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Yesterday at my son's meet there was about a 15mph tail wind. Everybody jumped poorly. Even 2 guys who normally go over 12' no-heighted at 11.

On review of the video, my son, who's takeoff is normally on, was way under every jump. This left me wondering if running back into the wind to set his start point left him short and then running with the wind put him way under?

I know one college vaulter who says he never runs back, but rather steps back for this very reason. What are your thoughts on running back?

It is inconsistent. For reasons exactly like the wind, you end up normally a foot or so off when you run back, and even more with the wind. The way you run has a lot to do with your state of mind, and when you run one way, you are not as likely to run the same way the other. It is actually easier to measure where your step should be during practice, then measure it out on whatever runway you are on. Its more efficient. Just check his mark during warm ups, and adjust from there.


One other thing, your step being on has more to do with your psychology down the runway than you being measured correctly. With a 15mph headwind, almost every high school vaulter will feel the need to get to the pit sooner and harder, and end up overstriding no matter how much you move their run back. You need to get comfortable with running the same way despite the conditions (easier said than done, but still true!).

Bring a tape measure, and use some other part of the track to find your mark. Make sure you're running the same direction as you would for the vault. This helps especially in big meets where you only get a couple of run throughs.

You can take as many runs as you want to warm up and find your mark, then move it over to the runway. I do not think running back does much good. It is better to know where your run starts based on grip height, then adjust it at meets based on wind, energy, etc.

Check out dj's midmark chart too.

if you run your step back into the wind just back that mark up depending on how badly the wind affected the vaulters run. either that or have his steps already measured from practice and then bring a tape measurer for the meet. also if your running towards the box and its a tailwind you should be very happy tailwind means more speed more penetration..... usually

In addition to the above posts what should be remembered is that very few vaulters, especially in high school, run the same way (read: acceleration, attack, etc.) toward the runway as they do away from the runway. Have the steps measured from practice and manipulate forward or back due to tail and head wind respectively. I've found that typically 6 or so inches per 5 or so mph of tail wind works. A 10 mph tail wind will push a vaulter quite a bit and 1' is a common adjustment.

Use tapemeasure or feets. Maintain a diary or some sort of book, to write down any adjustments you make due to weather, MIGHT be a good idea (very few athletes have the discipline to maintain it consistently, but all my athletes do have a reasonable knowledge of how much their run-up varies in different conditions (wind, temperature)).
Running back is IMHO to inaccurate a method. Not only is it prone to wind direction, but also running form will vary slightly.