PoleVaultPower.com

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site, as well as this sport. I'm a college freshman for my NJCAA div. 1 team. Also bear with me! This might be a tad long, haha. In high school, I was primarily a long/triple jumper. I tried vaulting my soph year, and my hs did not have a coach, aside from the girls coach who told us very basic instructions (row, hold on to the pole, get upside down, etc). I had a random guy from the air force come through and got me to about a 10'-10'6 bungee over the span of 2 weeks, and then he vanished lol. Never competed that year. The next, I tried it throughout the year, but again, with no coach, I only managed 8'0. A few other vaulters had told me to keep up with it, and that I would get it but I didn't listen and quit.After high school I was trying to find an event that I'd be competitive in College, and I came back to the vault in July of this year. It started off slow, with me not clearing anything past 8'. Fast forward to the end of November, and everything sorta clicked in a week training with a few clubs over the time span. I'm now eclipsing 13 feet, in the span of 6 months with a goal of 14'3 to qualify for indoor nationals. I think it's possible, but how should I go about this in regards to my progression? My goal is to get to 15'6 for outdoors.

Note: I actually posted this in the college section, probably wasn't the best place to post. I'm 5'4, 138, but very strong for my size. Right now I'm on a 12' 150 and 12' 145, gripping at 10'9. I'm not sure about standards.....

Any tips/advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank You!!!!!!

It sounds like your training has not been the most consistent until this point but I admire your goals. With that being said I think training consistently is the best advice that I can give you at this time. Other tips to consider as a collegiate vaulter are ways to go about training, technique, speed and strength are all crucial to the event. All aspects of the event must be trained consistently and keep in mind that going from 8' to 10' will be far easier than 10' to 12' or even you're goals of 14'3" to 15'6" feet. Not to be discouraged though. You will gain speed and strength as you continue to progress, but you cannot dismiss the consistency when you do not see immediate results; elites train years for inch PRs.

If you want further advice, post a video or the poles and grips you used to achieve your best marks so far, good luck moving forward! Don't give up.