College freshman need help ASAP!!!!!!!!

[grantgerard14]

okay so ill start with what i did in high school. i jumped 13,6 my senior year and unfortuantly i ended up over striding on a 13,6 145 and got rejected back on the runway when i was falling i landed on my ankle wrong and tore my atfl was out for about 5 months before doctors cleared me. Now i did about 4 months of training with my current coach in college of pre season stuff like running workouts and lifting now finally it is start to winter season, i was so excited i wanted to jump so bad i knew i was faster and stronger than i was before but once we pulled out the matts i couldn't get off the ground. i thought it was just a bad day or whatever so i continued to pratice now its 3 weeks later i still can't get off the ground wether its a 3 step or a 6 it doesn't matter i just run through I've tried everything i can think of to fix it i do slide box drills, jump into the sand, drill my heart not to mention I'm on the smallest pole possible with 3 steps on a 11,6 140 which is incredibly small to what i was used to, and a 12,150 from a 6 step and again no luck my drills are good do them usually 3 days a week but still no luck out but still no luck when i bring out the bent pole work i just run through we've checked my steps 100 times we just dont know what to do. I'm pretty sure the problem is all mental since my body is in the best shape its ever been. so please someone help me I'm so frustrated i feel like quitting but i love pole vault so much someone help me get back in the air please.

[GasPasser]

Yeah, probably mental. The brain does a pretty good job at self-preservation.

I would suggest you try one-arm take off drills & 1-left take-off drills. Then go to 2-left take-offs, then try adding the swing to the 2-left take-offs. When you are confident with that, go to 3-lefts. Ease your way back into it and build back your confidence slowly.

Good luck!

[flyingfish12]

I thought I would take a shot at answering this even though I am new to this board.

First of all, the problem you are describing I don’t think is that uncommon in this sport. It happens at all levels.

Here is Eliza McCartney – bronze medalist this last summer at the Olympics in women’s pole vault – discussing basically the same thing that is happening to you – “The first six months of last year were a write-off. Even that far out from Rio her long-term training program should have been well under way. ‘It was a really tough and frustrating time,’ she says. ‘It's not so much depression but an athlete's mental block, like a type of mental illness. You want to snap out of it but you can't. I didn't know how to at that point, it's much harder than an injury to deal with.”

Here is a link to the article - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/ar ... d=11724732

Basically she was doing the same thing as you. They ended up starting her completely over. Like re-booting her system. It took some time and finally it “clicked” back. I think the same thing can happen for you! Good luck!