Dave Butler - The Pole Carry and Active Pole Drop

[rainbowgirl28]

I hope that Dave and the NACACTFCA don't mind me reposting this. There were not any illustrations in the original document.

http://www.nacactfca.org/articles/Butle ... n'%204.doc



THE POLE CARRY AND ACTIVE POLE DROP:
Its Importance to the Approach, Free Take-Off, and Plant
A “MUCH IGNORED ASPECT” OF THE POLE VAULT

David Butler, Rice University

Vitali Petrov, the father of modern pole vaulting and the greatest innovator of our beloved sport, discovered some interesting aspects of technique when he observed two pole vaulters from the bamboo and steel age. He viewed a 1951 film of a “one armed” Russian vaulter carrying the pole in a vertical position and as he ran down the runway, controlling the pole with his top hand until the tip fell into the “box” at the moment he planted & took off. He also studied the great Cornelius Warmerdam, noticing that his takeoff drove the pole up towards vertical just at the moment the tip of the pole hit the box.

When Vitali told me of his “inspirations”that moved him to develop “active pole drop” and “free take-off”, I did some research of my own. I watched old films of the 1936, 1948, 1956, 1964, 1980 Olympics…….and , of course, Sergei Bubka. I watched Bob Richards win the Gold medal with his takeoff dynamic, jumping off his bigtoe just as his steel pole hit the box. A FREE TAKEOFF! I talked to Dr Fred Hansen, 1964 Gold Medalist & my Dentist, and he told me that he would take off just a little “out” because he found that he could get the pole higher before it bent! A FREE TAKEOFF! Bubka’s pole tip never stops dropping, falling in the rhythm of his accelerating approach! ACTIVE POLE DROP!

An “active pole drop”creates a faster approach and the movement of the pole to vertical before it bends, resulting in stiffer poles and higher grips for the vaulter ! An “active pole drop” enhances the plant and improves the take-off angle of the vaulter, creating a “free takeoff position”.

Want to hold higher, get on longer poles, get on stiffer poles, and PR! Improve your Carry & Pole Drop!


THE POLE IS A WEIGHT IN YOUR HANDS!

The correct pole carry is extremely important to the movement of the pole to takeoff.
The “old” elbow out, tight wrist ( bottom hand), open hand (top hand) carry creates tension and the inability to control the pole’s weight as it drops towards the box. Rather, the vaulter should have the bottom arm, elbow tucked, wrist cocked with the pole resting in a relaxed, open handed grip. The top hand has a full grip on the pole!
This allows the vaulter to be ONE WITH THE POLE!

The pole is not lowered with the front arm…….it is lowered with the top hand traveling up through the vaulter’s side or back ribs. The pole rotates in the front arm (fulcrum).
The pole’s weight must be centered through the vaulter’s body so that the athlete may sprint upright, fast and free! Hold the pole out in front and the vaulter will decelerate to counter the weight, either falling forward or leaning back. Try running with a barbell, dumbbells, or medball held out in front of you…..it will be very difficult to jump with that weight static and throwing your body off balance.




OUT OF THE BACK

The plant begins with the first step out of the back of your approach. Depending on the length of your run, the pole tip is held at such an angle so that the vaulter can time the drop of the pole in TOTAL SYCHRONIZATION WITH THE ACCELERATION OF THE APPROACH. The pole tip is at 70 degrees from a long approach, almost at vertical. The handspread should be at the width of the distance between your hands when the vaulter jumps up to hang from a horizontal bar.
The first 3-4 steps are extremely important, establishing a gradual acceleration, powerful, hips tucked, knees up, toes up, tall and upright, pole in line with the displacement of the body, from tip to toe. The tip of the pole begins to fall the moment the vaulter moves.


