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Okay so i am a sophmore in high school, i am about 5'11" and weigh 149lbs and i vault 14 feet. I have watched tons of my videos and in every one i bend my trail leg while swinging up, i think i get inverted decently but i am not sure if bending the trail leg is good or bad. I might be doing some form of tuck and shoot but am not sure. So should i try and perfect the "tuck and shoot" method if that is what i am doing or try to straighten the leg and focus on that in practices. Also any drills to help would be appreciated. Here are my videos:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65dB0KZU ... e=youtu.be that is me on a 15' 150lb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h6pYStzb8M me on a 15' 150lb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Onp-R4XOytA me on a 14'165lb

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNFEEzpfDiI me on a 14'165lb

thank you for commenting

1st link is not functional. 2nd one works. 3rd and 4th are marked as "private" and therefore not view-able.

ohh, sorry about that ill fix it asap

Imagine a gymnast doing giants on a high bar. Are their legs bent or straight? They are straight because they are able to swing harder and faster.

Physics will tell us that a straight trail leg will allow for the longest possible lever, creating the most amount of torque about the axis, ipso-facto the greatest amount of force possible to be created with the swing. When we talk about the human musculature the stretch reflex allows for better energy storage and release when compared to no pre-stretch. I think the answerer you are looking for is somewhere in between. The fact of the matter is that the human body is not a closed solid object, It is dynamic and elastic.

Take a look at the 6 meter club, there is a bend in trail leg right after take off from every single vaulter. Its part of the pole vault. We want the best possible longest trail leg for facilitation of energy so we strive for "straight", but because vaulter is not a solid object we see bent trail legs, this is not justification of poor technique,this is just pole vault...

all I'm saying is high bar, high bar, high bar that will really help a lot

You really aren't bending your trail leg all that much and in my opinion isn't your biggest problem at the moment. I do see that you are very rigid with your left(bottom) arm which does not allow you to drive your chest up and through the takeoff. The following image is more what you want to aim for. Other than that, I see you loose your right leg a bit on your swing and your hands barely connect with your left(wrong) side of the body. I would like to see you keep your right leg connected to your right hand as you move through that phase.

cdmilton wrote:You really aren't bending your trail leg all that much and in my opinion isn't your biggest problem at the moment. I do see that you are very rigid with your left(bottom) arm which does not allow you to drive your chest up and through the takeoff. The following image is more what you want to aim for. Other than that, I see you loose your right leg a bit on your swing and your hands barely connect with your left(wrong) side of the body. I would like to see you keep your right leg connected to your right hand as you move through that phase.

I agree mostly with this. The bottom arm is blocking which is delaying your inversion. Also you are not completely finishing the take off cycle...jump at take off. What I do disagree with is actively trying to drive your chest. If you don't block it will happen anyway therefore no need to try and do it. Actively trying to drive the chest just delays inversion just as blocking does so nothing is gained.

So if you do not drive the chest at take-off as you "jump up" what leads ?

fishman4god wrote:So if you do not drive the chest at take-off as you "jump up" what leads ?

1. Poor posture
2. Less powerful
3. Slower swing
4. Lower height

fishman4god wrote:So if you do not drive the chest at take-off as you "jump up" what leads ?

The chest does lead...but no need to try and the drive the chest.

cdmilton wrote:

fishman4god wrote:So if you do not drive the chest at take-off as you "jump up" what leads ?

1. Poor posture
2. Less powerful
3. Slower swing
4. Lower height

Not true if you over exaggerate driving the chest or actively try to drive the chest you are wasting valuable time. Time that would be better used to get inverted and push off the top of the pole. A vaulter should not try and get in "the pocket" or preform a "reverse C" both intents are passive. I am not saying it never happens I am saying it should not be the intent of the vaulter to try and preform this action.