PoleVaultPower.com

I just started vaulting this year and I'm a freshman vaulter. I've cleared 6'6" and I've been doing a lot of drills off of 3 lefts. Now I have moved back to 5 lefts and I have to pick my pole up off the ground. Every time I attempt anything I always mess it up! One thing is I think my run is to slow (I slow down at the end) and another is I keep thinking im going to misst the box when I try and plant it. Any tips for my run and anything else would help. Thanx!

Take your marks over to the track, and practice doing pole runs a lot. It is going to feel weird at first, but the more you can practice it on the track, the more comfortable you will feel on the runway.

Actually holding your pole in ur hand is a lot different than letting it drag along the ground. Its important not only to practice pole runs, as i think was already mentioned--but to do sprints, going from slow to fast, even without a pole. This will help get your body used to that feeling. Also if you have about 15 mini hurdles about 6 inches high, set them far apart enough so that you can run between them. Then run between them--make sure to keep your knees high and SPEED UP at the end. After youve get it so that you can go from slow to fast with a pole in ur hand, then move to the runway and practice with a bar. A lot of times, it may seem like youre speeding up, but really youre slowing down. So focus on that in all your runs, and ask ppl if you really are speeding up.

hope that helps!