During Winter and Spring it is difficult to make major technical or physical changes due to the competitive seasons and Summer is also filled with beach vaults, vacations, and some athletes leaving early for college. Fall is when everyone returns to their normal schedules of work and or school, no more vacations, and few if any competitions. Fall is the perfect time to really hit training hard and get ready for a new year. I always tell athletes Fall is the only chance they h

Many times in pole vault we hear stories about athletes who began working with a coach and in no time they pr several feet. This creates a mindset that lead many in the pole vault community to believe in a magic bullet. We all want to believe that if we just get taught the right drill, or hear the right technical cue we too can pr several feet. However this really couldn’t be further from the truth. Once an athlete is introduced to a system and integrated, progress comes from

Every pole vaulter that has ever lived has ran through once in his/her life. Whether it is a once in a moon occurrence, or a persistent problem, we’ve all struggled with it at some point in our vaulting career. Words can’t express how frustrating running through is. Your coach sometimes can’t relate, your parents always pester you with questions about it; you just don’t have an explanation. Something just feels off and it’s not allowing you to take it up. Everyone always give

Hold your coaches to a high standard! I want to start this article by saying that there are lots of great coaches out there that have a system, progressions, and show great passion and commitment to their athletes. The club scene in pole vault is especially great. I see lots of great club programs out there that coach over a hundred kids, up to 8 years at a time. And people who need help coaching should search out these coaches and clubs to learn from them, everyone in the p

When thinking about what it takes to be a pole vault coach most only see what happens on meet days and even that is often confusing because there are many coaches out there trying to sound smart and giving an over abundance of technical cues just to sound smart. So what does it take to be a pole vault coach? There are three pivotal roles a pole vault coach must take on and without understanding and doing each your coaching is incomplete. The technical aspect of coaching is

Pole speed is how quickly an athlete’s pole passes through vertical. Pole speed is a very good indicator of how well you can translate your runway speed into the jump. The athlete that can generate the most pole speed can grip higher than an athlete that does not generate good pole speed. The speed of the jump is how quickly an athlete can complete their jump, this is the moment the athlete leaves the ground to the moment they clear the bar. The faster the speed of the jump

Development of Functional Power in Fast-Twitch Athletic Events In the United States, track & field describes a variety of competitive events on or near an 8-lane, 400-meter track. To the rest of the world, “athletics” is the more commonly accepted name for track & field, because the sport covers such a wide range of feats that test the boundaries of human performance. Typically, the athletic community recognizes the athlete who achieves the highest score in the heptathlon (wo

How do I get on a longer pole? Many vaulters start off a new year trying to get on a longer pole. Most people believe that the only way they can get that next pr is by getting to that next pole and raising his or her grip. Now, never mind the fact that you could increase your push and that too could raise your pr, lets instead figure out how one goes about getting on that longer pole. Let’s say last year you jumped 14’ gripping 13’6” on a 14’ pole, and you would really like t

What is push? Your push is how high above your grip you can clear. How can you figure this out? And why is this important? Well for starters it amazes me how many people do not know how high they can grip? So many people say “I grip here.” What does that mean? Data is always important in training and your grip and push are important data points. You should always measure your grips and know your maximum and average grips for particular runs, 3 left, 4left, 5left, etc. So now

What is maximal effort pole vaulting? Well before I introduce this idea I will use an example from another sport to help illustrate what I am trying to discuss. In the sport of powerlifting maximal effort lifting is the be all end all. What is the most weight you can move for a single rep is the most important thing. And Coach Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell, arguably the greatest powerlifting gym in the world, explains in his book The Westside Barbell Book of Methods that