PoleVaultPower.com

My son is in the seventh grade and wants to start pole vaulting. Where do I begin? Camps? Pole vault training schools? Any information would be helpful.

Camps or Clubs are usually a good place to start. What part of the country do you guys live in?

We live in Ohio.

Contact Bob Banhagel at bob@buckeyelaketrackclub.com . He'll have some answers for you.
Later.............Mike

Thanks Mike

Buy the BTB2 package here on this site (in the 'Store' section), and try to get him to one of altius' clinics this summer. That's just about the best possible way to start off.

altius wrote:In short Portland OR with R Baggett esq, Phoenix AR with Dean Starkey, Oklahoma city with Tim McMichael, San Antonio -near enough with Kris Allison, The Woodlands nr Houston with Bubba Sparks, Columbia SC x 2 with LOJO et al, Somewhere in New Joisy with Daniel Bertolami, Maryland nr Baltimore with Alan Dodds and PP42, Boone, NC with Daniel Isaacs -or should it be Isaacs with Daniel Boone???, Duke University NC with Shawn Willoughby.

powerplant42 wrote:Buy the BTB2 package here on this site (in the 'Store' section), and try to get him to one of altius' clinics this summer. That's just about the best possible way to start off.

PP, once again you're providing bad advice.

A seventh grader that has yet to pick up his first pole should NOT be advised to "Buy the BTB2 package"!

Sometimes I wonder about you, PP. I guess you're just so thrilled with what YOU personally learned by reading BTB2 that you think it's for EVERYONE.

With all due respect to Altius, it's NOT the best way for a seventh grader to learn how to pole vault.

YES, he would definitely benefit by attending one of Altius' PV camps, but NO he need not read the book before he gets there!

And you can be sure that the books will be advertised and sold at the camps ... after he's experienced the thrill of pole vaulting ... so your advice was pointless and untimely.

Most pole vaulters aren't bookworms like yourself. I guess it's those rose-colored reading glasses that obscure your vision when you're trying to recommend how a seventh grader might get started.

As usual, I'm speaking from experience. I had no coaches to teach me how to PV, so I learned the IMPROPER way to do it by reading Dr. Richard Ganslen's "Mechanics of the PV". I wasted most of my HS career by vaulting with IMPROPER TECHNIQUE. Even if the proper technique is well-written and well-illustrated in BTB2 (which it is!), it just can't replace a REAL COACH.

My recommendation is the same as Souleman's: Find a good coach close by, and ask him for advice on how to join a club or camp.

It's WAAAAAAAAAAY too early in this young prospect's life to be reading thru a BOOK to discover how to vault!

Again with all due respect to Altius, sending a 7th grader to one of Altius' camps would be nice, but it's not at all necessary. That's like saying to an aspiring hockey player that he should attend a Wayne Gretzky camp, or advising a young basketball player that he should attend a Michael Jordan camp ... before he's ever picked up a hockey stick or a basketball. Come on, PP ... get real! All the kid needs to do is go to ANY PV camp ... where he can discover the joy of pole vaulting. The EXPERT-LEVEL camps can come later ... once he's shown a keen interest.

A seventh grader needs REAL-TIME FEEDBACK! You can only get that thru someone standing right there ... and walking him thru it step by step ... when he's first learning.

Kirk

Obviously it's best to have a coach of some sort, but what happens when there isn't a coach around and he wants to get better? Should he GUESS?

There's too much wrong info out there anyway... You know that.

powerplant42 wrote: ... what happens when there isn't a coach around and he wants to get better? Should he GUESS?

No, if there's no PV in his area, he should join a gymnastics club (highly recommended even if he DOES start vaulting this year), and play other sports ... like soccer or basketball.

He can join a HS track team in the 9th or 10th grade ... he doesn't HAVE to start PV in the 7th or 8th grade.

Kirk

I think you may have leaped before you looked KirkB. If I read it correctly Craig2 is the boys father!!! Surely there would be a benefit in any adult involved with the vault in any way to have access to resources that might help them understand not only the process of vaulting but also how to go about becoming good at that process. Or is it better to leave our client's parents in ignorance ! Of course then we can get away with anything and they will never know the difference.

craig2 wrote: My son is in the seventh grade and wants to start pole vaulting.

altius wrote:I think you may have leaped before you looked KirkB. If I read it correctly Craig2 is the boys father!!!

I'm well aware of the relationship between Craig and his son, and I'm well aware that you would be reading this thread, Altius.

While I'm sure that you would like to sell BTB2 to every 7th-12th grader's father in the USA that's yet to pick up a pole, I believe that my advice to Craig is very PRACTICAL ADVICE!

I will not repeat what I posted above, but with all due respect to yourself (that part I'm repeating), I think it's going a little overboard for PP to be advising a BEGINNER and his father that the best way to GET STARTED in PV is to buy BTB2 and attend one of your camps.

ANY PV camp will do for him! He's not looking for the BEST camp and the BEST PV book!

He's merely looking for HOW TO GET STARTED!

Let's be practical!

Unless you're trying to corner the market in the USA on PV camps ... and you don't believe there's any value in any American kids attending a "second tier" camp ... taught by an American PV coach!

Kirk

Here's some back yard stuff. Go down to Lowe's or Home Depot and pick up a 10 foot piece of PVC pipe about 1 1/4" O.D. There's his first pole FOR POLE RUNS UP AND DOWN THE STREET AND WALKING PLANT DRILLS...DO NOT EVEN THINK OF GETTING OFF THE GROUND WITH THIS! Get a cap for the bottom of it and glue it on. Otherwise after a few pole plants in yard the end will be so full of dirt, he won't be able to carry it not to mention all of the divits you'll have to repair. If you have it in the budget, go ahead and order the book and CD with the idea that you (the father) will read it. The seventh grader probably won't. He will watch the video though(maybe). The video has some sections of pole carry and Isi's high step drills and pole plant drills that he can do with the PVC. The boy can't do enough of these in the back yard. Keep in mind he won't keep interest for very long if that's all he is doing though. Get in touch with Bob and get that kid off the ground.My first day off the ground after thirty some years of not vaulting, I had a PR of 30 inches (I got into the pit) and I was ecstatic. Altius's average (according to him) is about 80 minutes before a relatively athletic youth can jump his own height. It won't look pretty but it should get him hooked if he really wants to vault. The most important reason for joining a club or jumping at school is that there will be a coach there to make sure the boy is doing what he's doing safely. At this point that is the paramount concern.Safety. So, in closing, I agree with both Kirk and PP. Combine what they both said but don't push too hard on any one facet. At this point, help him have fun, acquire pertinent usable information and keep it safe. Later.................Mike