SYCHRONIZATION and ACCELERATION

As the vaulter runs faster, the pole drops faster, a continuous movement in coordination with the sprinting action to takeoff. The tip should not look like the “tick tock”action of a clock. It should be “ONE FLUID MOVEMENT”. The weight of the pole transfers gradually from the top hand to the bottom hand, the top hand controlling the fall. An active pole PULLS THE VAULTER DOWN THE RUNWAY, once he or she has pushed the pole out of the back. The top hand “RELEASES THE HIP” as the pole drops off of six steps out from the takeoff. Releasing the hip means not holding the pole to the hip but focusing on keeping the bottom arm within line of the body, the top hand slightly behind the vaulter. This centering of balance with the pole allows the drop to be free and the vaulter to stay upright and in the position to jump at takeoff.
If the tip drops too early, the vaulter will chop his/her step or reach/overstride to counteract the weight of the static pole. If the vaulter holds the pole tip too high and attempts to drop it fast into the last few steps, he/she will have to decelerate to plant the pole. This active pole drop greatly enhances the vaulter’s ability to “turn over their strides”and accelerate into a dynamic takeoff! Recommendation : Try approaches on the track with a low, static pole carry and an active, dynamic pole drop. With the Active Carry & Drop, ,you will have to back your run up 2-6 feet because you will be running so much faster!


THE PLANT

The plant is a continuation of the running motion of your arms, left arm raising the pole up, fist through eye level and the top hand ( right hand) passing in a straight line through the hip, ribs, shoulder, cheek, eyes, forehead, and fully extended above the vaulter. The movement begins three steps out from takeoff. As the vaulter sprints onto his/her left foot (right handed vaulter), the pole tip is eye level or in the least, above horizontal to the runway. The action of the “TOP UP, TIP DOWN CREATES A WEIGHTLESS POLE! Driving from the left foot, the vaulter “flips” the pole, bringing it just in front of the right shoulder. As the vault steps onto his/her penultimate (right foot), the pole passes through the right eye and pushes above the forehead. As the vaulter hits his/her takeoff foot, the arms thrust up, fully extended. Think, “PUSH POLE”,or “MAKE SPACE”, getting the pole as high as possible, before it bends! The action of the arms must be in complete rhythm and coordination of the movement of the legs.

Recommendation : Perform a four step slow motion walking plant. You will discover the vaulter’s plant timing and rhythm. This will improve their awareness of where the pole needs to be in coordination with their steps.




ELASTIC FREE TAKEOFF

This is CRUCIAL! As the vaulter goes airborne, he/she must continue the plant , following through by ALLOWING THE LEFT ARM TO GIVE WITH THE BEND OF THE POLE. THE LEFT MUST BECOME ELASTIC, stretching above the vaulter’s head, as he/she drives his head and chest through the arms. It’s called “TAKING IT TO THE TOP HAND”, as if the vaulter was sliding his/her bottom hand up to the tophand, like the vaulters did before fiberglass. The arms opening and expanding with the bend of the pole will make the vaulter’s body even longer and that extension keeps the pole bending and “rolling over” towards to crossbar. A good term is “CHASING THE POLE” or “JUMPING OVER THE TIP”.Rather than thinking that the pole stops in the box, think of rotating the pole over the tip! FREE TAKEOFF is when the vaulter is jumping off of the right foot just as the tip hits the back of the box and “THE POLE IS STRAIGHT”and reaching it’s highest point towards vertical before it bends. Head position should be up and looking through the arms, not tucked into the chest.

Bubka states, “In pole vaulting, the crucial factor is how to transfer energy to the pole, through the complete body of the vaulter. If the pole begins to bend while the vaulter is yet on the ground, it is impossible to transfer that energy…..it is lost in the box. When we perform a “free takeoff”, we can feel the pushing action of the whole body.”
Recommendation : Every drill & plant that you do : with the pole, on a rope or horizontal bar…….always drive head, chest & hips through the arms…ELASTICA!


