Stuck in a Slump

[asaleh]

For the past three month I have not been performing no where near my best. My seasons's best so far is 12'6 and my pr is 14. The interesting thing is that i am on a bigger pole and around the same grip. Here are some videos of my last meet. I dont know why but i just cant seem to swing the same as i used to. I know that i am under but I have always been under and still made jumps so i dont know what has changed from spring
12 ft https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW6wccu ... e=youtu.be
12'6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkucFheW-qA
12'6 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6l1ddQitAY
Any help is greatly appreciated
Stats for jumps
pole 14 165
run 5 lefts 65ft
step 8 ft
standards 24-26
grip height 13ft

[grandevaulter]

Review key positions. The one that stands out to me is you are pulling your left leg before you swing to the "cord of the pole" . At this point you cease to add energy to the system. There are drills and apparatus to help you develop a long left "whip kick".

If you accept and are content with taking off under and have no desire to change it or fix it. You may be putting yourself in danger. Approach drills on the track will improve this. Most young vaulters don't care to work like this to make these types of improvements.

[GasPasser]

One quick observation and suggestion....the pole is not getting to vertical and you are struggling to get deep enough to reach the bar. I would suggest dropping your grip 6" and moving down to a 13'7" 165. If you blow through, stay with that lower grip and 13-7" pole length but go up in pole weight. Don't have a 13'7"? Try dropping to a 14-155 or 13-170/175 along with dropping your grip by 6". Your 5-step run is not cutting it for that 14-165 pole on these jumps - it's too much pole.


There are many things that should be worked on, (being under first among them), but this one - dropping your grip and pole selection should help you immediately.

[grandevaulter]

Continuing to add energy into the system by a powerful whip/kick of the sweep leg (swinging to the cord of the pole) will supply momentum to keep the pole moving forward. Changing equipment is not a permanent correction to this problem.

[asaleh]

Review key positions. The one that stands out to me is you are pulling your left leg before you swing to the "cord of the pole" . At this point you cease to add energy to the system. There are drills and apparatus to help you develop a long left "whip kick".

If you accept and are content with taking off under and have no desire to change it or fix it. You may be putting yourself in danger. Approach drills on the track will improve this. Most young vaulters don't care to work like this to make these types of improvements.

Thank you for the advice. I appreciate it. I don't want to come of as rude or anything of that nature but I shocks me that you said that I was content with being under. Ever since I have started vaulting I have been fighting with the issue of stepping under and i never just through in the towel. Changing your run after running that way for three years is very difficult and very frustrating. I'm trying my absolute best to get rid of this problem but when I get on the runway I'm just always 2-4 ft under. I just hit a kinda of breakthrough yesterday at training where I was atcually only 3in under but there is still a lot of work to be done. I understand that most high school vaulters take off under, but I have never been one to just go with the motion and not do something about it. I just want to make clear that I will never be happy stepping under and I will not stop working to get my step to be on.

[grandevaulter]

Competing is fun. Repetitive drills not as much. You have not worked hard enough to correct your approach problem.

If I were your coach, you wouldn't compete until you correct your problem of being so far under. You would correct this by stabilizing your approach and synchronizing your plant with 6 step plant drills. Hundreds. Do these on your non vaulting days.

High bar or rings, practice whip kicking your take off leg. Do these on non vaulting days. 6 x 5 sets.

You would do straight pole drills: Jagodins 6 x 1 step, 6 x 2 step, 6 x 3 step 6 x 6 step. Long swings concentrating on whip kicking your take off leg. Straight pole vaults from 3 step. 12 of each concentrating on swing to the cord of the pole and not pulling the sweep leg in prematurely.

If you demonstrated these drills with pin point accuracy, you would be allowed to compete again.

I wish you the best