r/polevaulting May 09 '24

How to Get Inverted

38 Upvotes

First, forget about getting inverted. It’s almost the worst thing you could focus on. The pole vault is about clearing bars, not getting upside down. Too many good athletes are ruining their vaults by making inversion the end all be all of pole vaulting. It isn’t. 

Second, work to understand what elite form actually looks like. 

Here are some principles that every vaulter should know:

Most issues in the vault are caused by something that happened earlier in the jump. If you are having trouble at the top of your vault, the problem is almost always coming from somewhere further back down the line. Everything you do well makes the next thing easier. Everything you do badly makes the next thing harder. 

EVERYTHING is important. How you pick your pole up to start your approach can have an enormous effect on the quality of everything else. The vault is incredibly sensitive to small differences in things like grip, posture, and balance. If you don’t understand and pay attention to these details, there is no reason to think you can improve on anything else. I am not interested in helping you get upside down if you carry the pole like you are sawing a log and your grip width varies from one attempt to the next. It’s pointless. 

There are three elements that must be present for the vault to be fundamentally sound. Very few vaulters, less than 1% at most high school meets, have all three of these elements in place. 

  1. You must have a maximally high plant at a high rate of speed. The single most important measurement in the vault is the distance between the runway and your top hand when the pole starts to bend. Every inch you can increase this distance equals a three inch higher jump without changing any other factors. You should be at the highest velocity you can manage when this happens, and you need to have accelerated to get there. 

  2. You must have a powerful swing that keeps your center of mass low and behind the pole while it is bending. This causes your swing to add energy to the vault. The faster the swing and the lower the center of mass the more energy is added. 

  3. You must get as close to the pole as possible at the top of the vault and stay there for as long as possible. 

There are a lot of technical differences between good vaulters, but all of them do these three things well. You cannot spend enough time working on them. If these three elements are part of your jump, you will go as high as your athletic ability will allow you. And most importantly, you will be safe. Barring a freak accident, it is nearly impossible to get hurt badly if you master these fundamentals. The worse you are at one or more of them, the more dangerous your vault will be. 

The way most of you try to get inverted is dangerous. 

Look at these positions. This is Yvonne Buschbaum. I picked her as just a generic good vaulter. Every elite vaulter hits some version of this position in the middle of their swing. 

Her trail leg is as long as possible and is traveling as fast as she can swing it. Notice how far her hips are behind the bend of the pole. This next image is the finish of her swing:

Notice she is not “inverted.” Her knees are close to her chest and her hips are still far behind the pole. This means that her entire swing has added energy to the vault. She will invert after this but only as a position she extends through as she aims her feet over the bar. I personally use the word “extension” instead of  “inversion” in my coaching for this reason. Upside down is not a static position to arrive at as early as possible. It is a function of finishing the vault. I have no doubt that nearly every vaulter on this sub who is asking for help inverting is attempting to get completely upside down at the point in the vault illustrated here, and it’s a completely wrong concept. The instant your hips pass the pole, it has to straighten. Penetration stops and the pole unbends. It has to because of physics that I won’t go into here, but just please understand that the concept that most of you have of “inversion” is nothing more than a good way to land in the box. 

I see this position on nearly every vaulter who posts on this sub. Contrast this with the positions illustrated above. 

This is an athlete who is trying to get inverted. He is folding up his trail leg to shorten the radius of his body so he can rotate through the shoulders into the position he thinks he needs to reach as quickly as possible. Notice how close his hips are to the pole. The instant they pass the pole, it will straighten. If it is soft enough, he will get up to the crossbar. If it is too stiff, he will come up short while still being able to finish the jump. This is why this concept of inversion is dangerous. There is no swing. There is no extension. The last two principles of the vault are missing from this jump and will be as long as inversion is the primary goal. 

TLDR: The way to get inverted is to stop trying to invert and learn to swing with a long, powerful trail leg while keeping the hips low and back and then extending as you go for the crossbar.


r/polevaulting 36m ago

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r/polevaulting 18h ago

any tips to get more inverted?

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7 Upvotes

r/polevaulting 10h ago

any advice pls

1 Upvotes

first video

second video

third video

some info:

  • First video is just of me trying to get my hips above my shoulders and invert so i can get more vertical
  • Second video is me trying a short approach run on lower grip where I try to swing my legs past my hands and get hips above shoulders
  • Third video is of me vaulting at a meet(trying to clear 10'6" bar gripping at 12' on a 12'9" 145lb pole and I weigh 140lbs)

One issue I face is landing to the left in the pit and I literaly have no idea why
Also I can do 12 bubkas if that helps with anything

any tips help
thank you


r/polevaulting 1d ago

corrections

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4 Upvotes

How can i improve my technique? I had a period where i wasn’t training,and now i am afraid of taking off and i don’t feel confident about it. Any tips ?


r/polevaulting 22h ago

Advice How should I approach the corkscrew?