APPLICATION & DIRECTION OF ARM PRESSURE

The terms “rowing or down pressure” should be revised and reconsidered. From the ELASTIC position, the arms will apply “UP PRESSURE”, above the vaulter, with the hands pushing and moving to 12’oclock or when the arms pointing to vertical!
Any action down or forward will result in the swing collapsing into an L-seat or tuck position and the pole reacting to the shortening motion by unbending and decelerating it’s rotation towards the crossbar. The vaulter should “COVER THE ARC OF THE POLE” by swing long and the arms moving “IN THE RHYTHM OF THE SWING”.
In fact, I don’t even talk about “up pressure” until I get the vaulter ON and LONG and planting correctly. Most young vaulters REACT TO THE POLE NEGATIVELY by tensing up shoulders, curling wrists, or collapsing the arms. Creating a POSITIVE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE POLE AND PLANT is important: being relaxed, long, extended, and elastic. Many vaulters “BLOCK OUT” WITH THEIR BOTTOM ARM and the only way they can swing to invert is by “BREAKING or FLEXING IN”the bottom arm. Others are taught to “flex in” the bottom arm during drills, to get them to an inverted position. Doing this “swing up” drill results in the vault not being able to get the bottom arm extended….therefore, the vaulter can get inverted but at the sacrifice of pole rotation.

Recommendation : Study film of vaulters of all levels. Watch for the pole losing it’s speed of rotation…..this slowing of the movement of the pole towards the crossbar is caused by pulling against the bend of the pole. Keep the arms up, and the vaulter will swing to the top.





ONE FLUID CONTINUOUS MOVEMENT

The PETROV METHOD or the BUBKA MODEL can be summed up in a few words.
The pole vault starts from the first step out of the back. The pole drop or movement starts and continues to move the moment the vaulter begins his/her approach. The pole tip should never “freeze” or become static. It must drop with the rhythm of the run.
This model or method was developed from the great steel and bamboo technicians of the past. It is the essence of pole vaulting : whether vaulting with a straight pole or a bending pole, it’s all about moving the pole to vertical! ACTIVE POLE DROP and FREE TAKEOFF is the key to holding higher, running faster, and getting on stiffer poles! As Sergei Bubka says, “Move the pole towards the plane of the crossbar, rather than just trying to bend the pole.”

Recommendation: Vaulters should spend a lot of time performing a SIX STEP STRAIGHT POLE VAULT , pushing the pole to vertical and rotating it to the pit. Do this drill without pulling down or beside the pole. Stay behind and “chase the pole” to vertical, always swinging under the arms.

Drive your chest, torso and hips into the pole, without pulling. Gradually move your grip up one fist at a time and your step back one of your feet for each fist. The better you plant and takeoff, the higher you can hold! Bubka says, “ Bending poles hide technical mistakes, but stiff poles (straight pole vaulting) immediately hurt you! It forces you to learn the right action.”

“Some see, Many Understand, but very few Grind Away at Correctness”
Golubtsov




TWO “STYLES” OF POLE VAULTING: PUSH OR PULL?
A DISCUSSION OF THE VAULTER’S REACTION TO THE PLANT

David Butler, Rice University

How many times have you been at a track meet and heard a coach yell, “PULL”!
We are taught to pull in the “tug-o-war” or as we fish for that whopper with our father. If you were falling off of a cliff, you would reach out to grab that branch to save your life. However, if you were swinging the vines with Tarzan, you would hang from extended straight arms until the upswing of the vine takes you to that tree, and then, and only then, would you pull yourself onto the platform of the tree-house. We have something to learn from Johnny Weismueller.

The natural reaction of any beginning pole vaulter (or jungle swinger) is to bring the pole close to their body at takeoff. It is a “fear factor thing” that forces the vaulter to “hug Momma”. You will see “fiberhead” or “fibernose”, even “fiberchin” position, where the bottom arm is flexed and the fist stops at the chin, nose or forehead.
A “pulling” vaulter stops the free extension of the shoulders by “locking them in”
at the plant. The vaulter that reacts negatively to the plant tenses as if he or she is climbing a rope, hunched shoulders, flexed arms. Even as vaulters learn the bend
the pole, they still “practice what they preached” and make the same mistakes they make on a non-bending pole : stopping the movement of the arms to vertical by pulling short of extension!

