PoleVaultPower.com

hye

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=fa4_1255772055

check it out

Just a heads up to be cautious about the ads on that website.

hye

i agree.... we actually can't do this in our society....

just thought i would share...

dj

Afternoon,

It was entertaining, meanwhile I don't think that we can't do it. But the level that you are taking about is a continuum. It was more or less diving without the pool. Divers already use the trampoline to train. It is just taking that sort of training and making it into a performance. I have sort of wondered why Circle de sole has not added pole vault to its show. Obviously there are variables to consider but when vaulting 14' - 15' when not considering a bar jumps can be produced and replicated very very easily.

Modern dance and art groups do very similar things with different objects. I saw a performance a few years ago that had performers as well as apparatus that they played on while performing, one was a large half cylinder with a solid flat side, the performers rocked with it back and forth and dove of of it when it was fully extended, laning into the arms of their fellow performers, it was very impressive.

In terms of vault training this can be done but not to the high level of the performance, when I train at the pool i still work on diving and what not, same is true when i am on a trampoline... but no where near the competitive extent but dive, flip and bounce none the less...

interesting
cheers,
bel.

bel142 wrote: ... I have sort of wondered why Circle de sole has not added pole vault to its show. ...

You can't be serious. Maybe this was intended as a rehetorical question, but Cirque du Soleil hires ex-gymnasts and ex-trampolinists ... not ex-vaulters. They turn elite gymnasts and trampolinists ... that have retired from amateur competition ... into professional acrobats. It would take an extremely talented and diversified athlete to be able to be proficient enough in gymnastics or tramp as well as PV to "make the team". Gymnasts train just as hard as vaulters ... with one exception ... SPRINTING. Even in double-mini and vault (the gymnastics "vault"), gymnasts struggle on their runup ... IMHO.

Also, Cirque du Soleil doesn't usually hire specialists ... such as a PV specialist. Instead, they hire athletes that can do a broad variety of acrobatic tricks.

Kirk

Hi,
Indeed, people from le cirque du soleil thought about using the pole vault for their shows. Since their headquarters and main trainining center is in Montréal, I was contacted by them to coach their acrobats and some of their coaches how to pole vault ( at the end of 2006). So I work with 5-6 confirmed acrobats, 20ish or so boys and girls. For about 4-5 months, they came to our indoor facility twice a week. Their goal was to jump and be projected high enough to execute some figures ( Somersault, twist, etc..). At the end, we practiced at thier training center, in a foam pit. They had put a track good for 10-14 steps and a box right on the edge of the pit. One of the guy could do back and front flip, adding sometime a twist. I also serve as an adviser for their scenic set up. They were to have a covered box on the scene and the acrobat would have taken his run on some inclined plane. What did not work for them was the security issue. Dont forget that they have no pit on the scene, only a 10' by 10' or so foam mat that they move around during the act.... the landing was not controled enough and they never tried it on their scene set up. So it was a good coaching experience for me and I think they still have the idea of doing something with what they learned, sometime...
By the way, Le cirque du Soleil does a trampoline number like the one on the video. Sadly, one of their acrobat, a Ukranian, just killed himself, landing badly , this past friday.

Montréal perche...

hye

did you vault for Canada??

dj

ps when i was in LA we "toyed" with vaulting onto a balcony or through a second story window.. for a "stunt".. don't know if anyone ever did it for a movie...

dj

With a pb of 15' 2, even in my time ( end of seventies) , I was far from making a national team...I did a lot of meets in Canada and in the states, even in Europe...I actualy did quite a lot, traveling and experience wise for my level of performance. Oh yes, I was a the world master championships in Puerto Rico in 2003 for Canada ( bronze in the M45 with 4.00m )...Been coaching for close to 30 years now...

Montréal perche

Montréal Perche, that's very interesting about you coaching the Cirque du Soleil athletes! I stand corrected ... I didn't think they would be serious in attempting this. Nice! If you scale back the run and use soft poles, I can see how it MIGHT work ... even if the gymnasts don't run as fast as vaulters. But yeh ... the landing could be problematic without a deep pit.

Kirk

Kirk,
Well, In 1972, I was a 14 years old young vaulter ( 10' PB then ) and I saw you jump 16' in Montréal ( Etiene-Desmarteau track ). The meet was the pacific games or something like that. I know at the time, you were already vaulting around 5.30-5.35m. Me and my vaulting buddies were very impressed since we did not have the occasion to see many vaulters over, say, 15', at the time.

Montréal perche, I remember that meet. The facility was amazing ... clearly in prep for the 1976 Montréal Olympics, but built 4 years earlier in Canada's quest to produce some medals.

Thanks for coaching some of our Canadian kids for the past 30 years!

Kirk

hye

just got this from Dave Roberts....

www.flixxy.com/chinese-acrobatics-backflip.htm


dj