New Vaulter In Need of Pointers and Help

[jmayesvaultmom]

Another thought....it makes it much easier to figure out what to do with your standards if you only have to think about moving them in one direction...forward!.... My daughter doesn't have any coach but herself for meets...she has to make the decisions. If you vault in practice with them all the way back it gives you something to shoot for...it forces you to try to penetrate and "move the pole on through" and give the pole a chance to work for you. Pretty easy to tell that you need to move to the next pole if you "blow through" with your standards all the way back. Then if you move to the next pole, you might want to move them up to 75cm for the first jump(I'd have to look at the conversion for inches) depending upon the difference in flex of one pole to another. If you have very little difference in the flex ratings of your series of poles, you might not even want to move them up at all when changing to a bigger pole... Just trying to point out that there are a lot of factors to consider and the flex ratings and weight ratings of your poles also tie in with where you put your standards... (Too many things to think about )

[PvaultinGirl]

i don't think that having the standards close is a problem. and i am not even going to say what mine are because if you cringe at 18 then you might die if i said what mine are . anyways, i have never ever missed the mat, knocked the bar on the way up, i've always managed to land safely in the middle and i haven't moved my standards at all. i know lots of hs vaulters who have their standards as close as 17 or even 15 and they do awsome. and then again...i see a lot of hs vaulters in my area that have thier standards at about 20 and they never clear anything because they are too far back. i just don't see why it's a big deal (for young vaulters who are just starting out). but hey, whatever floats yer boat. lol

[wacky274]

To me when I see close standards, especially closer than 18" it means that the vaulter is rocking back right after planting, and are driving very little, if at all. True, if you land in the middle, so be it, but if you plan on continuing vaulting, I feel it is best to at least train with the standards back. This will help greatly later on with being able to get on bigger poles, and it will help keep vaulting safer in my opinion. I would see absolutely no problem with highschool standards being limited to 18", because though there are circumstances which call for the standards to be closer, I feel especially for HS vaulters, they need to be able to get that deep in the pit.

[PvaultinGirl]

good point. however i feel as though on of my stronger points is my drive and i have never been told that i have any sort of problems w/ it before. i see your point alrighty and maybe i would try and practice w/ my standards back farther except that no school withing an hour of me has mats. therefore i will keep my standards as they are. i have considered moving them back before and i know that when i get higher i definitly will do that but as long as i am matless so to speak ( lol) i think it best to play it hrrmmm....safe? ( well, "safe" as in : i know that they will work until i can practice otherwise)

[wacky274]

good deal, just stay safe