Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES during the approach run and swing-up. Many, when their feet are off the ground, drop to a full-arm hang and fail to flex the body at the hips and knees. Still more are too slow in the follow– up action of the _free leg, and an even greater number simply will not wait to start the pull until the swing has carried their hips above the level of the shoulders. Some allow their bodies to swing past the pole, thus diminishing the pull and destroying the push-up. A man who pulls too early prevents the pole from rising to a perpendicular position. If he pulls too late he cannot make the turn as shown correctly by Webster in Plate XXXVI, Fig. Io5. All except the real champions fail to get sufficient foot elevation, and many cannot turn correctly because they allow the leg hold– ing the higher positi0n to turn too far before making use of the other leg to check the rotation. The leg holding the lower position must be kicked up and out to bring both legs into a 'V' position. (See Plate XXXIII, Fig. 94, of Keith Brown.) Some fail in clearance by dropping the legs, instead of keeping them high, as the push-up takes place. Some fail to keep the pole– shaft into the neck, or point of the shoulder, and so cannot use their full arm strength in a direct downward thrust. In point of fact, the leg and body momentum in the swing-up should almost carry the vaulter to a full arm extension in the face-downward-above– the-bar position. The arms should be flexed as shown by Webster in Plate XXXVI, Figs. Io6 and I07, before the body is raised to full arm extension as· shown by Sefton and Brown in Plate XXXVII, Figs. I08-I I r. None the less those vaulters who hold the flexed-arm position too long lose their forward and_upward momentum. The pull-up must merge into the push-up by means of the body-turn and the upward momentum of the hips and legs .. Another bg.d fault is to push the pole violently away, instead of usi~g it as a prop for the hand-stand, and then flicking it lightly away with the hand which makes the final release. Finally, some athletes, after releasing the pole, spoil the vault by snatching their hand-s under the body, instead of raising the arms above the head. PRELIMINARY-SEASON TRAINING The ·pole,-vaulter should undergo preliminary-season training for two months. During this period he should be put in possession 336