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At high school meets most of the time in Oklahoma Jack will come in at 16.00 to win the meet, then go from there. He could very easy come in at 17.00 with no problem. I know in college it is some what different , but there are conferences where there are vaulters far better then the others in that conference. Usaually the smaller ones. Why wouldn't they come in lower then normal to be a conference champion instead of their normal height and chance no heighting. I do not get it. This has happened twice this year that I know of.

I don't knw about others but for me indoor my senior year I was tring to make it to nationals. Coming into the OVC championships I had jumped 5.18,5.20,5.21,and 5.26... I needed 5.34 or so to make it to indoor nationals. The competition had dropped severely that year since many seniors the year before graduated. My teamate had 2nd locked up with 14'7, and went out at 15'1. I came in at 16'6 (5.05) hoping that I would be fresh for a good attempt at 17'6. So i came in 2ft higher than the what 2nd place cleared. Me nor my coach really cared if I won conference or not, we wanted to go to Nationals!

This is an example of what other decent jumpers in small conferences may face. And to end my story I made 16'6, 17'0, and strained my hamstring at 17'6,

I also think indoor a good vaulter should always be able to come in a foot below their pr, and a foot and a half outdoors.... And if the conditions are bad then bring it in to a shorter run and come in alot lower...

There are tons of reason why a vaulter comes in where they do, but one specific reason to open past what is needed to win is, that at some point it becomes dangerous to open too far below what your capable of jumping. When the standards are set to far below you, if something goes wrong, they are now stationary un-padded un-moveable objects in the falling path, that can cause injury.

It is the opposite of what you might think. Starting low shows more confidence than starting high. I taught Jack to understand that the lower heights are important for dialing in your numbers for the higher ones. Most vaulters consistently have their best jump on the fourth or fifth vault of the competition. By starting low, you allow yourself to make sure you have the right step, pole, and standard setting without having any misses in the process. You can also be much more relaxed and at ease for your first few jumps while you are dialing things in. By assuming that you will make everything on the first attempt (which you should) you still arrive at your PR in four or five jumps. In my experience, starting high is less consistent than starting low.

Very well worded Tim, that was a great response. The only "arguement" i have is the following. Sometimes if you get too conservative, it can throw you out of your mental rhythem. Lets say for example you open at 17 feet every meet, and then one day for the big important meet you open at 16 feet. It becomes very important, though difficult, to ensure that the athlete still takes the lower bars very seriously to prevent dialing in a bad habbit for the day. Think about the number of practices you probably have seen where a random technical problem shows up, which you havent seen from that athlete ever, and is gone the next time they jump. So i believe that some peoples theory is to stick with whats been working. But I personally do agree with your post, just throwing out another P.O.V.

Without a doubt you should not change what is working for you. I believe it is a huge mistake to do something different in a big meet. Just as the lower bars are there to get you ready for the higher ones, the small meets are there to get you ready for the major ones. If you make drastic changes, you are throwing out the experience you gained earlier in the season.

One of the things I used to do in meets with super high opening heights was to jump a bar I was comfortable with in warmups. I would treat that attempt exactly as I would if it were the actual opening height. This kept me in the rhythm I was used to, even when the opening bar was only a few inches under my P.R.

I am also a big believer that you should never clear a high bar in warmups. The fewer meaningless attempts you take in a meet the better. I always felt that I had a limited number of big jumps in me, and I wanted to make sure they all counted. If an athlete needs to clear a high bar to calm their nerves or to prove to themselves that they are ready, they are already in big trouble mentally. When I was competing I was happy to see someone make an outrageous bar in warmups and then celebrate as though they had just accomplished something. I would think - now they have to do that again, only the next time it will be under pressure, and the one applying that pressure is going to be me.

There is only one jump in any meet that counts and that is the last bar you clear. Everything else is preliminary and meaningful only as a stepping stone to what comes next. Everything about the competition from warmups on should be about arriving at a significant bar with maximum adrenaline, plenty of energy, and all of your numbers right. It is hard to miss when that happens.