Big Ten Pole Vault Safety Clinic Video

[vaultfan]

A rather significant portion of the Big Ten Pole Vault Safety Clinic Video ( http://www.bigten.org/trk/itrk/index.cfm ) involved getting a high bend on the pole and the introduction of a new method of planting the pole in which the tip of the pole would land in the middle of the box.

Some of the comments made were as follows:

“We don’t want the pole into the back of the box prematurely. We wish to introduce a method of planting that gets the pole into the middle of the box, sets the vaulter up for a strong jump and push through the takeoff as the vaulter is in the act of leaving the ground. All of the energy is transferred to the top of the pole as it is moving vertically.â€Â

[wacky274]

from what i have read of what you said above, this seems to be similar to a prejump, although a little more sophisticated...( i have not yet read the article from the site, not working on my comp)...as for THERE reasoning as to why the high bend is important etc., i'm not quite sure....i mean it is obvious why not to have a low bend, but i dont know what they are classifying as high, so it is really hard to compare to a "normal" bend

[vaultfan]

OK, I feel that getting a high bend on the pole is so important to the success of the vault, that I’ll attempt to provide a discussion of it, although I know that there are many other message board members much more qualified to do so than myself. Hopefully, the more qualified members will correct me if I fumble the explanation.

In order for the vault to be successful, it is necessary for the pole to reach vertical. The way the pole bends and the way the vaulter leaves the ground determines whether the vault will be successful or not. A demonstration of what was meant by vertical was made in the Big Ten safety video by placing the tip of the pole in the back of the box and raising the pole to where it was straight up from the box showing what is meant by a pole having reached vertical.

An animation of two poles was provided. The blue pole showed the action of a pole having a high bend. It represented a good takeoff and a good start. The tip of the pole lands near the back of the box, and rises more quickly to vertical and has a later bend in the pole. The red pole showed the action of a pole having a low bend. The red pole hits the back of the box early, the top of the pole does not continue to rise up, the pole bends low and it does not roll over and move toward vertical.

It was stated that if the pole does not get to vertical, there is a good chance that the vaulter will land in the area at the front of the pit or off to the side of the pit. It was also stated that it is the responsibility of the vaulter to get the pole to vertical so that he/she may land safely in the pit.

When there is a low bend of the pole, and it does not roll over and move toward vertical, that is when injuries, pole breakage, etc. occur. It puts an awful lot of stress not only on the pole, but on the back of the vaulter.

A good discussion of this concept my also be found in the article, “How to Vault 101â€Â

[smokinvaulter1]

Kinda Like Vadim's free take off he takes off at 4.7m but under his top hand is 4.4m. This way hes a foot off the ground when the pole hits the back of the box putting alot closer to verticle at takeoff. Thats how he gets on 17' or 5.20 220's. Wish iwas the good.

[vaultfan]

In the Big Ten pole vault safety clinic video, a NEW method of pole planting was where the tip of the pole was to land in the middle of the box as opposed to the traditional style where the tip of the pole is jammed into the back of the box.

Brian Ferry is the vault coach at Kansas University. He wrote a book entitled “Modern Pole Vaultingâ€Â

[smokinvaulter1]

Very true,
Since i been under Coach Ferry i learned alot about a good take off. I really helped Vadim because coach Ferry encourages that free take off and know ways to make it work right. Vadim went from a 16'6" vaulter to 18' in a matter of a month. This take off really works i mean i am 5'9" 135 pounds and since i learned it a little bit not real well I now jump on 16' 170's and 5m 165's. I never thought i would get on poles that big. Believe Coach Ferry coaching style and ability is going to produce some great vaulters. Hey and Mr. Hoffman i had 4 jumps over 17'6" today in practice Reno here i come. Thanks for the great interpretation of Coach Ferry's style and teachings.

[lonestar]

I totally agree with the free takeoff concept and have seen the evidence and experienced it myself as to its effectiveness.

A word of caution though: be very careful when teaching this, especially to beginners. It is very easy to be misinterpreted, and you'll have people taking off a foot out, sinking and overbending poles, producing pole breaks, landing in the box, and the potential for some serious injuries.

The key to executing a free takeoff is continuous movement up through the takeoff. There can be no pauses or delays, or you will eat runway. It is also very difficult to get the vaulter to put that last step down without reaching, because being outside will feel wrong until they get conditioned to doing it regularly. For safety reasons, I personally don't recommend being more than 6" outside the top hand, but advanced vaulters like Vadim, Tarasov, and Markov can obviously handle it a little farther than that.

A word of advice: as you teach this, start with an extremely low grip on a tiny pole from a short run and gradually move the grip up and the run back. This is not something to try to learn all at once on a long run.

Kris

[smokinvaulter1]

Yes Kris very true Timing of the take off is key. It ishard to teach anyone the free take off if they have already been using the typical american style. Best bet is to try and get them to as close to under their top hand as possible and not any farther foward. But a few inches back makes a world of difference in the vault. And can't collapse the arms until the last second or all the energy in the pole is lost. This can be difficult for anybody.

[vaultfan]

Jeremy, I hope that I did not sleight you or any other KU vaulter by only mentioning Vadim’s name in my “article.â€Â

[smokinvaulter1]

Every thing you said is correct Vadim is a perfect example. I would do the same. Keep up the good posts.

[natdog]

Is there something about this takeoff technique that causes inconsistency or something? I would think that guys jumping on 4.90, 5.00 and even longer poles that are 30 to 40 pounds over there weight would be consistently jumping 5.50
But I see that Smokin jumped 16 feet and some change, and Vadim
No Heighted. Just Curious

[smokinvaulter1]

It early season bud. Vadim is still fighting injuries and i just getting going my PR is only 5.30. 5.50 from a 4.90 pole is quite a big jump. Vadim was only on 12 strides and 5m 200 so things will come around. just wait. And as for consisentsy we are pretty good when healthy I haven't NHed in 3 years.