Unread postby altius » Mon Sep 03, 2012 5:00 pm
"Petrov indicated, while standing at the takeoff point in front of a pit in Reno, that, first the "free" meaning, free from the "resistance" of the pole.. and second that if the takeoff is hundredths of a second before the pole is set against the back of the box….. there will be a "distance" traveled at takeoff ..free.... indicating with his hands.. a width of 20/30 cm that the pole will be moving toward "rotation" at the same speed as the body.. indicating that is a short period of time, just as the toe is leaving the ground…"
dj[/quote]
I like it!
This is what Petrov said in Birmingham in 1985 -
And only on concluding the take off should the vaulter transfer smoothly into support ....
• During the plant the pole ... bends under the effect of the vaulter’s speed and body mass”
• The vaulter’s task is to drive the pole at take off as much as possible and to give himself a FREE TAKE OFF with transfer at the end into a smooth plant of the pole.
• If we perform a free take off we can feel the pushing action of the whole body and we can transfer the speed of the run up and take off. But this angle must be achieved with a complete extension of the body and mainly, keeping that short difference between the full extension of the body and the tip of the pole reaching the end
of the box.
Now all we need to do is add Bubka's comments from his presentation in Jamaica
"In pole vaulting the crucial factor is how to transfer energy to the pole, through the complete body of the vaulter: the arms, shoulders, hip, back and legs. But if the pole begins to bend while the vaulter is yet on the ground, it is impossible to transfer the energy; all the energy is lost and goes to the box. The point is. How to achieve this? The free take off is a very short period of time, we can say no more than hundredths of a second, going from the end of the take off and the moment in which the tip of the pole reaches the end of the box. But this short time makes a big difference that allows the competitor to greatly improve their results."
But the key to understanding the take off is in Brankos comment that what matters is what the athlete is TRYING to do! The fact is that placing the tip of a long pole accurately into a box - by hitting a take off point over 4.30m/14' away from the box - a box that is difficult to see from any distance away IS A HIGHLY COMPLEX SKILL. Note I said skill because it involves both the technical ability needed to manoeuvre the pole into position while running at high speed AND the perceptual ability to steer oneself into the perfect position to achieve take off. Given that long and triple jumpers find it difficult to hit a beautiful white painted board (that they can see from the end of the runway) accurately - to within a few inches - on every jump, it should not be surprising that vaulters - who have no target to aim their foot at and who must judge their take off position in relation to a box 14' or more away - do not always hit the take off spot they ARE AIMING FOR.
This means that if you have access to millions jumps by elite vaulters you will inevitably find examples of taking off under by virtually every one of them -especially if there is a blustery tail wind involved on that day. So while it is pretty clear that Brits and Ecker took off under - without talking to them it is impossible to know whether that it was what they intended to do - but it was so regular that I suspect it was what they intended. However with Galfione - whose coach Houvion had been a co speaker with Petrov in Birmingham - I believe that he was in fact trying to take off beneath the top hand or even a bit out - and not under. That is certainly the impression -and it is only an impression - that I have gained by watching the film I have available of his jumping.
dj - what I meant by the term cherry picking was that because of the difficulty of hitting the take off spot precisely it is always possible to search through film, find an example of an athlete taking off under (to cherry pick! Sorry thought it was an Amuricanism) and then present that as THE FACT that the athlete always took off under - IE that is what they were trying to do.
Its what you learn after you know it all that counts. John Wooden
