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Basically the situation is that our pv coach from spring is the Head Coach for winter track and only has 1 other coach to assist him. The way he spreads himself around he doesnt leave much time for the vaulters and the drills that we do NOT involving the pit are unsupervised. Im a 17 year old senior and was wondering if there was a website or anything that lets athletes coach pv. Im already considering taking the certification on pvscb.com but i dont think that officially lets me jump unsupervised. These are just thoughts and i wouldnt do anything if my coach told me not to but the amount of time he's put towards the vaulters is minimum compared tothe rest of the athletes and our first meet is at the armory in nyc. So any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Would it be possible for an adult volunteer (teacher, parent, former p/v athlete, or track official) to obtain proper p/v certification and meet your states requirements to be an assistant or volunteer coach. In Missouri this happens often, the volunteer must have enough college hours to be certified as a substitute teacher, take the state required first aid class, and I believe must be certified at a p/v class. If this "substituts coach" could work out a plan with the "head coach" and athletic director / administration I believe this could turn into a workable solution. I hope this will help

like 1yeldud1 says, i think u should def. get a substitute coach who at least is knowlegable in the first aid cause its important to have a person who knows what to do when u or any vaulter gets injured during or after a vault. or maybe find a compromise to have ur pv coach train with u certain days of the week and the one other assistant coach do the running workouts. *sighs* ... my track team only has a guyz head coach, girls head coach, and one assistant. i dunno how the coaches in my school are gonna spread the work out among the hurtlers, throwers, etc. i used to sneak out into pits to get extra vaults in cause i feel i dont' practice enough to have any major improvements. but don't do that cause its soooo stupid and not a good risk to vault urself. (plus, ur coach could get in trouble for it). if the substitute coach can't work, then having nurse or trainer can work (even though they prolly don't have knowledge of any pv) but at least can help you when ur hurt. good luck finding someone.

I agree with the above postings. There are a lot of drills away from a pit you can do without direct supervision of a coach, and this forum provides plenty of threads on this aspect of your development.

Once you begin jumping into a pit, however, safety considerations mandate supervision to oversee the vaulting. It also is important to have a skilled eye watching you while you are vaulting. That is what coaching is all about -- improving your skills and technique.

If you cannot find an acceptable answer within the school, you may want to consider a club if you are really motivated to develop your vaulting skills. I note you are located in Delaware. I don't know how close you are to the Philly/SW Jersey area, but HIP Athletics in Camden, NJ, is a great club that provides lots of evening and weekend hours for indoor vaulting. Their clinics are also top notch. Check out their website.

Thanks for the responses I'll try and talk to the school to allow some of our former vaulters who attend a nearby university and see if that'll work and i'll also take a look at hip athletics as well, my main concern was that when it starts to get cold we have to practice inside and since basketball is also a winter sport we are forced to jump in a cafeteria instead of the gym, and the cafe has a ceiling of 12' This works for the newer vaulters but since im the only one that clear higher than the ceiling i suppose my complaints dont matter

chspv wrote:Thanks for the responses I'll try and talk to the school to allow some of our former vaulters who attend a nearby university and see if that'll work and i'll also take a look at hip athletics as well, my main concern was that when it starts to get cold we have to practice inside and since basketball is also a winter sport we are forced to jump in a cafeteria instead of the gym, and the cafe has a ceiling of 12' This works for the newer vaulters but since im the only one that clear higher than the ceiling i suppose my complaints dont matter

If you're inside with a low ceiling, you could work on running from a REALLY short run (2 or 4 steps) and see how high you can jump over your grip.

i like the short approach idea, stiff pole drills work really well

if you cant get into the pit without a coach i suggest lots of slidebox and sand vaultin