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Hey everyone!

I am very excited to be starting my high school coaching job next week! I was just wondering if anyone has any words of wisdom for a new coach. I just spent 4 years vaulting at a Division I school, so getting back into the high school vaulting mindset is a little difficult. I want my vaulters to be committed, but I don't want to scare them off by expecting too much. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks so much!

FIrst off, good luck. I helped volunteer at a high school last year and it helps to know that some kids are in it to just have fun and others are serious. Maybe you could hand out a goal sheet to them. Ask what they want to have happen by the end of the season and then you can base judgements off of that.

Start out simple. Remember that a lot of these kids have never touched a pole before, so you are going to have to explain EVERYTHING to them.

Good luck!!

Be there for everyone, not just the serious performers. Any student on the team is deserving of a coach's time and attention -- just like a teacher is expected to teach to the whole class, not just the top students.

One of the great features of track as a team sport is that it provides more opportunities for student athletes to participate in the competitions than other team sports. You will have students who will be genuinely thrilled by clearing seven feet and will be appreciative of the coach who helped them achieve it.

The single most important thing is to make sure your kids are having fun! I don't mean let them do whatever they want, but keep it fun for them.

Like Becca said, keep it simple. You may have a tendency to get too technical since you're coming fresh out of being in a DI program. Develop a teaching progression as stick to it. Remember, you're going to be teaching kids how to vault that have never picked up a pole before. It is much different than coaching kids who already know the basics.

polecat has it. my coach is a great coach to every vaulter he has, even though he could just focus on his really really good vaulters. a coach like that can help make and encourage those "OK" vaulters to be great, and help beginners who just have never done it, but have the potential to go big.

I absolutely agree. I coach beginners at the highschool level and in a D1 program. Focus on the basics and stay with them as long as you can. Good technique and mechanics early on makes progress happen smoother. Keep it simple!

Short runs and low grips for a long time. Gradually, gradually, slowly, and methodically move them back one stride at a time. Demand perfection on every drill and/or skill, but don't make them do the same drill for too long or they get bored and frustrated. After they complete a jump or drill, start with praising something they did well (if you didn't see anything, make something up), and then tell them what they need to do better. It's better to give them a cue on how to improve their next jump instead of just telling them what they did wrong.

Most importantly, develop an infinite amount of patience. They're going to suck at first, but if you have patience, they're going to get good.

Thanks so much everyone! Sounds like great advice.

you jump with anthony curran, ask him for some advice. he has great experience coaching high school athletes.

you're coaching santa monica, right? it sucks how they mixed up bay league so now santa monica and west torrance aren't in the same league anymore, i really like jumping at santa monica.

Yeah, Anthony has been helping me a lot. Just thought I'd get some other opinions, since it just seems to come so natural for him...

Yes, I am coaching at Santa Monica. I am also sad that they're not in the Bay League anymore. I've been told a lot of the schools in our league now don't have vaulters or pits, so our vaulters can't even compete in some of the meets. At least we've got a great facility with constant tailwinds!

here is something that i liked about what my coach did last year, whatever workout he gave us, he did it with us. it made us respect him more because he was able to feel what we were feeling as we were doing the workout. kind of like napoleon not ever being in the back of his army but rather in the frontlines fighting.