Accelerator Drill

By Alan Roark, Vault Coach, Amherst Steele HS, Amherst, Oh

During inversion and pull-turn phases of the vault, the vaulter can, if strong enough, accelerate their upward travel.  This simple drill helps them to recognize when and how to pull to add height to their vault.

Here’s the drill:  have your vaulter hold a stubbie and bend over in the position they would be in on the way up after the swing.  Kneel down and hold the stubbie just below their top hand.

Now, the vaulter pulls upward and turns into the right hand.  One objective is to get the side of the right thigh and hip to the top hand as it passes by.   This turning while pulling action helps keep the vaulter behind the pole on the way up and allows them to stay close the pole and stay inverted longer.

Turn the right thigh and hip into the turn as the right hand goes by .

The following video shows how the drill works.

Note:    Use light resistance at first to help them learn to balance the drill. Then, add more resistance to help train the movement and build the strength to make it work in the vault.

Note: Pay attention to the details when doing a “patterning” drill.  You want to drill what really happens in the vault so when they get there, their body recognizes the positions and forces and can fit that part of the vault rapidly into place in their over all vault.