Pole Vault 4

yah i agree with urteos i have practiced a lot with pat and the row is near essential to the vault especially once you get on bigger poles

yeah im a soph going 14' =P

I dissagree with the warning not to "row" it is now taught (by Brad Walker's college coach, Pat Licari) that rowing is essential to the vault.

Well if you have ever tried to swing on a high bar you notice that you cannot swing with your arms in front of you. Same thing with the row. It causes your arms to move in front of your body, which stops you from swinging.

rowing causes one to try to meet the hands to the feet and eventually extend off the pole.  i used to not really row, but after my coach mentioned it, it definitely made about a 6" or 1' difference

it's not a row, just simply moving the pole back into position above you where you can swing to it

Dont bring your hands to your feet, bring your hips to your hands! This requires you to break at the hips a little, but the important thing is to stay as long as possible as you swing.

He doesn't crash into the pole because after his high plant, he keeps the left high and relaxed and allows it to stretch upwards. Also, Petrov would argue (and I would agree) that the left arm does absolutely nothing to properly bend the pole. If the left is used to bend, it simply creates an improper overbend and also gives an improper point for the pole to bend around. Pulling is necessary, as it accelerates the swing and allows the vaulter to invert much more quickly.

Bubka didn't push with his left though. The only reason his left is straight at take-off is because he has a high plant. The left arm is actually very relaxed, and then it actually pulls when the swing up is initiated, kind of as an attempt to unbend the pole.

I disagree, except re. the part about the high plant. With that much forward momentum, he *must* work hard with the left not to crash into the pole. Isaksson added the notion of giving an extra push when planting the pole, to increase the bending action (a natural extension of the takeoff jump). Also, no pulling is necessary - he just needs to "push a little less" in order to begin rotating inwards.