This is not where you want your head to be

[rainbowgirl28]

I know Tommy Skipper is a big bad ninja and I know he has pole vaulted 19 feet or so... but I please don't do this with your head

http://www.dailyemerald.com/vnews/displ ... mage_num=1

[Texasvaulter07]

i always hear coches telling their kids to throw their heads back and when you try and tell them you're not supposed to they never listen

[LHSpolevault]

if only i could keep my head somewhere between there and looking down... i can't help but look down when i vault.

[Mecham]

[rizlab]

someone probably farted on the way over the previous jump, no-one likes egg in the morning.

[Tim McMichael]

Throwing the head back during the jump is usually a symptom of something else. Your basic technique is not getting you timed up with the pole, so you throw your head back to try to get your hips higher. We tend to orient ourselves by the position of our head, so when the head goes back it makes us feel upside down. The trap is that trying to get upside down right off the ground (which seems like the obvious solution to the problem) will only make things much worse. Focus on your plant and swing. That is most likely where the problem lies.

[LHSpolevault]

where would it help to look then? at your top hand, or somewhere in the middle of your grip?

[Tim McMichael]

This is probably not what you will hear from other coaches, so take it as a potential solution from among other possibilities. I believe that your face should be oriented with your takeoff angle and your eyes should not be raised or lowered, but should be looking in whatever direction your head places them in during the jump. (Of course you have to look at the box during the run and plant!)
This is something of a paradox, but the best way to get this to happen it to have your chin down rather than up at the plant. In the instant after takeoff, everybody’s hips move forward and their chest goes from facing straight ahead to facing upward towards the bar. If your chin is up when this happens, you will be looking straight at the crossbar, or possibly even higher, depending on how far your hips come forward immediately after the plant. You will be perilously close to throwing your head back already, and your eyes will be looking much higher than your optimum angle. Even the most powerful jumpers cannot take an angle straight at the bar. If, however, your chin is down at the plant, when your chest comes up you will be looking right at a medium range attack angle. Look at a picture of Toby Stevens or Tim Mack right after takeoff and you will see that their chins are well down.
The idea that you have to lift your head up to get upside down is false anyway – and is part of why so many vaulters develop this habit. Your body can be completely upside down while you are looking at your shoes. (Being fixated on getting upside down is not a good idea either – but that is another discussion.)
I don’t believe that it is a good idea to try to look at anything during the jump. You should be feeling where you are with your body. It takes a very long time to get to this point, but most high level vaulters don’t really “seeâ€Â

[saraf]

I don't see anything worng with it .. he is just trying to look down. I would want to know where I was going to land

[Ming3r]

At 19 feet up, It'd be hard for me not to look down...

But then again, what fdo I know? I can't keep my eyes off the bar...