Yokoyama - A New Model and Approach to Viewing PV Technique

[rainbowgirl28]

I'm not going to copy and paste because there are diagrams and such included and it would be a shame to lose them.

http://www.usapolevaulting.org/articles ... hnique.pdf


Discuss!

[baggettpv]

It's all in the Groundwork video. The Free Takeoff and how to create it. Check it out. Portions are on youtube too. Search for me.

Rick Baggett
WSTC LLC

[decanuck]

If I'm understanding him right, the author seems to place undue importance on the fact that, in the pole bounce drill, a carefully timed plant can take a pole to vertical and beyond. I don't want to give the impression I think the prescribed planting action is unimportant (because it is spot on and very necessary for proper vaulting), but I must say that I find this particular emphasis, though novel and intriguing, to be unimportant if not totally irrelevant. The fact the pole gets to vertical is on its own is a result of the negative bend the pole undergoes when its momentum is stopped, at the tip, by the ground--the middle of the pole continues to travel down while the ends are supported by the ground and the vaulter's hand(s). I think this force is effectively useless for three reasons:

1. The recoil force that takes the pole to vertical requires that the pole tip hits the ground before the vaulter has finished extending his hands, so that the would-be perpendicular-to-the-chord force can be redirected forward by the vaulter's completed extension. In the video, you can see that the vaulter doing the drill pushes the pole at an angle slightly in front of vertical. I don't think this is a good habit to learn as it could cause the vaulter to start reaching forward at takeoff, resulting either in hitting the back of the box early or taking off perpetually outside--and in both cases, in a broken, bent-line posture.

2. The timing required for utilizing the recoil force of the pole is mind-boggling: the pole tip would have to hit the front slope of the box at such a time and in such a way that, when the recoiling middle of the pole passes its normal midpoint (on its way into the positive bend in the rest of the jump), the tip hits the box at precisely the same moment. I would suggest this is impossible for the vaulter to feel, and it is damn sure impossible for a coach to see with the naked eye.

3. Even if the force of drop recoil could be utilized, it would be tiny and negligible. The recoil in a pole bounce drill has to get, at most, 7lbs of fairly even-density fibreglass pole to vertical. I would contend that that same force would be irrelevant in getting a 190-pound vaulter, affixed to very top of the pole, to vertical (and beyond).

In plain english, I think emphasizing the plant recoil force in training would create bad habits and that it is both totally impractical to use and of insignificant value anyway. The rest of the paper, though, is spot on.

EDIT: I don't mean to demonize the standing pole drop drill--I use it all the time, just not with the focus of getting the pole to vertical. I'm concerned with whether the vaulters are hitting the right positions for a proper plant. I could care less whether the pole would bounce to vertical if they let go.

[KirkB]

... the author seems to place undue importance on the fact that, in the pole bounce drill, a carefully timed plant can take a pole to vertical and beyond. I don't want to give the impression I think the prescribed planting action is unimportant (because it is spot on and very necessary for proper vaulting), but I must say that I find this particular emphasis, though novel and intriguing, to be unimportant if not totally irrelevant.

... I don't mean to demonize the standing pole drop drill--I use it all the time, just not with the focus of getting the pole to vertical. I'm concerned with whether the vaulters are hitting the right positions for a proper plant. I could care less whether the pole would bounce to vertical if they let go.

I think you misunderstood the author ... or he didn't explain it clearly. This is just a DRILL, and in this DRILL, you release the pole and let it rotate to vertical. If it doesn't, then that's an indication that the timing of your plant might be off. That's all.

He doesn't say in any way that this is what you should do in a REAL vault. He doesn't say that the pole will rotate to vertical like this in a REAL vault. Hint: You don't let go of the pole like this in a REAL vault.

It's easy to see how you were confused by his explanation of this drill. You have to look at both his text and his vid and take them both in context.

If you think of the BOUNCE in the vid as being INSTANTANEOUS ... without any negative bend occurring ... then this should all make more sense. In a REAL vault, this planting action is all INSTANTANEOUS to the pole hitting the back of the box.

Kirk