The short answer
Film the vault from the side, perpendicular to the runway, with a second angle near the box for the plant and takeoff. Stand back far enough to keep the last approach strides through the bar clearance in frame, shoot at 120 or 240fps, and use a tripod. The plant and takeoff decide the vault, so never crop them out.
Key takeaways
- Film side-on and perpendicular to the runway as your primary angle
- Add a second camera near the box to read plant timing and takeoff
- Keep the last approach strides through the bar clearance in frame
- Shoot at 120 to 240fps so the fast plant and swing-up are not a blur
- The takeoff is where most vaults are won or lost; never crop it out
- Use a tripod and the same setup every session to compare cleanly
The vault has four phases, and the camera has to catch all of them
A vault is really four linked phases: the approach run, the plant and takeoff, the swing-up, and the clearance. Each one feeds the next, and the whole jump usually traces back to what happened at the plant. So the filming job is to capture all four in a way you can step through frame by frame. Get that and a coach or an AI tool can tell you which phase is leaking the height you want. Miss the takeoff and the most important instant is simply gone.
The biggest single point of leverage is the run-up into the plant. Peer-reviewed work on world-class vaulters found that horizontal velocity at the pole plant runs around 9.4 meters per second for elite men, and that every extra meter per second of run-up speed has historically added roughly half a meter of clearance height. That speed only helps if it is delivered into a well-timed takeoff, which is exactly what your film needs to show.
Why the approach matters so much
In world-class male vaulters, horizontal velocity at the pole plant averaged about 9.44 meters per second, and historical data show roughly a half-meter height gain per 1 m/s of run-up speed.
Source: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, pole vault kinematics (2022)
Primary angle: side-on and perpendicular to the runway
Your main camera goes side-on, square to the runway, the same perpendicular principle that governs every track event. This is the angle that shows the approach posture, the takeoff position of the foot under or in front of the hip, the swing-up, and the body's path over the bar. Stand back far enough that the last several strides through the bar clearance all fit in the frame. Film in landscape and on a tripod so the footage holds still for tracking.
Dartfish advises filming events with a long approach from further away with a wider, panoramic view, and the vault is the clearest case for it. If you crop too tight to see the bar, you lose the run-in; if you frame only the run-in, you lose the clearance. Frame loose and keep all four phases.
Second angle: near the box for the plant
If you can film two angles, put the second camera near the box, positioned safely out of the runway, to capture the plant and takeoff up close. This is where the pole hits the back of the box, the top arm drives up, and the foot leaves the ground. Plant timing, whether you are planting on time, early, or late relative to your takeoff foot, is the single most diagnostic thing in the whole vault, and a close box angle shows it better than anything else.
Never crop the takeoff
Most vault faults trace to the takeoff. If your framing or angle misses the instant the foot leaves the ground and the pole loads, the clip cannot tell you why the jump failed. Frame wide and keep it in.
Source: Frontiers in Sports and Active Living, take-off phase analysis
Angle and framing, phase by phase
What each angle reveals
Match the angle to the phase you are trying to diagnose.
| Phase | Best angle | What you are checking |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Side-on, wide | Posture, acceleration, consistent step pattern |
| Plant and takeoff | Near the box + side-on | Plant timing, top-arm drive, takeoff foot position |
| Swing-up | Side-on | Trail-leg swing, hip drive, staying long on the pole |
| Clearance | Side-on, slight angle to bar | Body path over the bar, push-off, bar contact |
Frame rate and the rest of the setup
Shoot at 120 or 240 frames per second. The plant and swing-up happen fast, and at normal 30fps they blur into uselessness. CoachNow calls 60fps the minimum, recommends 120fps for manual high-speed review, and highly recommends 240fps when AI skeleton tracking is on, because the extra frames cut motion blur and give the tool a cleaner shape to follow. Use a tripod, film in good light with the sun behind the camera, and keep the same height, distance, and angle every session so your clips compare honestly. The full camera basics are in how to film yourself for track and field.
Common vault-filming mistakes
Most useless vault clips fail for the same handful of reasons. Knowing them in advance saves you a wasted session.
- Filming at an angle to the runway: an oblique view foreshortens the approach and hides whether you are accelerating or drifting into the box.
- Standing too close: the bar or the takeoff drops out of frame at the most important instant. Back up and frame wider.
- Shooting at 30fps: the plant and swing-up blur into mush. Switch to 120 or 240fps slow motion.
- Cropping the top: in a portrait or tight frame the clearance leaves the top of the screen. Leave headroom above the bar.
- Changing the setup every session: different height or distance makes a before-and-after meaningless. Lock it and reuse it.
Notice that most of these are the same errors that wreck any track clip, just amplified because the vault is fast, tall, and travels a long way. The fixes are the same too: square to the runway, far enough back, in slow motion, framed loose. The general version of all of this lives in the self-filming setup guide.
Do a dry run before the real attempt
Before your first real attempt, record a walkthrough or an easy run-through and check the playback. Did the last several strides, the plant, the swing, and the bar all stay inside the frame? Vaulters drift their plant point as they fatigue, so leave margin. It is far better to find a framing problem on a throwaway rep than to discover after a great vault that the takeoff was cut off at the bottom of the screen.
Now upload the vault and compare your plant
With a clean side-on clip, ideally plus a box angle, at 120 to 240fps, you have footage built for analysis. Upload it to Track & Field AI to grade the vault frame by frame and flag the phase costing you height, then compare your own plant and takeoff against your previous attempts as you make changes. Want to see the principles a record-holder relies on? Read what makes Mondo Duplantis's vault work.