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Well of course i had to suck at the district meet
I cleared opening height easily with my first jump at 12'3"
At 12'9" i missed my first two and decided to move up to the next pole in my series and i guess my standards were off... or somethin
My coach couldnt make it because of prior engagements so i was sorta on my own


Experience: 2nd yr vaulting
Height: 5'6"
Weight: 133
Pole(s): 13' 150lb Skypole (in first 2 videos)
13'6" 155lb Rocket (in last video)

1st attempt: (skypole)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pnt3zM3KBoU

2nd attempt: (skypole)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZA-BH3xb8E

3rd attempt: (rocket)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2d4U5NdgSw

You said that was your district meet?

you must be from central Pennsylvania. i too have sucked at that very same stadium at districts. however i no heighted, and could not go to states

since your from the greatest state on the planet.. i will try to help

Okay heres what i see
While your initial chest drive is good... you need to continue driving up and into the whole jump. You get sucked right to your back and that does 2 things. kills penetration, and kills the speed you come off the top of the pole with. if you could learn to jump up and swing a bit i think theres lots of good things that can happen!!! to fix that, i would recommend straight pole drills. you have pretty good natural swing, so learning how to jump up and drive is really the primary concern

also im not sure your age, but it looks like speed needs to be improved a bit as well.

You are doing a lot of things well. The main problem I see is you are pulling/bending your right/top arm way too soon. This both slows the forward motion of the pole (pole speed) and it prevents you from getting as inverted as you could. You should keep a straight top arm, and swing from it until you are inverted. Then, as the pole unbends, you apply the pulling motion of the top arm in conjunction with the turn.

- master

Your take off point seems fine, but right after that you let your hips move right forward. Try to stay tall a little more, and not let your hips sink forward. I couldnt see the second jump, but that problem keeps you from getting on a bigger pole. If you do that on a bigger pole, as soon as you break your arm in and pull a little, the pole will unwind early and not let you penetrate enough. I had the same problem for almost a year.

Also, at the top of the vault, try not to stare at the crossbar. Let your shoulders rock back and try to stay parallel with the pole a little more. You are shooting off the pole too horizontal, and that is also making you hit the crossbar.

thanks... and yes i am from central pennsylvania
as far as my speed... i did forget to mention a few things earlier
-my ankle was really botherin me when i really tried to run hard... i normally do have fairly decent speed
-in warm-ups... i'm not sure if it was because i was anxious or what... but i blew through that pole in warm-ups so decided to just run more relaxed
thanks for your help

thanks for the input
any comments on my run (i know it was slow & i have a very slight limp)... i'm talkin FORM
if you need other videos check these out from earlier this season

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCMuDtqIuqc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr6_C1_Vpqk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxqkeArwfh8

the pole that i am using in the 1st 2 videos is the pole that i used on my last attempt at 12'9" from earlier in this post... but for some reason that video isn't working