PoleVaultPower.com

As the new season is slowly creeping froward I have started to think more and more about the vault, and then I asked my self a couple of questions which I thought were important and wanted to see how everyone else would respond!


1. Whats the difference between a good vaulter, and a great one?? and don't state the obvious that a great vaulter is a better athlete, but how did they become a better athlete.

2. What are the best/most important keys to pay attention to through out the year?


3. Is it better to be in a happy medium or have a great take off and bad top end and vice -verse?

The list could keep going so feel free to answer first and add on after!

1. A good vaulter listens to their coach and does what they want them to do to the best of their abilities. A great vaulter listens to their coach, decides whether or not it is correct or not (based on countless hours of research), and does what is right to the best of their abilities, then puts in an extra hour of correct practice.

A good vaulter clears a good height. A great vaulter clears their maximum potential... In this respect, Bubka was only a good vaulter.

A good vaulter knows what to do. A great vaulter also understands why.

A good vaulter knows when it's time to quit. A great vaulter also knows when it is not.

2. Respect your team, respect your opponents, respect your coach, respect your abilities, respect your potential, and respect your body so that one day you might reach it.

Be positive. See adverse situations as opportunities to exceed expectations, not as inconveniences.

Talk little, do much. (Speak softly and carry a big stick... and jump high with it... there's your talk.)

Pray.

Be supportive of other vaulters, regardless of how good they are, or if they are on your team or not. Never 'down' another vaulter.

Know the facts as well as you can.

Learn your weaknesses and strengths. Make sure your coach knows them as well as you do.

Don't necessarily care what others say to you about how you're doing. Usually, it only matters what you think.

Remember that a coach can be anyone or anything... If you are accepting what I am telling you in this post, I am coaching you! You can learn something from everyone and everything if you study it closely enough.

3. Does it matter? If some phase is not correct, should we not try to correct it in order of incorrectness and importance to the vault? If you have an excellent take-off, but a poor 'top end', then you have neglected your swing, which would not be training in order of weakness.

Good advice on #1 and #2 by PP.

To add to #1 and #3 ...

1. There isn't a one-line answer that can do justice to this question. I haven't read it yet, but I'll bet the answer is in the book "Above & Beyond: Tim Mack, the Pole Vault, and the Quest for Olympic Gold."

3. I don't think you can have a great "top end" if you have a bad takeoff. Work on your takeoff first, and your top end will improve without you even having to work on it much. Really, it's your "great takeoff" and swing (the bottom half of your vault) that will propel you SIGNIFICANTLY on the top half of your vault. You can gain inches by working on your top half, but you can easily gain a foot or two by working on your bottom half. There is no happy medium. This may sound imbalanced, but it's a matter of devoting your training time (and mental focus) to where it will do the most good. My advice is to definitely focus on the bottom half.

Kirk