The negative result of “a pulling vaulter” is deceleration of pole rotation and the inability of the vaulter to get inverted, move their grip up, or get on stiffer poles.

Can’t get upside down? You have got to be pulling! Can’t raise your grip? You are pulling! Can’t swing your body up to the tree-house? Pulling!

A “pushing vaulter” keeps the arms and shoulders stretching towards vertical and moving to full extension just before or at least just as the pole tip strikes the box.
A couple of crucial points apply here and make this “pushing” make sense, even when everything tells you, “I’ve got to hold on for dear life!”

Crucial Point 1 - PLANT TIMING: The vaulter must move the pole towards vertical
three steps out from takeoff! By the time he/she is pushing off of the penultimate
step, the pole needs to be pushing off the head of the vaulter. Both arms move to full extension from this position through the takeoff! Plant timing is always thrown off by a pole dropping too early, tip parallel to the ground or lower. This “longer” distance for the hands to travel to the vertical causes a late plant!

Crucial Point 2 - MAKE SPACE: With the full extension of the arms towards the vertical, the shoulders continue to move, as if the deltoids become part of the vaulter’s ears! Make as much space between the vaulter and the pole as possible, towards the crossbar! If you don’t reach to full extension, then you will probably pull! The shape the arms make resembles a “tipped V.”

Crucial Point 3 - ELASTIC: The arms and shoulders do not stop their movement as the vaulter leaves the ground! Rather, they continue to plant into the air, stretching and moving “elastically” as the vaulter “pushes’ the pole towards vertical. From full extension, the bottom arm’s elbow slightly flexes out as the vault runs through his/her arms. There is a subtle resistance “Up” as the vaulter drives his/her head, chest, knee, and hips through his/her arms and the pole. If your arms are “clockhands” then the arms move elastically to one o’clock, then drive back up to 12 o’clock as the vaulter swings. If the vaulter hits this “elastic” position and does not pull down or forward, then the swing will ballistically accelerate to invert and vertical, almost seemingly without effort and with force!

Many fiberglass vaulters “force-bend” the pole by “blocking”, stopping their shoulders and locking out arms. Alas, the only way a “blocker” can get upside-
down is by breaking or collapsing the bottom arm to allow the hips to pass through towards vertical! This “style is called “ blocking and breaking”, but it is negative because the block causes the swing to buckle or break at the hips.

Other vaulters are taught to “row” their arms forward and down to help the vaulter get inverted faster. Again, this negative movement causes a break in the acceleration of the swing! It is a “pulling way” of getting inverted, but swinging to the tophand involves all direction of pressure “Up” and above the vaulter’s head, arms pressing up at 12’ o’clock . It is similar to the subtle “hollow” position in gymnastics. A good way to think of it is “Elastic to Immediate Up Pressure”, at the very moment the downswing accelerates!

Both the “block & break” and “row & tuck” are ways to pole vault, but are “quick fixes” or shortcuts to vertical. The vaulter will clear higher heights if he/she swings to the top hand! The problems with “block & break” or “row & tuck” are that the vaulter will reach a point of NO IMPROVEMENT!

Are you frustrated with “a lack of PR’s” lately? Go back to Straight poles and find out what you are doing with the pole carry, drop, plant, and reaction to the box. If little things are important (they are!) and a little improvement means at least an inch, isn’t it worth it to take the time to “grind away at correctness”. “SOME SEE, MANY UNDERSTAND, BUT VERY FEW GRIND AWAY AT CORRECTNESS” (Golubstov).