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2 Upvotes

I’m a d3 decathlete and I’m relatively new to vaulting (half a season give or take). Currently I’m on a 13’6 pole 5L, and I’m trying to get the most out of it before I move up. How can I work on pushing out and above the pole? (drills, advice, etc.)


r/polevaulting 1d ago

Advice Man I think I may be a Contender for the silliest polevaulter OAT😭😭😭 ( The bar is at 15ft)

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8 Upvotes

After my last post I tried to focus on my plant and take off, (and I think it got better imo, if yall have advice I'm open to it) but it seems like at this meet I can't even bring my bottom arm close to my body😭😭😭


r/polevaulting 1d ago

Advice When should I be jumping?

3 Upvotes

I've never had a clear answer of when I should be jumping up. Last year was my first time vaulting and I jumped after my pole hit the back of the box, I've heard some people say jump up while it's still sliding into the box but I've never had a clear definitive answer. Any help is thankful!


r/polevaulting 1d ago

Advice pls

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8 Upvotes

Pole is 13’7 175 with a 17 ish flex. I know I blew through but I’m not worried about that. My takeoff is around 10ft on that pole and I’m 6’3 175.


r/polevaulting 2d ago

Advice For 90% of folks seeking advice, this drill will help everything.

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13 Upvotes

r/polevaulting 2d ago

Advice Advice for rock back?

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9 Upvotes

This was a 7 step 14’ vault. I need some tips on rocking back all the way.


r/polevaulting 2d ago

General Question

1 Upvotes

Hey, I've got a general question. If your vaulting on a pole that doesn't bend, are you expected to still keep that bottom arm extended, or is that impossible since you hit the wall of the pole?


r/polevaulting 2d ago

Advice 14’6” PR attempt

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4 Upvotes

Any advice for this attempt? Cleared 14’ first pass.


r/polevaulting 2d ago

Advice?

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5 Upvotes

I could use some tips, I really wanna get 11 feet


r/polevaulting 2d ago

PR for me, advice?

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4 Upvotes

r/polevaulting 2d ago

Advice Mental block help

3 Upvotes

I injured my leg horribly because I took a bad step and my knee was messed up. My first practice back I was horrified, I kept on backing out last second. I only vaulted once and that was with a stutter step. I can normally do a 3 step from 44ft, but I have lost all confidence since then.


r/polevaulting 3d ago

Advice?

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9 Upvotes

r/polevaulting 3d ago

Pole vault

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13 Upvotes

Definitely NOT a pr day 😭#trackandfield #athletics #polevault


r/polevaulting 3d ago

Advice Progression and advice

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5 Upvotes

Anything I can fix on my take off? First photo was about 2 weeks ago on a 155 and 2nd photo was last practice on a 175. I feel better but looking at the photo and can’t help but feel something is wrong.


r/polevaulting 5d ago

Film Critique Any advice is appreciated

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22 Upvotes

I've been trying to figure out how to get out of my habit of not really jumping and not inverting correctly. Any tips?


r/polevaulting 4d ago

Advice tips to fix my jump

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2 Upvotes

Been in a slump for the past week, was really trying to work on my pole drop as I was running with the pole about my head the last 4 steps. But even with my plant better than it was, I still feel underneath and can’t finish the jump. Any advice will be appreciated.


r/polevaulting 5d ago

Advice Help with swinging during takeoff

2 Upvotes

Hi, I am a second year pole vaulter and I have issues with swinging too early during takeoff. This kills my momentum and I end up hitting the bar/bungee. My current PR is 8’2 (2.5m) and Im trying to get to at least 10’0 (3.3m) by the end of the season. What can I do to fix this issue?

TL;DR: What can I do to fix swinging early?


r/polevaulting 6d ago

General advice is appreciated

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7 Upvotes

14’7 pole holding at 13’9, bar is at 4.23m (13’10 I think)


r/polevaulting 6d ago

General question: Where does this sub think you are supposed to rotate from during the swing and inversion?

6 Upvotes

Edit: This question has nothing to do with the turn. It’s all about how to properly get upside down and inverted


r/polevaulting 6d ago

Film Critique 16-1 attempt

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32 Upvotes

What do you all think I feel like a slightly stiffer pole would do the trick


r/polevaulting 6d ago

Film Critique 13’6 pr

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13 Upvotes

Super sketchy PR, can’t believe I cleared that on my opening outdoor meet with everything past the plant being horrible, any critique is appreciated