Pole Grip Space

By Alan Roark

Vault coach, Amherst Steele HS, Amherst, Ohio

Everyone knows the basics about the right hand faces up and the left hand faces down when you carry a pole during the run.  This article covers the space between the hands.

The pole grip affects all phases of the vault from how fast you can run to how much power you have getting shot off the top. 

I believe the optimum grip space for most vaulters is “shoulder width” between the hands.  If the hands are too far apart it’s easy to take off and get the pole bent, but it’s harder to swing up and get any power in the pull turn.  If the hands are too close, it’s harder to get a great take off, but you can get more pull power on top.  A good compromise for most vaulters is to have the hands “shoulder width”  apart between hands.  Everything you do is give and take on advantages. This space gives good control in all parts of the vault.

However,  taking off seems tough for girls, so you might want to widen the grip 4” until they get really good at taking off and bending the pole.  Then, try to shorten it up later.  After your better vaulters get really good at the take off, you might want to shorten their grip some to speed up the top end.  For most vaulters, most of the time, “shoulder width” between hands works really well and they’re free to vault really high.

A simple way I use to establish “shoulder width” is I use 1”  white plastic PVC pipe for all of my “stubbies”.  For under $3 you can get two 4’ or one 4’ and one 6’ stubbie. (fig 1) That’s cheap!  I tape a hand hold area and put a mark around the pole at the bottom of the tape. Then, I put marks at 14”, 15”, 16”, 17”, and 18” from the line at the  bottom of the taped hand hold.  (fig. 2)  Then, I have the vaulter stand with their arms down and I use my index fingers as a ‘caliper’ to measure their “grip number”. (fig 3)  In the picture, Alanna’s number is 15.  So, EVERY time she picks up a stubby to do a drill of any kind, she grips it at the bottom of the hand hold and at her number 15.  After a week or so of drills, this establishes that grip width as feeling “normal”.  Anything else won’t feel right.  (Key thought:  nothing is ‘normal’ in the vault.  You as a coach can cause anything you want to become ‘normal’ if you pay attention to details and stay with it)

After you determine the width you want them to use, you can mark their pole or use one of several helpers to set the grip space on the pole before a jump.  (figs 4 – 7)  Whatever works for them, works.  Go for it!

Figure 1  Two  stubbies  for  > $ 3

Figure 2 hand  grip marks

Figure 3  Measure shoulders size

Figure  4 reach back method

Figure 5  Hand on cheek method

Figure 5 Elbow and space method

Figure 7  Hip and space method