I have found that if a pole vaulter, in the least, gets their bottom fist above their forehead, then they will allow themselves to swing! If the bottom hand’s fist is in front of the vaulter’s face or lower, they will “pull”. If the bottom arms releases this pressure and goes elastic, then the continuous pushing of the arms in an active, stretching, and elastic manner will assure movement to vertical!

All athletes hit “plateaus” in their endeavors. Pole vaulters who use a “pulling style” of vaulting will discover that they get “stuck” at the same PR height. They will be unable to move to stiffer or longer poles (unless they have a tremendous tail-wind). “Pullers” will experience frustration and wonder why they can’t vault higher. The ages-old statement of “run fast, hold high, get on a big stick” doesn’t work any more. A vaulter that “pushes the pole off the ground with his/her whole body” will make improvements and become a more consistent pole vaulter. It’s the attention to small little details that matter in the long run. It takes concentration and focus in practice to make these small movements become more perfect. Most vaulters just want to experience the wonderful emotional release of “bending the pole” or seem intent on “holding higher on longer poles” rather than dropping their grip, and learning to not just “bend the pole” but to “move the pole” in an accelerating rotation to vertical.

The best drill to learn how to “push the pole to vertical” is the six step straight pole, non-bending pole vault. If a fiberglass vaulter is struggling, you must go back to non-bending vaulting to find the solution. Watch a vaulter perform a simple, but complex, drill called “walking slow motion plant”.

If a vaulter cannot move the pole slowly and with fluid motion through the positions of the plant, then how do we expect them to perform under stress (competition) with speed (from a long run). We practice the vault always from “slow to fast”…….short run takeoffs to long run. A lot can be learned from 4, 6, 8, 10 step work with both non-bending and bending poles. As the vaulter becomes a “pushing rather than pulling” pole vaulter, he/she is launching his/her way to higher heights!




MORE ON FOLLOWING PAGES!!!













