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What do you think are the essentials in breaking school records?
also, what are some things that hinder us?

Things that I believe attribute to school/national records - Talent, hard work, a good mark in competition, willing ness to train and be able to compete at that level, discipline to do what’s right (getting to bed and sleeping, not drinking, eating properly etc...)

Things that hinder those records being broken - Competition day conditions, facility condition, event staff, some times poor attitude, failure to show up and compete.... and Not Ever Trying....

Haverford123 wrote:What do you think are the essentials in breaking school records?
also, what are some things that hinder us?

Focusing on school records should be secondary to focusing on personal records. Some schools have really weak records that are easy to break, others have super high records that are unattainable to most. Focusing on improving your personal best will make all other goals more achievable.

Focus on your PR and strive to jump higher bars. I try to PR every time I vault. My season ended two weeks ago and I’m training for next year because I love getting new PR’s and strive to jump higher heights more consistently. I would rather NH then go in at a lower height. At my last meet my PR was 11’ and opening height was 11’ 6â€Â

I think the #1 aspect required in order to break SERIOUS records is to love what you do, and poor your entire heart into it. It needs to be what you live, breathe, and think every day of your life. And not because you want to break records, but because you simply love your sport.

Of course, some people dont need that to break miniscule records, but if you are talking on a state and national level record breaking, i believe the only way to really continue to progress is to love every day of it. If you have talent and raw speed and skills, you might be good to a point. But to get better requires that love.

decent practice weather

Poles.

Figure out a way to jump in the off season. Join a club, go to a camp or find some AAU or USATF summer meets to go to and compete unattached. It's hard to break records or get to the "Elite" level if you only jump the regular high school season. Our season is only 8 meets in 8 weeks at the high school but we have doubled our track season by finding some summer meets to compete in.
Our school record is also the state record so we haven't broken it yet. We just focus on the next 6".

Haverford123 wrote:What do you think are the essentials in breaking school records?
also, what are some things that hinder us?

The biggest esential of breaking your school record is jumping HIGHER than the record holder....

Setting aside the physical attributes that are necessary to break some records, I believe this quote by Mario Andretti hits the nail on the head in regards to this topic:

"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."

Breaking records, weather it is personal records, school records or national records is a great goal to have all the way throughout your vault career. It has always been about getting that next bar. The focus to achieving "your goal", will come from improvments in techinique, speed, and strength. As you get increases in these three elements, you are able to make other increases such as grip height and pole length or pole speed. Look through all the threads in this GREAT website and you will find the answers to improving your technique, speed and strength. Once you find the ways to improve these three elements, you have to dedicate yourself to not only working hard, but working smart. Try not to miss any workouts in your training routine. Nutrition and rest play a huge part. And I agree, you have to love what you are doing, but you have to love the feeling you get after clearing that next bar. The feeling of success. You get out of it, what you put into it.

I agree with JumpinSkiing. Poles are a major part of breaking records and getting better. It doesn't matter how hard you have trained or how much you want it, if you find youself at a meet without the right pole, you may be outta luck.
My son found himself in this situation recently. He was crushing his biggest pole. Luckily, someone loaned us a bigger pole and Jonathan's PR went up 12" that day.
Last year at the state meet, a more expirienced coach told us that Jonathan needed a bigger pole. We bought one (from a 12' to 13') and he jumped 18" higher the first day with it.
We still haven't broken any record yet but Jonathan's gone 15' in 15 months. Is that a record?