TECHNICAL OVERVIEW Will Freeman Grinnell College THE EVENT A double pendulum movement Safety issues (equipment, coaching, pedagogy) Cause and effect issues Training progression (walk before run) Equipment and pole selection THE GRIP Shoulder width apart Plant the pole, grip pole, drop pole to side Use of chalk Understanding the soft side of the pole Carry mechanics Top hand close to hip, bottom hand 4-6 in front of sternum Top hand open Vs closed Avoid flexion at bottom wrist WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A VAULTER Height is a benefit Speed is a prerequisite Great body awareness Great relative strength level (strength to body weight ratio) Fearless nature THE APPROACH 12-1818 strides for full approach Phases of the approach Drive, acceleration dvmt., transition into TO Height of pole carry and pole drop mechanics Use of checkmarks (athlete and coach) Postural mechanics in the approach Counting steps 1
TRANSITION INTO TAKEOFF Consistency in approach mechanics a must Velocity over last two steps actually increases due to free pole drop Long-short over last two steps Cg lowered in penultimate and raises on takeoff step Curl to shoulder on penultimate step, press onto takeoff step THE SWING Compression and maintaining velocity of chest through takeoff The reverse C Emphasize leading with chest, not hips Long moment arm to start Bend at waist and knees occurs when passing chord line (about 45 degrees). This speeds rotation. PENULTIMATE MECHANICS Flat foot landing Active penultimate glut keeps velocity high and adds to vertical impulse by driving lead knee up Landing is knee over ankle, ankle braced, then bridged at ball of foot Bottom arm extends forward as pole is curled to shoulder during penultimate step Pole must be parallel to ground when penultimate foot is flat-footed footed on ground PULL-TURN-CLEARANCE Rowing from L to I position Turn mechanics Turn initiated when bottom arm reaches shoulder during pull Bottom arm action provides leverage to create rotation around the pole Clearance: thumbs down, chin tucked, elbows up POSITION AT POLE IMPACT Vertical line from hand to foot Tall and arms pressing up at impact Shoulder girdle and arms must be braced to avoid energy loss at pole impact (brace Vs block) Lead knee drives up as a function of active penultimate mechanic Head is in line with body and eyes are not focused on the box once pole passes over lip of box WORKING WITH THE BEGINNING VAULTER Keep it simple Do not do long approaches Focus on one thing at a time Be patient and don t hurry things Think safety first 2
PROGRESSION FOR TEACHING THE VAULT The grip (open during approach, grip as pole is planted) Walking and jogging with the pole (shoulders square) Standing plants (top hand close to body) Sand pit drills One step jumps One step jump with turn (turn late in jump as they extend) Walking plant actions (countdowns from 4) The Training Inventory What to do Developing a training inventory Inventory elements are what you will use each day to train the vaulter Inventory elements fall into the categories of speed, strength, endurance, flexibility/mobility and skill Your athletes will train all of these categories each day, some more than others (depending on the goals of the day and the week) MORE TEACHING PROGRESSION Jogging plant drill on runway (cue is 3-2-1-curl- press) Running plant drill on runway (3-2-1-curl-press) One step sand vaults with elastic bar (Rick Attig) start low, bar 4-5 away As bar moves up, bar comes closer to takeoff mark (no closer than 3 ) Sand vaults from 4-6 steps w/o bar (raise grip accordingly) Move to vault runway for 6 step vaults Add elastic bar to runway vaults THE TRAINING INVENTORY Warm-up Acceleration Speed Lifting Core General Strength Routines Pillar Routines Hurdle Strength Routine Medicine Ball Routines Multi-Jump Exercises Vault Drills FAULT-CORRECTION FAULT CORRECTION Slowing down into takeoff Work on approach rhythm (3-3-3 drill), more active penultimate, shorten approach. Work on running through takeoff not to takeoff. Taking off in front or under Collapsing bottom arm at takeoff Bending trail leg during swing Stalling out Work on takeoff mark with track approaches. Back up approach. Drill on pushing up with both arms at takeoff. Lead with chest Complete firing off takeoff, work on this with sand vaults Lower grip or drop to lighter pole THE DAILY WARMUP Purposes Warm-up systems General bio-motor training (balancing the system) Restorative tool (great off-day routine) See inventory for warm-up exercise progression A mechanism to clear the screen and focus down on the task at hand that is upcoming in the session 3
