Teaching the Advanced Pole Vaulter. Approach Run. Plant. Take-Off. Drive-Swing. Swing-Up 1/3/2011. Phases of the Pole Vault (Right Handed Vaulter)

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1 Teaching the Advanced Pole Vaulter Phases of the Pole Vault (Right Handed Vaulter) 2011 KCCTFCA Winter Coaches Clinic Thane Nonamaker Gardner Edgerton High School Approach Run Plant Take-Off Drive-Swing Swing-Up Sometimes referred to as roll-back and extend. The Drive-Swing ends when the pole stops bending inward. The Swing-Up begins when the pole bends (or rolls out) to the side. The vaulter swings in a wide arc like a gymnast on a high bar. The take-off leg whips through as the hips swing upward and inward toward the shoulders. Bring knees into chest while rolling hips upward. The head and shoulders then drop down underneath the hands to allow the hips and legs to continue going up the pole until the vaulter is completely upside down. As the left arm breaks, the elbow goes on the inside of the pole. 1

2 The hips should be on (next to) the top hand. The Swing-Up phase ends at this point. Warning Do not pull with the arms during the Swing-Up. Allow the power built up from the previous phases to propel the hips and legs up the pole. Make sure the vaulter does not throw his or her head back. That flattens out the swing and stops inversion before it is complete. Teaching the Swing-Up Short Approach Swing-Up Drill A continuation of the Drive-Swing Drill Vaulter holds the pole with a medium-high grip. Use a medium approach distance. Plant the pole and swing up into the invert position. Keep the top arm straight and hang with all the body weight on the top hand. Allow the bottom arm elbow to bend and move inside the pole. Drop the head and shoulders down. Attain the invert postion as the pole reaches vertical and stay in the invert position as the pole moves forward and lands in the pit. Parallel Bar Invert Drill Hang from a parallel bar with right foot in front, left foot behind bar. Lift hips and push feet upward. Allow the body to begin the turn. Lower body and repeat. 2

3 Grip the rope like a pole. Hang from the top hand. Rope Drill Then swing the legs and the hips up until you are completely inverted. Repeat several times. Pull/Turn Starts at the end of the swing-up phase. As the hips rise and move close to the pole, the vaulter should keep their feet moving in an upward direction. The lower arm should pull first until the upward extension of the body is complete. The top arm, which has been straight, then begins to pull and the entire body executes a full unit turn around the pole. Stay close to the pole during the turn and keep the head down. Keep the legs together and stay close to the pole as you are poised to be thrown upward over the crossbar by the power of the unbending pole. Push forcefully down the shaft of the pole with the top hand before the release. Teaching the Pull/Turn One-Step Sand Vault Pull/Turn Drill Place pole bottom firmly in sand pit. Hold pole with bottom hand at slightly above forehead. Hold bungee cord no lower that waist height. Step with left foot and jump up on top of the takeoff foot. Swing up and over bungee cord. Athlete should focus on turning body so that their chest is to the bungee cord and land facing the direction they came from. Raise bungee cord as athlete improves technique. Pull/Turn and Push-Off Drill Press pole into corner of room with smooth floor. Bend pole while lowering body to floor. Sit and lay back on floor. Lift feet and allow body to be moved across the floor by the unbending pole. 3

4 Keep body close to pole as it is moved across the floor. Push forcefully off the top of the pole as the body rotates over to the stomach. Slide on stomach away from the pole. This drill works best when the vaulter is wearing a pair of slick wind pants. Coaching Points Emphasize that the vaulter should not pull too early, before the hips and legs start upward. That causes the hips and legs to go outward away from the pole instead of up the pole. Another common fault is moving the top arm across the body too soon instead of keeping it straight above the shoulder. That causes the top of the body to turn prematurely while the lower body stops rising and drives outward, not upward. This is called flagging, since the body s angle resembles an American flag. Teach the vaulter to visualize that there is a basketball hoop above the top of the pole. He or she should try to go straight up through the net and over the basketball rim. This can only be done if the vaulter does not turn too soon. Fly-Away/Clearance Remove the lower hand from the pole first. Push forcefully off of the top of the pole with the top hand to aid rotation around the bar. Pike over the bar while tracing an arc around the bar with the feet. Hollow out the trunk and drape the arms and legs around the bar to speed up the rotation. Keep elbows pointed outward to prevent throwing the chest into the crossbar. Point the thumbs down allowing the arms to rise in and arcing position. Finish turn over the bar with the belly facing the crossbar. 4

5 Keep the legs together. Throw the head and shoulders back after the abdomen has cleared the bar. Enjoy a long ride down to the pit. Never land on straight legs - always land on your back. Teaching the Fly-Away Use the same Pull/Turn and Push-Off drill as described before, but really focus on pushing off the top of the pole and extending the slide across the floor. Short run vaults are excellent for practicing the Fly- Away and the complete vault. The athlete is able to take a lot of vaults, since the Approach Run is short. Keep the bar at an easily makeable height. The vaulter does a backward roll into a handspring. Add a crossbar when the vaulter becomes comfortable with the drill. This will make it more like an actual vault. Under-water vaulting is a good drill. The vaulter is weightless making it easier to become inverted and execute a good unit Pull-Turn and Fly-Away. Make sure someone holds the pole straight up and down, since the vaulter goes under the water during the drill. All phases of the vault and drills to improve each can be found at the National Pole Vault Coaches Association website. NPVCA.com Click on Articles These are demonstrated by Mark Strawderman and Bill Falk. Pole Grip Adjustments When the vaulter is flying into the crossbar and larger pole options are not available, lower the pole grip. Lowering the pole grip 6 inches from the top will add approximately 10 lbs. of test weight to the pole. 5

6 Lowering the pole grip also speeds up the rotation of the pole allowing the vaulter to move it to the vertical position more easily. (An option that should be explored when the vaulter is coming up short of the bar.) Raising the pole grip to near the top of the pole will produce the listed test weight of the pole. (This should only be done when the vaulter is clearly getting depth into the pit.) A wider grip can be used when the pole seems a little too stiff for the vaulter. (This will allow the vaulter to bend the pole more easily, but I believe it becomes more difficult to get to the invert position.) A narrower grip will allow the vaulter to move to the invert position more easily, but it becomes more difficult to bend the pole. Pole control is usually lost with a too narrow grip. You can also get great pole vaulting information at: You can contact other successful coaches. Rick Attig endorsed device. Earl Bell Bill Falk Mark Schmidt Andale Dennis Frazier Wichita Scott Powell Garden City Steve Hardesty Royal Valley Randy Stanley Victoria Eric Peters Shawnee Mission Northwest Tyler Lasche Blue Valley Tom Hayes KU Erin Blocker ESU Most pole vault coaches like to talk about their event and will even give away their coaching secrets when prompted. Thank you and feel free to contact me at nonamakert@usd231.com. I will gladly provide assistance to you or your athletes in any way that I can. 6

7 And of course, you can always GOOGLE topics such as: Pole Vaulting Beginner Pole Vaulting Pole Vaulting Drills 7