by Kevin Lee

Created on: September 13, 2009

Stage One: The Run

The vaulter will begin about 82 feet away from the table. The vaulter then begins to run as fast as possible until he/she can hurdle or round-off onto the springboard. The Run is not judged so the focus of this stage is to build momentum to transfer the energy into a big jump.

Stage Two: Pre-Flight

Upon contact with the springboard, the vaulter is now in pre-flight. This name is ironic because the stage consists of the moments when the vaulter is in air until contact with the table. Technique is critical here to conserve speed from the jump. The legs should be straight and together with toes pointed. Arms stretched out high and close the the head making a figure similar to ski jumpers.

Stage Three: Contact With Horse

This may be the most important stage of the vault as it ultimately determines how well the subsequent stages can be done. The vaulter must vault off the horse from the jump off the springboard. The key here is for the vaulter to remain tight to give enough push off the table. From the contact off the table, the vaulter is launched into the air.

Stage Four: Post-Flight

This is the style part of the vault where the competitor can perform flips and tricks for the judge. As mentioned, the previous stage is integral in determining the level of difficulty that can be achieved. Judging is based on the height and distance achieved as well as the technical form and difficulty.

Stage Five: Landing

This may the the most difficult part because of the fatigue at this point and the importance of sticking the landing after and disorientating jump. There are also boundaries that the vaulter must remain in for the landing.

Judging

Generally, the vaulter is expected to be perfect and any falls, missteps or poor technique will lead to deductions in points.

In the Olympics, the system uses a D and E score. The D-score is the assigned points given for the amount of difficulty in the declared trick. The E-score starts with a base of 10 points and is deducted for any errors such as when legs are not straight or the body is not tight during pre-flight and contact with table. These scores are added together for the final total score. Usually competitors are given two vaults that must be different in the pre-flight and post-flight from each other. The scores from these two vaults are averaged for the final score.

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