The Warm-Up Jog 30m down and back (2-3x) 30m backward run, forward run back to start 30m ankling walk 30m ankling skip 30m ankling skip with windmill arms forward, 30m arms backward Jog-jog-jog-quickstep (right only 30m, then 30m left only) Jog-jog-jog-quickstep-quickstep, quickstep, repeat each side for 30m Walk 30m with arm circles forward, 30m arm circles backward Jog 30m 30m A-skip Jog 30m Carioca right 30m, carioca 30m left (ball of foot, light on feet) 30m high-knee skip 30m straight-leg bounds 30m walk 30m easy acceleration 30m accel. from 3 point stance 30m accel from start position Note: skipping can be factored in as recoveries of each exercise ACCELERATION SESSIONS (done at 95%) 1. 10-15 x sprint ladder Emphasis on increasing velocity and increasing stride length, changing body angles and changing arm action (excellent tool for learning increasing stride length) 2 min recovery 2 2-5 X (5 X 20m blocks) 3 min recovery reps / 6 min. recovery sets Total volume: 300m build to 500m 3 2-4 x (5 x 30m blocks or rocker start) 3 min. recovery reps / 7 min. recovery sets Total volume: 600m 4 3 x (4 x 40m blocks or rocker start) 3 min. recovery reps / 9 min. recovery sets) Total volume: 800m 5 2-3 x (3 x 50m blocks) 4 min recovery reps / 7m recovery set Total volume: 300m Very high quality LIFT CORE PROGRESSION Lifting done on Mon/Thur/ and possibly Sat Weeks 1-3 Weeks 4-6 Weeks 7-9 Weeks 10-12 12 Clean 3x10 @ 60% Squat 3x10 @ 60% Bench Press 3x10 @ 60% Clean 4 x 8 @ 70% Squat 4 x 8 @ 70% Bench Press 4 x 8 @ 70% Clean 3 x 5 @ 80% Squat 3 x 5 @ 80% Bench Press 3 x 5 @ 80% Clean 3 x 6 @ 70% Squat 3 x 6 @ 70% Bench Press 3 x 6 @ 70% SPEED SESSIONS (done at 95%) 1 3-4 x (5 x 20m) with 15m accel. zone Time the 20m segments only 3 min recovery rep / 6 min recovery set Total volume: 350m 2 2-5 x (5 x 35m) 4 min recovery reps / 8m recovery set Total volume: 350m-875m 3 2-4 x (3 x 15 accel / 10m max / 15m float / 10m max / 20m float) 4 min recovery reps / 8 min. recovery set Total volume: 420m 840m 4 2-3 x (3 x 20 accel / 10m max / 15m float / 10m max / 15m float/ 10m max) 5 min recovery rep / 10m recovery set Total volume: 480m - 720m 5 3 x (3 x 40m accel / 20m relax / 30m max) 8 min recovery rep / 12 min recovery set Total volume: 270m - 630m ANCILLARY LIFTS Lat. Pulls Standing Dumbbell Fly Heel Raises Seated Rows Cybex (glut and hip flexors) SPEED END. SESSIONS 1 1-2 x (4 x 75 @ 90-95%) 95%) 3 min recovery rep / 6 min recovery set 300m - 600m 2 3 x (4 x 60m) @ 95% 2 min recovery reps / 4m recovery set Total volume: 720m 3 3-6 x 150 @ 90% 5 min recovery Total volume: 450m 900m 4 2 x (3 x 50m accel / 50m float / 50m lift-pop) 5 min recovery rep / 10m recovery set Total volume: 900m 5 2-3 x (3 x 100m) @ 95%+ 5 min recovery rep / 10 min recovery set Total volume: 600m 900m 4
General Strength Routines (begin with 1 set, increase with fitness) Routine 1 Routine 2 Lateral Hops (x10) Speed Skaters (x10) Squat Jumps (x10) Fire Hydrants (x10) Clap Push Ups (x10) Crab Walk (30 sec) Crunches (x30) Eagles (x10) Russian Leg Lifts L-Overs (x10) (x10) Rope Skip (1 min) Jump Burpees (x10) Crunch (x30) Walk on heels (30 sec) Split Squat (x10) MEDICINE BALL ROUTINES Routine 1 St. Overhead Throws Hip Catch-n-Toss Partner Exchange Sit Up Catch-n-Toss Squat Chest Throws UH toss for height Front Loader Trunk Rotations Routine 2 Seated Partner Toss Hop-Hop-2-hand shot Over-Shoulder toss Overhead back toss Overhead step/toss Hammer releases Push Up holding ball UH forward toss Pillar Routines (start with reps of 20 or 20 sec., then increase with fitness) Routine 1 Routine 2 V-Ups V-Balancer Side-Ups Toe Touches on back Back Hypers Single-Double Leg Crunches Slides Russian Leg Lifts Crunches Low-Level Level Bikes 3-way roll-ups Scissors Static Pushup (hold) Hip Ups Finger walk-outs Knee to chest, press L-Overs knee up Climb rope MULTI-JUMP PROGRESSION MJ routines must reflect the strength and age of the athlete. Make sure the surface used is of grass or softer track surface. The load