DAVID BUTLER - IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF THE POLE VAULT TECHNICAL MODEL

1. Pole Carry > Handspread Thighs Apart ( jump up & grab horizontal bar)
2. Pole Carry > Bottom Wrist Cocked, Elbow Tucked Naturally.
3. Pole Carry > Tophand Fully Gripped around Pole ( option > Open Hand)
4. Pole Carry > Tip Drop is Controlled by the Tophand FREE of the Hip.
5. Pole Drop > Pole Tip Drops at the Rhythym of the Approach Run
6. Pole Drop > Pole Tip Up and Near Vertical Out of the Back.
7. Pole Drop > A Little Weight of the Pole on the Front Hand.
8. Pole Drop > Tip at between 30-40 Degrees at 6 Steps Out.
9. Pole Drop > Helps the Vaulter Sprint & Accelerate Faster.
10. Pole Drop > Too Early, Too Late, or Static > Forces Deceleration!
11. Pole Drop > If Static, can effect Negatively, the Rhythym of the Plant.
12. Approach > Rock Back and Displace Bodyweight (Natural Step)
13. Approach > Push Upright Out of the Back.
14. Approach > Gradual Acceleration Slow to Fast. ( Count your Takeoff Foot)
15. Approach > Recommend Keep a 6 Step Midpoint! (See Chart)
16. Approach > If the Vaulter “Reaches”, Move Up a Foot for each Step.
17. Approach > If the Vaulter “Chops”, Move Back a Foot for each Step.
18. Plant > Begins Out of the Back with Active Pole Drop
19. Plant > Pole is “Flipped” at 3 Steps Out.
20. Plant > Pole is “Off Forehead” as Vaulter pushes off Penultimate.
21. Plant > Pole Pushed to Full Extension Towards Crossbar (Make Space)
22. Plant > Pole Continues to be Pushed as Vaulter Jumps into the Air
23. Plant > It is a “straight line” pathway to vertical! No “Round House or Out & Up.
24. Plant > Arms & Shoulders Move ELASTICALLY”as Pole Bends.
25. Plant > Vaulter Reacts Negatively (Pulling), Pole Stops Rotation!
26. Plant > Negatives > Block Shoulders, Collapse Arms, Pulling Down.
27. TakeOff >TakeOff Directly Vertical Line Down from Top of Tophand.
28. TakeOff > Jump Aggressively Up and Through the Pole (Back of Pit)
29. TakeOff > Jump Over the Tip of the Pole!
30. TakeOff > Drive Knee,Chest, Hips, Head through Arms
31. TakeOff > Active Penultimate, Quick “ClapClap” into Air
32. TakeOff > Under Means Step is too Close to Box > Can’t Swing!
33. TakeOff > Out & You are too far from the Box > Can’t Swing!
34. Swing > Immediate Up Pressure & Hollow Arms to Vertical as
35. Swing > Long Forceful Down Swing as Up Pressure Applied!
36. Swing > Swing Long and Fast to Tophand.
37. Swing > Breaks & Shortens if Arms Pull or TakeOff Under!
38. Swing > Swing Breaks if Pole Rotation Decelerates! ( You Feel It)
39. Swing > You will have to “Row Arms” if Under or Incorrect Plant!
40. Turn & Clearance > Look over Bottom Arm’s Shoulder
41. Turn & Clearance > Turn early as Arms Pull Through the Top of Pole
42. Turn & Clearance > Head Down over Bar & Look into it!
43. Turn & Clearance > Bend Knees (over bar) to Speed Up Body’s Rotation!
44. Pole Rotation > Movement of the Pole towards the Crossbar!
45. Pole Rotation > Accelerates if things are done Right!
46. Pole Rotation > Stops or Slows if Vaulter Pulls or is “Under”
47. Pole Rotation > If Rotates too fast, Raise Grip, Back Step Up.
48. Pole Rotation > If Rotation Stops or Vaulter Cannot get Inverted, Drop Grip.
49. Pole Rotation > Always Reacts to Incorrect Plant, TakeOff, or Reaction to pole.
50. Recommendation > Rope Vaulting is Essential > Hanging & Swinging.
51. Recommendation > Straight Pole Vault before Fiberglass Vaulting & to Enhance Technique.
52. Recommendation > Always keep Standards “Back” in Training> 80 cm or More.
53. Recommendation > Train on Shorter Poles and Shorter Runs > 12-13 ft poles/ 6,8,10 steps
54. Recommendation > Perfect Technique before moving to the Next Step!

DAVID BUTLER - PROGRESSION from STRAIGHT “NON-BENDING POLE VAULTING to FIBERGLASS VAULTING - LEARNING THE SAFE & CORRECT WAY

1. One Step Sand Walk Over
2. One Step Sand Jump Over
3. One Step Sand Vault with Turn
4. One Step From Elevation (Box, Mat, Bench)
5. Two Step Sand Jump Over
6. Two Step Sand Vault with Turn
7. Pit Jump
8. Pit Bump
9. Two Step Straight Pole
10. Slow Motion Walking 4 Step Plant
11. Fast Walk 8 Step Plant (2,1, Flip Pop)
12. Jog Take-Offs ( 4-5 Lefts )
13. 2 Step Straight Pole Vault
14. 4 Step Straight Pole Vault
15. 6 STEP STRAIGHT POLE VAULT
16. 6-8-10 Step Vaults Over Bungee ( Standards Back 3-5 Feet)
17. Short Pole Fiberglass Vaults ( Just a few Fists Up from Straight Pole Grip)

*** This is a “condensed” version of a list of over 140 Developmental Drills that I use for Technical Enhancement in the Pole Vault. When I begin to see repeated success within a “stage, step or drill”, I move the vaulter on to the next of the progression.

[rainbowgirl28]

Here is some more, looks like notes from a lecture:

http://www.usatf.org/groups/coaches/lib ... Butler.pdf
http://www.usatf.org/groups/coaches/lib ... Butler.pdf