Perfect form in pole vault isn't about looking smooth. It's about hitting the targets coaches measure, phase by phase. Here's what perfect pole vault form looks like at each phase, what coaches grade for, and how the AI compares your form to the standard frame by frame.
Each phase of pole vault has a target. Takeoff angle. Body lean. Foot strike. Release height. "Perfect" means hitting the target on each phase, in order. The AI grades against the targets, not against how the rep looks.
A frame can look ugly and still work. A clean-looking frame can still cost you. The AI grades the mechanics, not the look. You stop chasing pretty form and start chasing the targets that matter.
Don't compare yourself to a pro's highlight reel. Compare your phase 2 to the standard for phase 2. The AI does this for you and tells you the gap, frame by frame.
Upload a clip, AI grades each phase against the form standard, and tells you the specific gap to close. Not a vague "work on your technique," a concrete read on which target you're under and by how much.
Follow up in chat and ask questions. The AI remembers your analysis and speaks the language of pole vault coaching.
Each phase has a coaching cue, a measurable target, the frames a coach pauses on, and the failure mode AI flags most often. Use it as a self-diagnostic checklist on every video.
Stride pattern, posture, and acceleration into the box. The single biggest performance variable, +0.54 m peak height per +1 m/s of run-up velocity (Schade et al.).
Top hand drives up, pole drops into the box on its own weight, lower hand follows. The plant happens in 200 milliseconds; the timing is the entire event.
Leap off the back leg, free leg drives up, body angles slightly back. The vaulter's body stores stretch energy through the arm, chest, hips, and legs that the swing-up will release.
The takeoff leg swings long and the body inverts on the long pivot of the top hand. Arms drag, then drive forward into the close-off.
Once inverted on a bent pole, the unbending pole thrusts the vaulter vertically. The vaulter pulls the top arm along the body and rotates over the bar.
Pike-cup-snake-smile. The arms and chest cup away from the bar; the bottom hand releases first, then the top.
The numbers coaches grade against. Levels run from beginner through elite, your AI form check compares your reps to the level above you.
Primary sources behind the numbers and methods on this page.
Five common questions about pole vault that come up in coaching.
A directory of every pole vault page on the site, from broad analysis tools to specific phase deep-dives. Each entry points to a focused write-up.
Download the app. Film a rep. See what the AI sees. Free first analysis, no card, no account required.
