The Vaulting Table

  Much of the attention surrounding the table has been pros and cons, discussion about why they had to change it, and complaints, especially from younger female gymnasts and coaches, about having to retrain the gymnasts because of the new design. I will leave that to the side. I believe the table to be a great new piece of apparatus that should contribute volumes to the sport, just as FIG intended it to.

  What I intend to do is focus on the training of each vaulting style in relationship to the table. I hope to provide some pictures and training aids for each style of vault that can be used by any coach to derive training methods from. I will also give informational links and articles that I feel are interesting or important to understanding the use of the table.

  By now everyone in the gymnastics community should have heard or read why FIG commissioned the new vaulting apparatus. FIG was looking to decrease the the stress on the joints (wrists, elbows and shoulders) during vaulting, increase the technical mastery of the current repertoire thereby making it safer to vault, and allowing greater room for variations of the current repertoire. There were other considerations, such as making the Yurchenko vaulting style safer and creating common technique standards for each vaulting style across men's and women's gymnastics.

  FIG's specific demands to developers were:
  • A wide and safe push-off area
  • Suitable for men and women
  • Equal dynamics over the entire surface
  • Safe in collision situations

  The transition from the horse to the table is actually rather simple for male gymnasts of any level. It is comparable to long horse vaulting with only slight modifications to preflight, support, and postflight angles. The transition can generally be made within one day's workout, provided the gymnasts already has a firm grasp of the proper run, preflight, support and postflight for vaulting.

  For female gymnasts, especially higher level ones, the transition is more difficult. The table requires female gymnasts to almost totally abandon their present techniques for forward and backward handspring vaults, Kasamatsu and Tsukahara vaults. They must now look to the men's Code Of Points for proper body positioning (preflight, support, postflight) in each vaulting group. The only style that slightly conforms to the table is the Yurchenko, but even then body positioning must be changed slightly to ensure proper technique.

  Younger gymnasts have very little trouble acclimating to the new table. Since they really haven't developed their vaulting patterns or habits, let alone started training many different variations and styles, you can train them to use the table in one workout. It took the boys that I coach about 15 minutes to really get the timing and body positions down. Now they nearly refuse to vault on the horse. They love the table, and their vaults are so much better because of it.