed, and yes based on your grip.. because speed (all other things being equal) determines how high you can hold based on that speed.

Altius Q: Petrov clearly believes and states that the pole vault begins with the first step - and as a messenger I have certainly devoted a lot of space to the run up in BTB. Admittedly I have not made an issue of your notion of the link between midmark and grip height because I am not sure it is valid -it does not appear to be used by Petrov model vaulters

Petrov is obviously aware of a point 6 steps from the takeoff and I whole heartedly believe in the description he gives on the run.

1. reach the maximum controlled velocity during the approach…

2. Acceleration is the ability to reach the maximum of controllable speed within a certain distance.

3. An important feature of the acceleration is its increment value and the ability to keep a certain speed on a certain running distance.
Acceleration as an element of the pole vault has its own components which are interrelated and which determine the vaulter’s activity during acceleration. Any changes or disturbances in any of the components will retard the speed and efficiency of the acceleration.

The 1st part of the approach takes place on a distance usually covered in 4 to 6 strides; it is here that the athlete lays the foundation of the approach:
1. set up of a single system: vaulter/ pole
2. evolving pattern of the first strides
3. run-up rhythm (acceleration), length and rate of the strides.
Maximum speed, its rationality towards the end of the run-up are established and depend on the correctly performed first strides.
The second part of the run takes place on a stretch covered in 8 to 10 strides. The main task here is to achieve 90-95 per cent of the maximum speed.

6. This final 3rd part of the run is characterized by the increased rate of the run while the length of the stride remains the same, thus achieving the maximum speed of the run-up.

This part in covered in 6 strides and equals to 17,0 – 17,5 m (shown by top athletes of the world) if measured from the back of the box.

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ALLan Q… but more importantly it has the potential to encourage people to hit marks instead of encouraging them to run properly - as I saw last year in Boone.

I have never done a camp or clinic in Boone so I’m not aware of what issue you are talking about.

There have always been questions and concerns come up where coaches are presenting my material. Some have been answered correctly, some continue to go unanswered and are misunderstood, an most of the time over thought, not completely understood and never given any though or chance to work for them after that.

Interestingly my “chart” has been presented in Europe, with my permission, but not by me. It has been “presented” at the summit with my permission but not by me… The chart/mid was recently presented at a MF Athlete clinic to 1200 coaches by someone I trust and admire and whom has/is producing awesome jumpers but was it understood enough for the coaches to get the benefit? Time will tell.

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from a successful vault coach...

Dear DJ.......Many thanks....but I must come clean...if it weren't for your mid mark work...this would NEVER have happened.....without a doubt....your contribution has helped every pole vaulter who is tuned in to importance of the run......I gave a clinic for MF Athletic this week in Atlantic City,NJ (1200 coaches) and I talked about you and your chart in detail...I am trying to educate as many as possible...when I was jumping at xxxxxxxx with xxx xxxxxxx...we used the mid...by trial and error...but it came out exactly matching your numbers.....I promise someday to come to see Joe and you in orlando and meet you in person. I am most grateful for all you do for Track & Field...Merry Christmas....

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I continually get emails after some of these clinics with questions. The chart has been “blasted”, ripped, portrayed as voodoo.. even on this board .. all completely unjustified, with me having no hands-on, physical way to explain why it is simple. There is nothing, “O”, negatives about the chart, . (other than maybe to much information) it’s how the coach use’s it and uses it correctly.

Look at the 6 step “MID” like this.. you taking a walk in the woods and it’s very cold.. you come to a stream that is 5 feet wide.. you hop over and continue on… you come to a stream 10 feet wide and run and jump over.. and continue on.. you come to a stream 26 feet wide (and your Carl Lewis) and you jump over.. and continue on.. you (Carl) then comes to a stream 30 feet wide… and turns around and goes home.

Moral of the story… when the stream (strides) is wider than your ability to jump your going to fall in the cold water. Unless of course you can create the speed to jump over 30 feet!

I’m still trying to find ways to explain to you, other coaches and athletes why I can walk up to a meet and tell if every jumper is “ON” or “OFF. Change a “MID” without even telling the jumper what I’m doing and their posture, speed and plant/takeoff gets better, they get excited and PR.

I believe Bubba and Chris are two of the first that used the chart and adapted it successfully. But they know I feel they went “overboard’ and “micro” managed it.. but they have made it work for them and many of the athletes they have coached. I don’t mark every inch or every 3 inches or even every 6 inches. I get them close… and I know what “close’ is for each of them based on the correlation of grip, to speed to “MID”.

In it’s simplest from it is a coaches check mark to help the consistency of the jumper. But coaches have to understand that that “MID” check point will change based on the speed of the vaulter, that speed will change based on technique and that technique will get better with increased speed.

AND understand that hand grip is not only determined by technique but by speed.

Physics is math, math is relationships and correlations.. the grip to “MID” numbers are correlations with a mean, media, mode…

I used the chart to set up the approach run/pole carry/plant session at Rusty’s camp, you were present, and that session was simple and highly successful. 40 jumpers and only 5 run problems after starting the camp with a run session on the track.. with grip, pole carry, posture, stride pattern, acceleration and proper pole drop. Not obsessive.. just do it. There was anything complicated or “over-done”, we went onto the track before the pit sessions and established the run they want (number of steps and distance) , and that fit them and then moved that to the runway.

