The reverse vault comprises of a 360 degree spin, the first 180 degrees of which occurs before passing the obstacle. It can be performed using one or two hands. It is more of a style movement than a speed movement, but it can be very fluid. One of my favourite uses for this vault is when approaching a corner rail (L shaped) from the outside - lazy vault into the corner, and then immediately reverse out over the other side of the L rail. However it’s also very useful for clearing simple obstacles.
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| Click the photo (above) to download a video of this technique.
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Once again, run up is important. With the reverse vault, it is easiest to take a slight hop before you last step - in the example, my last strides would be right, right-left (the right-left being that you land one before the other but in very short succession). This gives you a slight 'bounce' in your take-off. At this point, your focus should be upon the obstacle, and you should be reaching forwards for it.
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| When you take off, you should already be perpendicular to the rail. Your rear leg should come up off the ground first. Notice that I am no longer looking at the rail - once your hand is placed (or nearly so), you should begin to look around, to help rotation and so you can spot your landing. |
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| As you take off; make sure you get a firm grip. Begin to look over your shoulder. Your trailing leg (in the example, my right leg) should be coming up and around. |
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Bring your legs up, and keep looking round. Not much to be said here!
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Push away from the rail with your hand, once your legs are over (or nearly over) the obstacle. Begin to bring one leg down towards the ground ready for landing (which ever leg is leading at this point should come down first, so as to help you continue stride afterwards).
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Land on one leg, you should still be rotating slightly. If you land completely facing the direction you wish to go, you will be thrown further round by your momentum. Thus its best to land slightly under rotated.
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Finish the rotation, and bring the other leg in front of you so that you can continue running.
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Variations
There are subtle variations in hand placement, sometimes caused by diving forwards into the movement, but the most obvious variation on the reverse vault is the barrel vault. Here, you rotate on a horizontal axis instead of vertical - your back is parallel to the rail/wall, and your feet come over, sideways. It looks a little bit like a side flip.
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