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Hi,

I'm from the Netherlands and I have a group of 15 athletes training for the decathlon.
I made a video (slowmotion) of 3 athletes.

Paul (pb: 3.95m): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdeKB5FwRiU
Michiel (pb: 3.40m): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mypyANBX ... re=related
Ewald (pb: 3.65m): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqe_hGQ8 ... re=related

With the start of the new season I want to put more focus on the polevault. Where do we need to work on? What needs to get better to you jump higher?

Thanks for commenting,
Niels Alofsen

1st video: Early plant, excellent looking take-off (maybe a LITTLE too far out). I would like to see a plant that is early and HIGH with the left (bottom hand), as well as a much stronger 'hit' at the chord. He is 'sitting' THROUGH the chord. Does that make sense? All the pole vault should be for decathletes is a run with a pole into a long jump where they hit the chord. The rest is not too important.

2nd: Late plant, under at take-off. Sometimes the swing looks okay, but then the pole is unbending too soon (due to being under).

3rd: Late plant, weak swing. Tell him that in the plant, the hands move FIRST. His plant is not in dire need of work (like #2's), but it needs a little bit of help. Reminding him to move the hands before the feet will be enough to get it to where it needs to be. For the weak swing, get him on a high bar at the end of every practice. (All of them would benefit, even just for general decathletic conditioning, if you had them on a high bar more often).

Tnx Powerplant42 for commenting.

1st video (Paul):
You say he should hit the chord. Does that mean he should keep his body, including his left leg, straigth until he reaches the pole of the chord? I'm already coaching him on keeping his trail leg straight during the upswing.
At what point would you like to see his left hand higher? At the take-off point or earlier (let's say 3 steps before take-off)?

2nd video (Michiel): I should put the focus on an earlier plant and hitting the right take-off point.

3rd video (Ewald): Earlier plant will be the focus. You say he has got a weak swing. I agree, but what's causing it? Please look at jump 12, 13 and 14. They are his highest jumps.

Another polevault coach here in the Netherlands says all my athletes are not tall enough at take-off. Do you agree and does it need much attention?

They're not as tall as they could be at take-off because of plant problems. What I meant by keeping the left hand high is this: the left hand (bottom hand) should NEVER drop below the bottom of the chest (while on the ground of course). Many vaulters drop it during the plant. This will lead to a late, low, or innefficient plant (or any combination) because now the athlete has to bring the hands up much further in the same amount of time. Isinbayeva is very good at this, watch her plant.

1: If he breaks at the knee during the first part of the swing, straightening it out again is actually worse... Train the 'down' swing much more. Yes, 'hit' means have a straight, strong body at the chord.

2: Correct. Keep in mind the high bottom hand and the queue 'hands before feet' (for everyone, but especially him).

3: The cause for the weak swing is his drive knee dropping (but still staying bent) to meet his swing leg. Jumps #12, 13, 14:On those particular jumps, he is able to move his CoG faster because he balls up... this appears to be a more efficient (effective) method than his actual SWING. Like I said, highbar, highbar, and then more highbar.

Remember, pole vault in the decathlon should be a very simplified activity, with little reference to anything after passing the chord of the pole. Have them running fast, holding high, planting early, jumping hard, and swinging long. Past that, just tell them 'break the hips and shoot up the pole'. Don't spend much time on this part though, because it wastes the valuable time of a decathlete, who would probably be better off going and doing shot put, long jump, etc. instead of practicing the complexities of the pull-turn. Bubkas on a highbar should be enough to cover this skill.

I also noticed an 'out' drive-knee at take-off in each of the athletes. The knee should be up, but the foot should be underneath of the athlete as he takes off, not out in front into a 'lock'. You can see the knee 'lock' or sort of 'hitch' soon after take-off in each of them. This is not something to put major time into fixing (like the plant and swing) but it is something to keep in mind when doing repetetive drills like walking plants, short run vaults, etc.