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I am a collegiate vaulter, it is fairly windy at our pit as well as at a lot of our meets. I have been struggling to deal with the wind. It is really hard to get a correct mark for my steps in head and tail wind and crosswinds just seem impossible. I was wondering if anyone has some advice for dealing with the wind? Or am i making this more of an issue than it should be?

Wear a hat or something that will cover your ears. It helps a LOT.

am i missing something??? what does the wind have to do with your ears???
and i have been having the same problems at our home pit

For tail-winds, I'd suggest moving your step back a shoe or 2. Have someone catch your step and adjust from there. With a tail-wind you'll also have a tendency to start crushing the pole you're on so be prepared to move up a pole.

You should never have to jump into headwind, but it does happen. Always drop down a pole or 2 and possibly move your steps up depending on what your coach says, just so you can get into the pit and get some confidence.

Cross-winds are my specialty. Our PV runway is notorious for having nasty cross-winds. Depending on how strong the wind is, you might also want to drop down a pole or 2. I tell my guys that our main concern is to hit the pit consistently and to have a STRONG take-off and plant, really focusing on driving to the back of the pit, everything you do in the air will take care of itself.

Safety is our #1 goal and when it's a windy day, it can screw with you mentally. I usually always have my guys warm-up on their smaller pole and do hang drives. It builds their confidence up that they can jump in any condition, plus you always run harder, plant taller, and take-off stronger when your feeling confident.

Maybe DJ's 6-Step Coach'es Mark should have a "wind-assisted" column, to adjust for your longer strides during a tailwind.

Also, be aware that a side wind will affect you POSITIVELY ... or NEUTRALLY ... if (assuming a righty) it's right-to-left, and NEGATIVELY if it's left-to-right. If the side wind is right-to-left, then you might need to lower your pole down more in the first half of the run ... which in turn will slow down your entire run ... so adjust accordingly.

A NEGATIVE side wind is just as bad as a head wind. The problem is, if there's a mix of righties and lefties, then there's no common agreement on the direction of the pit. On the contrary, lefties and righties can always agree on switching the direction if there's a head wind.

I agree with Tincup on how to handle the head wind. Just handle a negative side wind the same way.

Kirk

11kalnmitc wrote:am i missing something??? what does the wind have to do with your ears???
and i have been having the same problems at our home pit

the wind tends to seem much stronger when it is blowing past your ears, so if you have something blocking that from your ears, then right off the bat it makes the wind seem like less.
personally, i really need to remember to bring ear plugs bc otherwise i have moments were just the wind blowing past my ears that happens when i'm running makes me thing that there is a headwind, so i run through...

Thats.What.She.Said wrote:

11kalnmitc wrote:am i missing something??? what does the wind have to do with your ears???
and i have been having the same problems at our home pit

the wind tends to seem much stronger when it is blowing past your ears, so if you have something blocking that from your ears, then right off the bat it makes the wind seem like less.
personally, i really need to remember to bring ear plugs bc otherwise i have moments were just the wind blowing past my ears that happens when i'm running makes me thing that there is a headwind, so i run through...

Yup. What she said It's worth trying and seeing if it helps. It doesn't make the wind disappear, but it reduces your perception of the wind, which is always a big part of the game.

ok thanks i get it, definately gotta try that here

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Yup. What she said It's worth trying and seeing if it helps. It doesn't make the wind disappear, but it reduces your perception of the wind, which is always a big part of the game.

yay! i'm right! haha my perception of the wind is soo skewed, its kinda bad...

hey thanks guys i will try some of that next time I vault.