Ask Katie Moon, olympic gold medalist, and she’ll probably tell you to do whatever works best for you. During her time training under Brad Walker, a 6 meter plus vaulter himself, Katie’s gone from skipping to a somewhat cold start to back to skipping.

We asked you all on Instagram and 87% responded with a cold start while 13% responded with they start their run with a skip or walk into it.

Here’s a great side by side of Katie Moon and Sandi Morris jumping at 2022 Worlds, Katie with a skip and Sandi going from a cold start.

When the world #1 and #2 do it different ways, it’s impossible to say one can only start a certain way. So we’re here to give you some important considerations to think about.

The cold start is the most widely used start today. The vaulter often steps back on their non-takeoff foot and then rocks forward into their first step, like in this video below.

The advantages of a cold start are that there’s no alternative movements to initate the run, so you’re going straight into your first strides. When you say you’re doing 3 lefts, you’re truly doing 3 lefts - not 3 lefts and a skip. However, there are disadvantages to a cold start. When pushing off your leg for your first stride, many younger vaulters have a tendency to lean forward and lose posture or let their pole start falling too early.

When you’re attempting a PR, it can be easy in a rush of adrenaline to take a monster first step or two because it’s all pushing from the quad. This is why many vaulters begin to track a “mid” as they get back to 7 steps and longer and some vaulters will even have their own mark 2 steps into their run to make sure they pushed off correctly.

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Katie and Angelica’s jumps are good examples to show that having some sort of movement to get a vaulter’s momentum going can look very different at the start of the run. Katie drags her left heel back an then skips into her run while Angelic walks into her first strides.

The advantage of starting your run with this approach is that it gets a vaulter’s momentum going before trying to take running strides. A vaulter might describe it as feeling more fluid or a more natural way to start the run while holding the pole. The hope is that by starting with a more fluid movement, the first strides will be more consistent. However, at the same time this is the disadvantage of starting with a skip.

Imagine.

It’s your state championship meet, you’re about to attempt a new personal best for first place and you don’t have a single miss on the scorecard. Your coach backed you up two inches and you moved up a pole. Your up to vault. You look down at your starting mark with the pole by your side. Find your bottom hand mark and pick up the pole. The crowd starts to clap, hoping to pick up speed with the rhythm of your run. Beginning your run, you step back, skip into your run and feel powerful going down the runway.

Exciting right?

Except you planted 8 inches under and had to abort the jump on the new pole. Well, in the heat of the moment your skip nearly turned into a jump.

What I love about the video of Angelica is how clearly it shows her looking down at a second mark. She’s making sure her walk is consistent every time. Many vaulters who are jumping from 8 steps and farther back have some sort of mark 1 or 2 steps into their run to make sure their run is beginning the same.

Whether you start from a cold start or from a skip or from a walk, do it consistently. Whether you’re practicing a short 3 step or you full competition run - start the same. Pole runs away from the pit can be your friend as well. When you’re on the track doing pole runs, be consistent and MEASURE. Data is your friend. Track how often your hitting your first 2 steps the same.

Grab a notebook to keep track of your run across sessions.

Like I wrote earlier, when the top athletes in the world start their vault differently, you’re not wrong for starting your vault a certain way - but, you can train wrong. Be purposeful about how you choose to start your run and train for it.

Measuring tape that can be used for pole runs or on the track: Click Here

If you like this post, subscribe as we continue to write about each segment of the vault and look at how vaulters at all levels approach the jump to the style that fits them.

Disclaimer: I started my run from a cold start.