I believe you had only 4 athletes that needed a little adjustment. I took all four back to the track, 2 cleaned up and came back and had a good session with you. The other two (who’s coach was at the camp) refused to use the steps they had run successfully on the track on the runway because their coach said that the run on the track, which they had hit successfully several times with speed, posture, pole drop etc, was 3 or 4 feet shorter than their “normal” run so he made them use their old run… they ran through every time… you or someone sent them back to the track to get their run on.. I tried but their coach refused to change their steps and actually took them from the camp an hour later at the break, and that was the first day of the camp!!!

Nothing I do with the “mid” is obsessive. It may come off that way here because I truly don’t get why anyone would not want to check your athlete’s consistency on the run by using the Six Step “MID” it’s a MUST if we want to improve the vault.

I check the “MID” the athlete doesn’t think about it.. I tell the athlete to run-plant-swing. Yes I let the athlete know where they were, just as I sometimes let them know where they were at takeoff. But I actually don’t check the takeoff much because I am more interested in the posture, impulse, how they got there and if they are “free” to use your term Alan.

I used the numbers from Isi’s 2009 to try and emphasis that it is easy for any of us to miss a key element of the vault, which is the speed and consistency of the run and we obviously need more than a start mark to get it right…. AND something we need to remember when coaching world class athletes is that the margin of error has a greater negative effect as the speed increases and the grip goes up.
……………………………………………………………………

altius » Mon Dec 20, 2010 8:03 pm
Just a thought -Like most coaches I have been using a "MId" for many years for precisely the reasons given here - I just dont correlate it with grip height! There are too many other variables involved to do that IMHO.

AND the “MID” (Six Step MID only) is the major/first issue I want everyone to start using for a “coaches” check point to consistency. .. and Yes there are many other variables but those variables are linked in a “chain”.

Physics is math, math is the language of variables, relation and proportions.. the key is to match the parts of the “chain of events” (a chain linked together or “a series of domino’s aligned” where the action of the first “predicts’ the action of the last) so your technique becomes predictable and consistent.

What I already knew when I started to create a “tool” for myself and the athletes I was coaching was that when my speed in the long jump approach (either from a tail wind or training/rest) was faster over the last six steps I would scratch unless I moved my run back. Tail winds were tricky because of either gust of wind or how fast I started my run-up. So one of the first things I/we (stole from the great Russian jumpers) was that the first part of the approach must be determined by “effort” and not control. Hopefully I can explain this part adequately, because we need to start our vault approach by effort.

Petrov alludes to this with several of his statements, mainly the vault starts with the first step and his statement that … “Acceleration has an increment value”

Petrov: “In order to reach the maximum controlled velocity during the approach and to naturally proceed to the hang on the pole with subsequent muscle effort shift, to transfer from the hang to overturn on the pole, it is first of all necessary to free oneself from the retarding effect of the pole on the pole-vaulter.

#2 “Acceleration is the ability to reach the maximum of controllable speed within a certain distance.

Acceleration as an element of the pole vault has its own components which are interrelated and which determine the vaulter’s activity during acceleration. Any changes or disturbances in any of the components will retard the speed and efficiency of the acceleration.”

An prior to Petrov..

Guy Kochel: “The purpose of the approach is to attain maximum controlled speed in order to transfer horizontal momentum. Speed must be maintained through the box, NOT to the box.”

Agapit…Obviously, the absolute speed acceleration is desirable. The maximum speed at the takeoff is of the paramount importance. But you would benefit from frequency increase even if your speed stayed the same, however increase of speed is always desirable.

Petrov: An important feature of the acceleration is its increment value and the ability to keep a certain speed on a certain running distance.

What I mean by starting the run by effort is this…

If your objective is to have maximum controlled speed at the plant/takeoff you must start your run with “maximum” acceleration. Petrov talks about how this is done by starting with the correct grip, pole carry and first step and goes on to say acceleration has an increment (progressive) value. That increment value can only be controlled through “effort”. We can try to run with “high knees” erect posture but “effort” is what gives us stride length. By effort I mean 100%, 90%, 80% etc…

The “controlled” approach I see being coaches and described leads us, has lead us, to more inconsistencies rather than consistency. Reason? What happens when we are going for our PR? We come out of the back (start) of the approach hard, 95-100%.. we are faster (good because acceleration has an increment vaule and to be our fastest at the takeoff will depend on how faste we are at the first step, second step, etc..) but the strides don’t match up to our normal “controlled steps”.. we are out at the “MID” and have to stretch, losing the speed, the ability to accelerate and ability to plant correctly. This was what T-Mack did in 2000 that he corrected in 2004.

So… take the correct grip, described by Petrov, the correct carry position, toe the mark, lean forward, push out and go (accelerate). Do this every time and you will be faster AND more accurate to the “MID” giving you the ability to accelerate on into and through the takeoff.

Now back to the “MID” and why we need to check it on each and every jump..

If you use it as a “tool” coach’s reference/feedback, it is a more definitive way to know if the run is an issue. This quickly checked piece of information can give you a prelude to the “actions” to follow. If the athlete is “out” their will be a very good chance the athlete will stretch, lose posture, have a late plant, step under.. etc. if they are “in” they may get jammed unless they have the ability and “mind set” to “get the feet down” and plant high. If they are “out” the athlete MAY have the ability to run faster and make up the few inches per stride, keep good posture, takeoff “free” and with greater speed. This is what Bubka did many times and why he had “great pole speed for the grip” and was still going “up” passed the crossbar.

If an athlete doesn’t have the ability to “speed up” when they are “OUT” at the 6 step “MID” they will have a failed jump 90 plus percent of the time.

dj

[dj]

hye

thanks Becca..

i started to post here in "advanced" but didn't want to lose the previous parts on the Approach..

looks good..

dj