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This year I didn't improve my pr. As a freshman I jumped 13' and 13' is the highest I went as a sophomore. This year I worked on my run mostly and got it down great from 16 steps. At regionals which was the first meet that I moved it back to 16 steps from 14, i blew through my poles that I had which was good but dissapointing at the same time because I didnt have anything else to jump on. Anyways I was just wondering if anyone else can relate to having a bad year, and what yall did to improve for the next year, thanks
luke

Hey man,

The best advice I can give you is to not let it get you down. As a freshman last year in college, I only improved my PR from 13'6 to 14'1 and I was pretty disappointed because I thought I was good enough to go much higher. I just used this disappointment to push me to work harder over the summer and fall and this year I have PR'ed by 20 inches to 15'9 and still have three more meets to try and better that mark.

Now that you have your run down, you can work on your takeoff (and blow through a few more poles in the process).

Just wondering, what size poles were you jumping on and what do you weigh?

You can improve different parts of your jump without seeing a direct increase in hieght, or even speed and strength. Sometimes you just get an unlucky streak of meets, but if you keep lifting and running, eventually you will get out of it. Keep working technique and have confidence that your training will pay off. When it does pay off, it might pay off all at once and you will have a great streak of meets. Dont expect it to last though, accept the fact that you might not have a good meet or even a good season, but that in time you will get better. My sophmore year i jumped 14' in indoor and didnt get over 13'6 until a year later, at my junior years indoor state meet. It happened all at once, and i jumped 14'8" that meet, and 15'6" 2 weeks after that. I ended up at 16'1" by the end of my junior year. I'm just trying to give you an example of how progress can happen all at once, so don't give up hope.

Yeah thanks guys. At regionals I started out on a 13' 9" 155 8.1 flex altius and the next pole was a 14' 160 pacer.

Luke Pursley wrote:Yeah thanks guys. At regionals I started out on a 13' 9" 155 8.1 flex altius and the next pole was a 14' 160 pacer.

i weigh right over 145

one of our girl jumpers has been stuck at 9 foot since her freshman year and she is a junior but she finaly cleared it today. Just keep at it our coach told us that he had jumped 14 foot his somore year all the way threw his senior and never improved

yeah just try to keep positive about things

find good things about each and every workout, as well as what you can work on. keep a list of both and focus on the weak ones. sometimes it just takes time to break through to the next level

i jumped 5.52 meters in january of 2006, and 5.53m in march of 2006. It is now may of 2008, my PR is still 5.53, including over 20 meets attempting 5.55 or higher. Sometimes its just a matter of luck.... or time.

good luck and keep working hard

I can COMPLETELY relate. Your season sounds almost identical to my season.

I cleared 13' from 5 lefts as a junior in high school. However, this year, as a senior, I have yet to even clear 13'. I did break my ankle, but it's healed now. I've really been focusing on my run and shortening up the stride and everything. I'm going to soon move to 8 lefts, but man it's so frustrating! Each time I get to the 13' bar, I suddenly start blowing through my pole, but then by the time I get to the next pole, I can't adjust. My run some how changes even though it looks like my strides are still decent and I can't swing up the pole.

Sigh, I have a total of 2 meets to improve my heights (about a week and a half left). If I could just get comfortable on my bigger pole.

oh well.. it happens man. We just need to stay positive

I had set pretty high standards for myself this year, but even at my first vault practice of the season I didn't feel too good. I couldn't even get on the my backup pole from the previous season until outdoor hit. That meant I basically straight poled all of indoor season and didn't move up my grip until outdoor, and even still it took me more than halfway through outdoor to get back on the pole I had finished on last season.

In the end, though, it was good training for me. I think I cleared 10'6" straight poling and I've PRed by 6" over last year's jump of 11' so far with grip 3" lower than what it was last year. I have sectionals this upcoming week, where I'm hoping to get a good shot at 12'3". Right now I'm a junior, but I consider myself a second year vaulter. Freshman year I ran 800s and only practiced vaulting a couple times throughout the season. Just enough to learn how to hold a pole right. In retrospect, I think I'm doing decent for a second year vaulter, but I'd still like to see myself clear at least 13'6" by the end of senior year.

Hey g00ey I saw you were from Naperville, are you in West Aurora's sectional? What school are you from? I'm from Lemont and i'll be heading there next week.

Sweet! I think I'm in West Aurora's sectional. I'm from Naperville North.

Nice, I'll see you there then.