Pikey vault

[tabgymnast926]

Okay well I just had a meet this weekend and i was watching a video of my vault and it was really piking I got a 7.2 on it. that was only the 2 time vaulting by myself so I was having a panic attack. ( Of course ) but is there any drills or anyway to get my vault less pikey, I know heel drive and power but it's really hard for me to fix changes on vault, I do but its a little at a time.

 

[marie83]

My gymnast's worst event is vault - they really don't seem to understand the 'first flight' phase at all - from the board to the table. I've worked a lot at it and they seem to slowly be getting better. We've done:

Dive rolls focusing on jumping up first
Straight front somersaults to land on their back on mats
Lots and lots of handstand flat backs
Fly springs (or bounders) on floor/trampette

Am also thinking about doing the handstand flatbacks with ankle weights on.
I also think it is a lot about physical conditioning of the mid body and getting the bio-mechanics right - leaning backwards as you hit the springboard for example will help overall.

Hope some of these ideas help, but I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions too!!

 

[Bobby]

I don't know if my olden day memories will help, but I really learned to associate the shoulder "pop" (off the vault) with snapping straight into the right (straight/dish) shape. The most useful drills for me were pop handstands to flat back (all at floor level with a thick mat to land).

 

[CoachTodd]

My gymnast's worst event is vault - they really don't seem to understand the 'first flight' phase at all - from the board to the table. I've worked a lot at it and they seem to slowly be getting better. We've done:

Dive rolls focusing on jumping up first
Straight front somersaults to land on their back on mats
Lots and lots of handstand flat backs
Fly springs (or bounders) on floor/trampette

Am also thinking about doing the handstand flatbacks with ankle weights on.
I also think it is a lot about physical conditioning of the mid body and getting the bio-mechanics right - leaning backwards as you hit the springboard for example will help overall.

Hope some of these ideas help, but I'd be interested to hear any other suggestions too!!

Just my own personal opinion but I really hate dive rolls as a vault drill. It takes years to make them stop rolling sometimes. I'm also not particularly fond of flysprings since it seems to have the kids start with their arms up and reach down. I think this leads to more piking than not. I'd suggest front handsprings to 2 feet with an arm circle in place of fly springs. (Just a thought)

I try to get the kids to ignore the mats or table. I even had one girl close her eyes after she hit the springboard and just put her arms by her ears. Her level 4 vault went from a 7.9 to a 9.3. I don't think closing your eyes is the best way to do this but it worked for that particular girl. I'd prefer for the gymnast to be able to see where they are going.

When you hit the springboard, push it forward and bring your arm to your ears while squeezing everything. You'll bounce over vault. This method will work for vaults all the way up to level 7. After that you'll have to think more about the heel drive but if you are doing all of the basics correctly, a front hand spring for a flat back vault will pretty much do itself.