Topic: Feet position in jumping

[vector40]

Would you say that most people start out leaving the ground for a vault with a two-footed hop, because it's easier, but that the ideal goal is to always be able to jump off one foot, so you can transition seamlessly from a run?

This probably applies to gap jumps and other forms of jumping as well.

[Acewall]

I would agree and say that a one foot take off is the best way to go. Generally. I think Demon has a video about the best way to aproach a vault...I just don't know where it is. BUT I also think, but I'm not sure, that you can block for some vault. I've used the blocking technique to monkey a fence I couldn't do off one foot.

[ZacharyCohn]

I like to train everything split foot and doublefoot. Kongs/monkey's I tend to do doublefoot, but most other vaults I prefer split foot.

[Jus7in]

I learned my feet position from Demon and and Matt(Kannigisia or something) they do a skip kind of entry, where you run take a small hop on one foot then follow it by both feet landing right after the other with the hopping foot trailing.

[Steven Low]

1-2-skip-1-2-vault

Another one that works is kind of like a split foot takeoff instead of a double foot together one. It's a bit of a mix between the single foot takeoff and a double foot because it rocks from one foot to the other so quickly it seems like a double foot takeoff with feet split apart.

I find myself alternating between this one and the above pretty seamlessly.. not sure if there's any increase in power or anything. I'll have to test it out some more.

[vector40]

Steve, what do you think the reason is for the compulsion to modify the launch at all? Isn't it physiologically sound that you could get equivalent, or at least near-equivalent power by simply using your last step in a regular run as your jump? Isn't that what long jumpers do?

Perhaps not if you're jumping for height, but for distance at least, which seems to be the usual thing.

[Steven Low]

I'm not sure what you mean?

For a long jump you're definitely going to want to take off on one foot mainly because it's out of a run and you maintain the forward momentum which gives you most of your distance.

For a high jump it's easier to get more height off two than one depending on the height of said vaults like kongs (besides techniques like fosberry (sp?) flops). Going off of one for the pretty much chest high and lower ones it's probably more efficient to go off one to maintain forward momentum. Split foot like I described above is a hybrid of one and double foot takeoffs which allows more height at the expense of distance generally speaking.

I think I covered that, eh?

[Muse_of_Fire]

Sorta off-topic, but kinda goofy.

When I was on my kong obsession, I was working on the split-footed takeoff, and I found myself counting, as if to music, as if I were dancing. So in my approach I'd count in my head, "one, two, three-and-a-four..."

It actually helped we with the timing and will probably be something I go back to when I start training kongs again.

I just found it amusing that my natural instinct was to count and move to the rhythm of the counts.

[vector40]

I gues I'm just imagining that the best vault the one that blends smoothest with your running, by which logic any deviation from your regular cadence is disadvantageous. But I suppose in many cases you need too much height for a one-legged jump to be feasible.