will be specific to the athlete. Do not over do this. Easier Exercises (Early season or recovery week. Begin with loads shown, increase over time) SLJ (1-5 repeated) Tuck Jumps (x 10) Bunny Hops (x20) Split Squat (x 10) Easy Bounds (8-10) Star Jumps (3-8) Harder Exercises (Middle of season forward) STJ (1-5 repeated) Repeat SLJ (up to 5) Box Jumps (12-24 max) 3 x 8 max. Bounding for distance 25m build to 40m Hurdle Hops (1-3 x (8-10 H ) RR-LL-RR-LL (1-4) HURDLE STRENGTH ROUTINE Excellent for core stabilization Walkovers (1 leg leads, then switch) Walkovers (alternate legs) Walkovers (over 3, back one) Walkovers (backward one leg, then switch) In-Place Skip-Overs Skip Down the row Over-Unders Hurdle Hops (jump and stick, dynamic) VAULT DRILLS Sprint Drills w and w/o pole (A, skip, bounds) Approach runs on track into rolled towel (3-3-3) 3) Penultimate countdown drill (cue: 3-2-1- flat-jump) Sand drill progression (1 step up to 8 steps) Pole swings off high box 5
THE 12-1515 WEEK MACROCYCLE Primary themes drive the training in each 4-5 week segment of the season 4-5 weeks of infrastructure work (building the body to train) 4-5 weeks of event-specific work (bleeding period between base work and competitive focus) 4-5 weeks of competitive focus Last 4-5 weeks Quality is the focus now for all training. Jumping is of the highest priority. Quality drill work. Recovery becomes a critical part of the training formula (perhaps the most crucial part). Make sure there is adequate recovery, especially after jump days Focus is now on competitions first and training second. First 4-5 weeks The focus is on developing speed, strength, endurance, flexibility and coordination in a relatively balanced way (conditioning base) Speed Work Acceleration Speed Strength Work General Specific Endurance, flexibility, Generally stable in load (good for daily use and for recovery day work) Jump training: drills at least 2 x week, quality vault session 2 x week. Focus is on training and not competition USING MEETS FOR QUALITY JUMP SESSIONS Think of meets as high quality vault sessions For multi-event jumpers, a two meet-per-week model offers the coach a chance to do multiple events One meet focusing on vaulting Other meet focus on sprints/relays or LJ (note carry over with LJ and PV) One meet per week is ideal for the vaulter. This provides quality time for drill work and vaulting in practice. Factor in lighter load days on days before and after meets. 2 nd 4-5 weeks Training now begins to focus more on the demands of the pole vault. Training is now of a higher volume. Meets are beginning to be a focus. Approach practice now building in length This is a high load period..beware of potential for injury and make sure you provide for recoveries needed (schedule lighter loads for days before and after meets) W.UP TECH SPEED STR. FIT. MON EXTENDED VAULT DRILLS ACCEL/ SPEED LIFT CORE GS/ PILLAR TUE SHORT VAULT DAY WED EXTENDED THU SHORT VAULTD VAULT RILLS DAY ACCEL/ SPEED HURDLE MULTI- STR./ JUMP MB GS / PILLAR LIFT CORE FRI EXTENDED LIGHT DRILLS HURDLE STR / MB GS / PILLAR SAT SHORT MEET 6
DAILY WORKOUT SCHEDULE WEDNESDAY 2:10 Easy - Medium day Extended Warm-up circuit: Teach the warm-up circuit well. It will become a staple in your workouts Technical: Jump Drills (light if Thur meet) Acceleration or speed Strength: Pillar routine GS routine Multi Jump Stretch 30 min. 30 min. MONDAY 2:10 Easy to medium day THURSDAY Easy-Medium Day 1:30 hrs. Extended Warm-up circuit: Teach the warm-up circuit well. It will become a staple in your workouts Technical: Jump Drills (light if Tue meet) Accel. Or speed Strength: Pillar routine GS routine Lift Core 30 min. 30 min. Warm-up circuit: Vault session (or meet) Speed (none today) Strength: Lift core Stretch 20 min 40 min Stretch TUESDAY 1hr 35 min Hard day: Warm-up circuit: Vault session 20 min 40 min. Speed (none today, accomplished in vaulting) Strength: Hurdle Strength Med Ball routine Stretch FRIDAY 2:20 Easy-Med. Day: Warm-up circuit: Technical: Light drills Accel/Speed Strength/Fitness: Hurdle Strength Med Ball Pillar routine (choice) GS routine (choice) 40 min. 7
SATURDAY MEET (hard) or Easy day OFF A restoration day if no meet. Consider cross sport activities (active rest) If a meet on Sat., Fri must be an easy day on the CNS. FILM ANALYSIS OF TOP VAULTERS 8