Vault setting question for coaches

[Natasha]

Just curious, how do you decide what vault setting to use for your girls doing handspring vaults? (Level 5-7) Is there an advantage to vaulting on a higher setting?

 

[nevertooold]

We compete the girls on the setting that we feel they look the best on and will score the best on. That means we move the table up and down and I know some gyms/coaches don't/won't do that. To each their own. Our 5's are between 0-3 right now, 6's are 2-4, 7's are all on 4. We work them on different settings in the gym and adjust their competition as needed.

 

[CoachTodd]

I like the put the table somewhere between the top of the abs and the shoulders. I hate seeing kids learning to vault with the table down by their waist. I think they have to relearn vault as they move up if they aren't used to the table being at a height needed for real vaults. Having said this, I think they way the lower level vaults are judged via the USAG doesn't make it seem like they actually want to see good front entry vaults. At a meet, do what looks the best. In practice do what gets the best block.