You nailed the run. The plant felt great. The pole bent, you swung up, and then… you have no idea where the bar is. You kick, you hope, and you hear the dreaded clank.
Sound familiar? You’re not alone. David Brannan of the Alaska Pole Vault Club puts it perfectly on Learn to Pole Vault: too many vaulters “fly blind.” They get upside down with their back to the bar and just hope for a clean clearance. And as he points out, hope is not a strategy.
The fix for a lot of vaulters is the pole vault turn — specifically, starting it earlier than you think. Let’s break down what the turn actually does, when it should begin, how to do it, and the drills that build it.
What the Turn Actually Does
Here’s the big idea: the turn isn’t just a way to get your belly facing the bar. It’s your steering wheel.
According to Learn to Pole Vault, a well-timed turn gives the vaulter visual feedback and air awareness, so they can fine-tune posture and trajectory in real time instead of relying purely on feel. When you can see the bar, you can answer the questions that decide every clearance:
- Am I too close, too far, or lined up to clear?
- Do I need to adjust so I don’t catch a knee, sit with poor hip position, or brush the bar on the way down?
Brannan compares it to other sports that rely on vision — you wouldn’t high jump with your eyes closed, and gymnasts spot their landings. Yet plenty of vaulters don’t find the bar until they’ve already passed their peak. By then, there’s nothing left to adjust.
Bottom line: You can’t adjust to what you can’t see. An early turn turns the vault from “launch and hope” into a skill you control.
When Should the Turn Start?
Earlier than most athletes realize. Per Learn to Pole Vault, as the swing drives the hips up and lines the body up alongside the pole, there’s a critical moment — just before the hips pass the hands — when rotation should begin.
That does not mean throwing your head back to force the hips up faster (a really common habit). Instead, the turn starts by leading with the shoulders while keeping pressure through the top arm. That keeps you aligned with the pole and sets up a smoother, more efficient inversion.
A quick reality check for beginners
Before anyone goes chasing a big, fancy invert, read this. Apex Vaulting makes a great point: once you leave the ground, every jump has three parts — takeoff, swing, and turn — and they all have to fit inside the time it takes the pole to reach vertical.
An invert happens when an athlete is fast enough and strong enough to finish the swing and get the hips above the hands before the pole gets to vertical. That still leaves time to turn and push off. But a newer athlete who can’t do a pull-up yet may see the pole reach vertical before they can even turn. Apex warns that forcing an invert on that athlete can slow the whole jump down and create jumps with no turn at all.
Their advice: the jump speed and pole speed need to match, and the flow of the jump matters more than any single position. So coaches — build the turn to fit the athlete in front of you.
How to Turn: The Mechanics
Learn to Pole Vault breaks a good turn into a handful of coordinated pieces. Here’s the cheat sheet:
| Piece | What it looks like | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Shoulder rotation | As the swing finishes and you invert, the lead shoulder (opposite the top hand) starts the turn | Guides the torso smoothly around the pole |
| Controlled head | The head turns gently — no whipping | Guides rotation and gives you eyes on the bar |
| Leg scissor | The drive leg may drop slightly behind while the takeoff leg stays long | Creates a little torque that helps lift the hips and start the shoulder turn |
| Tight core | Torso stays aligned and close to the pole | Keeps you connected to the pole’s upward energy |
| Dorsiflexed feet | Pull both toes up as the turn begins | Keeps the legs rising in line with the pole |
The goal, as Brannan puts it, isn’t just to turn — it’s to turn with timing, control, and efficiency, without giving up height.
The swing sets up the turn
A great turn starts with a great swing. Learn to Pole Vault’s piece on the stretch reflex explains that the trail leg should stay long and extended behind you after takeoff. When the swing begins, it snaps forward using elastic energy stored in the hamstrings, hip flexors, and lower back. A bent or lazy trail leg loses that energy — and a slow swing leaves less time to get to the turn before the pole straightens out.
The 3 Most Common Turn Errors
Here are the big ones Learn to Pole Vault calls out, plus what they cost you:
1. Turning too late
- Leaves you blind — or forces you to drop your feet just to find the bar
- Kills your chance to make final adjustments
- Raises the odds of clipping the bar with your hips or thighs, since the body is much wider sideways than front-to-back
2. Throwing the head back
- Cuts off your vision and breaks your alignment with the pole
- Fires up the back chain (glutes, hamstrings, spinal extensors), which can pull the legs into the bar
3. The passive turn
- Riding the pole’s recoil and never actively starting the rotation leads to inconsistent results
- Going passive can open a gap between you and the pole, costing lift and pushing you off a vertical path
If you see any of these on video, you’ve found your next practice focus.
Drills to Build an Early Turn
Good news — you don’t need a full pit session to work on this. Learn to Pole Vault recommends:
- Soft-bend turn drills — focus on shoulder rotation and spotting the bar, without whipping the head back.
- Overhead bar visual tracking — trains athletes to find the bar early during the inversion.
- Bubka-initiated turn series — Bubka drills on a high bar or rings to coordinate the inversion with the shoulder turn.
- Film review with timing cues — pause the video and check when the turn starts relative to pole recoil and when the bar comes into view.
For the swing that feeds the turn, the same site suggests high-bar swing-ups with a long trail leg and a quick snap at the top, plus video of takeoffs to check how long the trail leg stays extended.
Coach tip: Pair these with the Apex reminder above. If an athlete can’t reach the turn before the pole hits vertical, spend more time on strength, speed, and swing first. The turn will come.
Steer Your Vault, Don’t Just Ride It
The vault isn’t over when you’re upside down — Brannan argues that’s where it really begins. Start the turn with your shoulders, keep your head calm, stay tight to the pole, and get your eyes on that bar early. Done well, the turn becomes your steering mechanism, letting you peak where you choose.
And when your turn gets sharper and you’re ready to move up, the right pole makes a huge difference. TetonVault carries UST-ESSX, Gill Pacer, and FiberSport poles, so we can match you to the right length and weight no matter which brand fits your jump best. Browse our poles, or reach out to Coach Dopp with questions about technique, sizing, or your next step up. Now go get upside down — and keep your eyes open!
