U.S.A.Pole Vaulting

[Barto]

That's true. Most of the coaches I've met over seas have had full time jobs outside of coaching even in a club situation, and didn't get paid much for coaching. Anyone out there who can name a country where elite coaches get paid full time to coach only elite athletes??? China comes to mind.....any others?

China has elite coaches?

[altius]

Steve Rippon - UK . Alex Parnov - Australia -but it is worth noting that, apart from his daughters, all the OZ athletes Alex has coached had been taken to a good level by other coaches before Alex saw them. So Steve Hooker went to 5,92 with his original coach Mark Stewart while training in a very ordinary environment by Formia standards - and with both of them working full time. The question is, would Steve have won and broken the Olympic record if he had not been working with a full time coach in a full time situation over the past two years?

Note that Alex is one of a tiny group of full time professional coaches in OZ and that we do not have professional coaches in any sport at college level.

[dj]

good morning

what have we not addressed technically, if anything, (with the new and old training centers and at the "summit") that could make a difference or that has not received consideration that other successful countries are addressing?

dj

[bjvando]

That's true. Most of the coaches I've met over seas have had full time jobs outside of coaching even in a club situation, and didn't get paid much for coaching. Anyone out there who can name a country where elite coaches get paid full time to coach only elite athletes??? China comes to mind.....any others?

China has elite coaches?

I know Brian Yokoyama has coached many of the elite Chinese and Japanese vaulters over the years, but I don't think you could come close to calling him their 'full-time' coach.

[VaultNinja]

I meant there system in general. I thought that they had several full time track and field, lifting, gymnastics coaches. They are lacking in vault education and history I think. That's why they reach out to other countries for help in our particular area. I figured they would have a full-time paid coach for the vault or jumping events as well, regardless of his skill or knowledge level. Sorry for the tangent in topic , guess it was a poor choice.

[rainbowgirl28]

When I saw Gao and another Chinese girl jumping at Harry Jerome a few years ago they had a Chinese coach with them.

[bjvando]

I meant there system in general. I thought that they had several full time track and field, lifting, gymnastics coaches. They are lacking in vault education and history I think. That's why they reach out to other countries for help in our particular area. I figured they would have a full-time paid coach for the vault or jumping events as well, regardless of his skill or knowledge level. Sorry for the tangent in topic , guess it was a poor choice.

You are right in the full-time factor based on the stories in this years Olympics. The athletes are taken at very young ages and developed athletically and schooled at their 'athletics school.' They are developed just for the Olympics! I'm not sure if this holds true for all track and field or even pole vault, but as a whole, much of this years (and past years) Olympic teams were made up of athletes training since they were 4 years old.

[baggettpv]

I think the key to successful Professional Coaching in the US is based on the Gymnastics club business plan. It has to occur in a specific facility (preferably owned real estate), have many different programs that generate revenue, reserve times in the early afternoon for Elite Professional Clients, facility must be in use as much as possible and be readily accessible to the public. Now in USATF we do not have the same Coaches Certification Program as they do in USA Gymnastics but if we can model their plan in event expertise then we can continue our improvement in the coaching profession.
Being a Professional Coach doesn't necessarily mean we are paid for what we do. It means that we continue to develop our knowledge in the latest technology of sport, we continue to improve our knowledge of the skills of the events, we improve our teaching methods of the skills, we improve the presentation to others and finally our interaction with others for the benefit of our event.
It's funny, in the last 15 years it seems as tho I have become more of a Professional Coach and a part time Professional Teacher while developing 2 different programs, but based on the same requirements.

Rick Baggett
WSTC LLC
Carpentry Instructor, Sabin Skills Center