Basics - The Rock Back

1. Once sufficient penetration is achieved, the vaulter should be stretched like a huge rubber band in the "inverted-C" position from his top hand, through his back, down to his trail leg. The vaulter then needs to do 2 things:
1. Row (violently) with the shoulders, keeping the shoulders as the axis of rotation.
   What this means is that both arms -- fully extended (locked out) -- make a wide sweeping motion from over your head - out in front of you - down to where your bottom (left) arm becomes parallel with your legs (hand roughly at your knees, just to the left of your left knee). Once the left arm becomes parallel to your left knee - keeping the right arm fully extended - the left arm bends at the elbow and the left hand travels up the body along the left leg to the waist. At this point the left hand should be on the left hip - and the right arm is fully extended - the right hand should be at the knees (between the legs). This now positions you very close to the pole which is critical since the more the pole uncoils, the closer you need to be to the pole in order to maximize the transition of energy from the pole back to the vaulter - and focus that energy upward in height.
   You are now positioned properly to execute the pull & turn.
   The Row is crucial to the ability to compress a large pole and accounts for over 1/3 of the transition of energy from the run into the pole. It is what keeps the pole moving through the jump - something we call "pole-speed". If you find yourself stalling, chances are good that you are not rowing, but rather have passive arms that lock up and stop the pole speed - causing the stall.
   Also - in concert with the Row is the Swing explained next:
2. Swing the trail leg (violently) in the largest possible sweeping arc to generate momentum to rock back.
2. Keep in mind that you must continue to rock back as the pole uncoils, otherwise the pole will "shoot" you out of your rocked back position and you will not achieve your maximum height.