Concrete/Hard surfaces

[indestructo]

My first tactic when I come across a substandard pit is to work up the chain of command. In other words, I make a big stink about it. I'll talk to my head coach to let him know whats going on and to tell the opposing head coach. I'll talk to the opposing vault coach, ask him where I can get ahold of some pads to cover the concrete. I'll also grab the field judge and explain what we're dealing with. This year was the first year that the official DQ'd a pit initially. It had been jumped on 4 times before our meet, until I got there. We were able to round up enough padding to safely cover everything, but it took a "big stink" to get it done.

This should be a coaches #1 responsibility. Its good to have these conversations on here. Its amazing how many coaches I see don't pay any attention to these details...

Another one to throw in here.... kids working the standards at meets, especially where the standard base pads don't fit quite right and make it tough to move the standards. I can't tell you how many times I see the outside standard base pad left open and/or the kid sitting on it. This needs to be watched and corrected. And thats not just for my jumpers, I will hound on them until they leave them closed for everyone.