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I started vaulting about a month before i graduated from HS, b/c they needed another girl for a relay meet...I wanted to do it before then (i was high jumping at the time, and the coach was the same and always hung out at PV) but she said i was too slow. I never no heighted, but granted I'm DIII. So by some burst of luck (or bad regionals) i made it to the DIII state meet, where I cleared opening height, which I was pretty happy w/.
I then decided to give it a go in college (DIII again). My freshman year was pretty uneventful..pretty much a re-creation of highschool...same form, same type of pole. 6'' higher PR. But NOTHING exciting. I wasn't really OBSESSED with it yet either until after outdoor conference, where I did really bad. After that, I was fired up...and became genuinely obsessed
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So this year, I wanted to start pressing and doing it right....My run is strong and fast, my plant was nice, i easily pressed and learned it was just a huge mental block preventing me before (mental blocks = probably my biggest problem)....but then when we came back from xmas break in jan, I broke my wrist and was forced to take a few wks off...and came back stiff poling again
. I wasn't in the condition to bend. One practice i threw some bends in, but we decided i should keep stiffing 'til after conference, b/c i can place with the stiff pole...so we did.
Next week is the start of outdoor, and I'm gonna start doing it right...i'm SO PUMPED!!!! We decided even if i can't clear at the first few meets, we're not gonna go back to the old way.
So after that nice biography of my pole vaulting history (sorry) I was wondering if anybody had some advice for somebody practically starting over....i'm at the top of a 12' 130 lb. pole right now, and probably going to move to a 13' 130 lb or 13' 135 lb.
My run's good and plant is okay, but after that, I'm kinda just in it for the ride. I need to figure out how to swing up, etc. like i do stiff poling.
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!
