16-Apr-2021      By Travis Geopfert

Pole Vault: 16 Step Full Approach Jump

This is a 16 step full approach competition jump. You can see here that in the practice setting when we're jumping from full approach, we often put a bungee cord up so we can save time and take numerous jumps in not having to replace the bar. It should be noted that before we get to a full approach there is a long progression that the athlete must be proficient in along the way. There are numerous swing drills, take off drills, short approach jumping drills, and off of the runway full approach pole rhythm drills that the athlete must do before trying to take a full ball from a full approach. Here you can see the athlete has done a very good job of having their mid mark or their coaches check mark four steps out in the right place and the timing of the pole drop is very good along with a very tall high plant at takeoff. From that point forward the athlete does a really good job of creating the inverted c, leaving their swing leg or trail leg back, and keeping pressure on their top hand while swinging their hips through the middle of the vault and keeping their hips rising all the time. To complete the jump the athlete is going to start to cover the top of the pool, going from their back facing the bar, rolling around the pool taking the right hand through their left hip, and as they're turning pushing off with their hand going below their chin.

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