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In talking with different people the question was raised,"why does U.S. pole vulting not have as many top jumpers as before?" I think now a days we have quality and no longer quantity. Tere is Brad, Derek, and Pauli, and you can maybe even put Tommy in that when it comes to jumpers jumping well internationaly. Obviously we have lost some to retirement, i even think Buller retired.Other than that there really is no one else. Other countries only seem to be getting stronger. what do you think is the reason this is happening? An interesting point was brought up about our thinking on technique. Everyone seems to always be on a different page on what they think about technique. Do you think if everyone was on the same page there would be more jumpers doing better. Maybe if there was a place where all of our best jumpers can go and train with someone on a full time basis. I am not saying that our U.S vaulters are no good, our jumpers are great, but after them there is no one. What do you think needs to be done to raise our level even higher.

There should be a post collegiate vaulter bake sale.

Every country goes through ups and downs. Plus the US has had some tough luck with injuries. Both Toby and Tim have lost a bunch of time due to injury. I also think we have a good crew of vaulters coming up and will hopefully see a reloading of vaulters in the US.

also russ didn't retire. He was working on getting Canadian citizenship last i heard.

I agree with Brian...Every country loses vaulters to injury and retirement all the time. Just because we don't have lots of the top vaulters in the world right now doesn't mean we couldn't have 5 vaulters in the top 10 in 2 years. I also agree that we have a great group of vaulters that are coming up that will start making some noise internationally really soon. There are a few good guys I know pretty well that are starting to train with Earl Bell this year that will be ready to hit some big bars very soon.


Chris

That is great to hear that Earl has some good guys training with him. I think it is great to have a good group of guys and girls training under the same system. A system that we know works.

VTechVaulter wrote:Every country goes through ups and downs. Plus the US has had some tough luck with injuries. Both Toby and Tim have lost a bunch of time due to injury. I also think we have a good crew of vaulters coming up and will hopefully see a reloading of vaulters in the US.

also russ didn't retire. He was working on getting Canadian citizenship last i heard.

Wow! That means Canadian record is in danger. 5.61m (18'5") shouldn't be a problem for Russ.

UWvaulter wrote:There should be a post collegiate vaulter bake sale.

Since you mentioned post collegiate vaulting, it might be a good idea for the author of this thread to read Tim Mack's new book. It will definitely give you a good idea of the difficulties of a post collegiate vaulter and it also makes some comments on the European system for developing vaulters.

I have read Tim's book. I know the struggles of being a post collegiate vaulter, but what I was trying to get at is how we make the post collegiate system better. Like the better post collegiates all train with one coach etc.

mjb wrote:I have read Tim's book. I know the struggles of being a post collegiate vaulter, but what I was trying to get at is how we make the post collegiate system better. Like the better post collegiates all train with one coach etc.

Making all of our vaulters train with one coach is neither feasible nor desirable in this country. At no point in the next 10-20 years will USATF have anywhere near enough funding to make a difference for the emerging elite athletes.

A great way that _can_ start to make a difference is strengthening the Club system in this country. I am team manager for a track club that is fortunate to have enough revenue to provide monetary support for local post-collegiate athletes. Unfortunately, most in the pole vault community try to have as little to do as possible with USATF and prefer to do their own thing. If a few of the hundreds of pole vault clubs out there were willing to combine with a well-established track and field club, and tap into their resources (like going to Club Nationals) and support local post-collegiate athletes, I think _that_ could start to make a small difference. If you look at sprinters, a good number of the ones that are not sponsored by a shoe company or a college are sponsored by a club. If you look at the vaulters, few of them are.

We need to quit whining about the things other countries have that we don't have, and quit wasting energy dreaming about what the perfect system would be, and instead we need to focus on the changes that are doable. In the past 8 years I have seen a wonderful increase in both the number of beach/street vaults and the amount of prize money they have. This is the kind of thing that does make a difference and is very achievable. The more summer vaults that are out in public, non-track arenas, the more exposure for the sport which is good. The more prize money each event has, the more our athletes can stay in this country in the summer and not have to go to Europe.

Baby steps...

I agree with the club system.

Well said Becca. I also would like to say that there are a bunch of vaulters coming up or coming back with great potential,
To Name a Few
-Tommy
-Ryland
-Mondishien
-Gensic
-Jeff Ryan
-Takahashi
-Quiller
-Hollis
-Niedermeyer
-Jeremy Scott
As far as I'm concerned any of these guys could flip the switch and blow up some monster bars at any moment. And when it happens I can't wait to see it. Also the ones that are at the "top" now aren't dead yet, never count someone out thats already done something amazing.
I don't have much to say about the system, just my opinion about the athletes themselves, being close to a few of them, and believing in all of them.

you need to include yourself on that list man

ill do it for you
Paul Litchfield is coming off a solid year could make some noise this year

also sadly i think John Takahashi has retired. Too many injuries. He was really ready to go big last year before blowing up his quad 2 consecutive times.