The tap

[altius]

Dang it! Are you telling me there isnt a prize?? I am sure The Ark told me there was when we met in Reno. Do you mean to say I have been slaving away over my computer for nothing? I know all it took was a lot of gobblegook and a few big words stolen from other posts but it still took time.

Walking the dogs looks better every day.

[skyshark177]

I am a coach and I have to say I think a tap is a confidence booster. But, over time I think it can get addicting. So, using the tap to move to bigger poles I think would be ok. But, again the vaulter needs to learn to come over they're fear and just do it when they know that they're physical strength and speed has improved.

[Marengo139]

The tap should never ever be used. It is a false sense of security that will casue an injury later. You should only move up to a new pole when you are blasting through the current one. Even then the new pole will be stiffer so you should drop your hand hold until you establish penetration.

The pole vault is a game of inches that make feet not feet that cause injuries

[sghetti]

Altius, I'm not really sure who you are but I've been following your advice. I finally saved enough money to buy "Beginner to Bubka" and its supplementary DVD. I took it to school today to watch it with the vaulting squad and everyone was amazed. With every lesson they would awe, and say something like "I never knew that!" Everyone was so pumped up; we were trying to get Coach to let us use the sand pits, something that we've never used before. Now I'm getting messages from them saying that they know they'll PR tomorrow because they're no longer clueless about how to plant or swing their trail leg. It's brought so much excitement into our group that we decided to practice during lunch before the meet tomorrow.

I know it might seem like many people don't follow your advice but there's those who only stand aside and read what you have to say. Thanks for contributing to this site as much as you have. Keep it up!

[altius]

Aw shucks! Now yah got me all embarrassed. But I really appreciate the feedback - It is a reward 40 years of commitment - that only coaches can really appreciate or understand - to young people in this challenging event and then two years of blood, sweat and tears to produce BTB and the DVD - so it is great to learn they are of some value.

Remember the critical thing about both is that apart from the obvious superstar senior vaulters who are shown, virtually all the images are of ordinary kids - ordinary in the sense of their flat out athletic ability.. Clearly anybody who takes up the vault is automatically no longer ordinary because it takes a special person to commit themselves to excellence in an activity that 90% of the population have never heard of.

Finally there are no magic wands - just the same old blood sweat and tears - but thats what makes it workwhile.