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Hey Spencer, I agree with Altius regarding the Beginner to Bubka book and DVD. In one of the video shots, there is an excellent example of what I mean by hanging on the pole to bend it. At take off, a young girl (maybe 15?) basically has her nose against the pole with the bottom arm colapsed. Howeve...

Spencer, Sorry no one has address your concerns sooner, but I'll try to help. I am a high school coach with 30+ years experience and still learning myself. What I have learned is that, being located in the Northeast, in a 3 month season one must be very efficient to get somewhat proficient at pole v...

I feel like I'm watching a film loop regarding this posting, but I promise I will let it go at this (thank goodness right). First, remember your roots. Making a 15' vault seems to have become a trivial thing to some; seemingly a beginner skill. Well, there are hundreds, nay thousands of young vaulte...

It seems that in these posts the original question of a posting gets lost. For this concern, "Shoulder Drop Technique", the individual was concerned with flagging out. One of the first suggestions was that the individual was looking at the cross bar. Now after numerous followup posting we ...

Feel? Try to coach feel. Feel like you're running faster. Feel like you're jumping higher. Feel like you're whipping your trail leg better. Teaching (what coaching really is) requires specific cognitive and/or technical skill development. If one wants feelings, go to a psychologist. As a coach, part...

It seems there might be some miscommunication here PVDaddy. Of course the top is always the top hand through out the vault. I was guessing that with the photo you provided of Bubka inverted that you were viewing what was the bottom hand in the photo; right hand or for Bubka, the top hand. However, h...

A problem you may be having is purposely trying to keep the left arm straight at take off; assuming you're bottom arm is your left arm. I'm assuming. You state that your biggest problem is not being able to invert. Well, if you are purposely pushing with the bottom hand, it will "block" yo...

PVDaddy, Thank you for including the photo of Bubka in the inverted position for review of the eye position on the hand. However, perhaps we need to clarify something first from that photo. From that photo which hand are you considering the bottom hand. Because from that photo it seems to me that Bu...

This always seems to open a can of worms, but here goes anyway. Part of the problem I see in not getting the shoulders to drop is where the eyes are focused. At the point where the hips have "broken" and the vaulter "covers" the pole, the eyes should be focused on the top hand. B...

Billy, your concern is a little confusing? "Is there such a thing as too much swing" and the "can you row too hard". The two are completely different and need to be addressed separately as each applies to the sequence of pole vaulting. Regarding too much swing, I've heard it best...

If she can't push with the lower hand, then don't try to teach her to push with lower hand. For that matter, don't teach anyone to push with lower hand for so many reasons. Teach them to get both hands high at take off which will take care of a lot of concerns. If you continue to try and teach your ...

The "jump" is actually a jumping action just like one would jump to make a basketball layup. Relative to track& field, it is like the take off in the high jump. When one "jumps" in a basketball layup the hand with the ball extends up while the same side knee drives up. See th...