Bubba PV wrote:I have something I think we all may agree on - Sergey was a much more polished technician in his early to middle career. After that he augmented his technique with sheer speed and power. Bubba
"Americans show great entusiasm but regularly break the rules of physics. Many are more talented and should vault higher. Our vaulters treat the sport more like a job and rarely disobey the laws of physics."
Petrov @ Reno in 1994
I definitely agree with that Bubba!
I generally find that American coaches in particular are a lot more "libertarian" with their "technical philosophies" about the vault - not everybody of course. While I believe that this libertarianism will definitely have it's advantages elsewhere in life, I really think it can be a disadvantage in the pole vault which I would treat as an exact science. In my opinion, the great enthusiasm that Petrov talks about manifests as a huge drive for innovation where people are trying to come up with tons and tons of new and creative stuff. However, the inspiration of that creativity will go a long way in determining the success of your actions! It's a matter of asking, "is my creativity based on evidential science or something else?" Unfortunately, most of the creativity going on is based on trying to figure things out in the dark - preconceived beliefs, trial and error. The worst offender is by assessing the vault purely by subjective observation. May I add that this subjectivity prone to faults in judgement! The physical theory of the pole vault has no opinions, only facts. What lacks in the US is a scientific theory and approach - much like a science job! Fortunately that's all been done, so nobody really has to do any more of that, it's all a matter of following the theory and applying it. The theory, all of it, already exists because the pole vault is a finite physical science. There's a huge difference between finding answers in the pole vault and something else like psychology and sociology. The former has an answer with a beginning and an end, the latter can have answers that never stop developing! If there is a question there is an ideal answer, however applying it is a slightly different story but I won't get into that right now. But if somebody asks how should I carry the pole? How should I plant the pole? ect. - there is a
correct and
exact answer to that question! This isn't interpretive dancing. People may have tendencies and strengths in certain places, but they must all aim to achieve the exact same thing! It's not a matter of playing to your strengths, instead it is the ability to use your strengths to help you achieve the perfect technique. Do that and you will undoubtably jump higher.
It is in my firm belief however that the US has it within itself to be the most dominant pole vault country. The talent and spirit is undoubtably all there - these are probably the hardest things to get. It's a matter of altering the mentality and focus. I think pole vaulting is less of a 'philosophy' and more of an exact science - this is coming from a person who loves philosophy, psychology and sociology! It is not a matter of creative interpretation, instead it is a finite science. While people may wonder, what about the application? Well, that application won't matter if you're thinking the wrong thing! All of this is going to be extremely difficult especially for a large country. But coming from the US and travelling all around the world I've come to realize that Americans, socially, have an ability to do something better than anybody else - adapt. When will the US wake up? I don't know, but it will be a tremendous shame if it never happens.
-Andrew
