eyes during plant

[europevaulter]

The reason why he does crazy stuff when looking up, is accorrding to me because he doesn't have enough stability in his take off. It's the same when you stand on 1 foot and look up. It will be much harder to ballance than when you look down.
Looking down also makes you stay on the bottum too long.

[OUvaulterUSAF]

I had a teammate who also did better when looking down. When he looked up he ysnked in with his bottom arm and did all kinds of crazy stuff.

I would never teach a kid to do that, but I think there are going to be exceptions to every rule. I agree with Barto that the bottom hand is a good visual cue.

Yeah, I'm still experimenting with the eyes. This morning I was thinking about it from a short run. I definitely watch the box during the run. After that it's tough to tell what my eyes focus on between the take-off and inversion b/c the vault goes by so fast. I see glimpses of my hand, the bungee, the lights on the ceiling and my feet before I turn/push-off.

I think I was more focused on pulling with my bottom hand than where to focus this morning...I tell you what just doing that alone, you get more return from the pole. I think it's a matter of controlling it and not making it to lopsided of a pull.

[danimal]

yes the eyes should be during the plant

[Tim McMichael]

Your eyes should be on the attack angle you want to take. There is an acceptable range between a relatively low angle and a relatively high one. It is a good idea to find what works best for you and line your eyes up with it. In my experience, I have seen far more attack angles that are too high than I have seen that are too low. Your angle has to match up with your grip and ability to jump off of the ground.

It is essential to not throw your head back. There are structures in the inner ear that give us our sense of balance. When the head is thrown back it deforms these structures and there is an instant loss of balance. This will usually cause a short circuit in the nervous system that shuts down the entire jump. As soon as the head goes back, the swing stops.

The reason throwing the head back is so tempting is because we tend to orient our sense of where our body is by our head. When the head is back we feel upside down. In this connection, it is important to note that the head does not always follow the eyes. The eyes can be down while the chin is up. It is the position of the head that matters, not where the eyes are focused. I like to see a chin that is down at the instant of takeoff and then rises up to a neutral position immediately after that. I have taken a lower than standard attack angle my entire career though, so this is probably influenced by my own experience and preference.

Also, I think it is a bad for the eyes to be focused on a specific thing. It may be a temporary cue to help get the head in the right position. After the motor pattern is established, however, I think it is a good idea to stop thinking consciously about focusing on anything. The vault is a fluid movement that goes through an extreme range of motion. The head has to be able to react to this movement. Focusing on one thing can interrupt this flow.

Also, it is important to develop a kinesthetic feel for where you are at in the air. This can be inhibited by focusing the eyes on one specific thing too long. In my own jump, for instance, I can get away with using the bar as a visual cue because I don't focus on it. I just let it move naturally through my field of vision and then disappear as I begin to extend. If I tried to keep my eyes on it, I would lose the positioning and timing that I need to go up the pole. It is even worse to focus on something in the environment, especially lights on the ceiling. Once you move to a different facility you become lost.

One more note: Never look at the crossbar at the beginning of the jump. If you see the bar at all, it must be a natural result of the place your swing puts you in as you get on your back. Looking at the bar at takeoff will ALWAYS cause bad things to happen.

[KYSEAMAN]

I find that sometimes I can not swing, or swing to late for it to do anything....because I am looking at the box. If I don't full my head up at take off it throws everything off.