Coaching Question for anyone...

[skyin' pimp]

i know attig used to fill the box up with sand.. another friend of mine is using it with success.. it's easy to figure out why it'll work.. i don't feel like explaining it.. i personally, just beat my vaulters until they do what i want.. i have a scare on my knee from chasing my vaulter off the pit after he disobeyed.. luckily.. i'm still faster than him.. it took 200 yards or so to catch him, and i layed out flat to the ground and tackled him.. we both got scuffed up.. but, he never landed on his feet again.

[JMP8928]

"My second question is does anyone have any bright Ideas on how to get a couple of girls to first get over mentle issues about bending a pole and then secondly how to teach their body to keep a straight bottom arm?"

i coach a HS team also, and i too have acoupple head cases for girls. Encouragement is HUGE. Let them know that bending the pole will come, and not to worry about it yet. Putting together good jumps otherwise will get them over bars, and soon bending the pole will get them over more bars!

about that bottom arm. I usually refer to a method i call "super man -bruce lee" from the great blake renier. Big and tall on the take off with top hand "like super man", then good strong punch straight up "like bruce lee"... hence, superman-bruce lee

[Kirk]

[quote="JMP8928... does anyone have any bright Ideas on how to get a couple of girls to first get over mentle issues about bending a pole ...?"[/quote]

Bending the pole can be scary at first. Practice on a bungee on your goalposts, until you get the hang of sinking into the pole. (Pardon the pun.)

If you don't have a bungee, get 2 strong boys/men to hold a pole across the pit while the vaulter drops down to bend the pole (the same as if you're doing a hip circle to handstand on the uneven bars). The idea is to get used to the pole 'sinking' and then 'recoiling'.

Also use light poles with a short run, and only increase the pole weight or run length once you get the hang of the short run / light pole.

[quote="JMP8928... how to teach their body to keep a straight bottom arm?"[/quote]

You definitely should not be teaching beginning vaulters to press with their bottom hand. Contrary to popular belief, the pole will bend on its own just by hanging on with your top hand. The bottom hand should just be used for balance. Some elite vaulters do press with their bottom arm just as they take-off, but this is a very advanced technique that should not be attempted by rookies. I would even dare to say that until you clear 5.50, you shouldn't press with the bottom hand! There's so many other things to master before you get to that 'elite' height, and your focus on pressing with the bottom hand will result in developing other bad habits. Just my opinion.

[pv19]

One reason to be under is also late pole plant. Don't forget that.. With late pole plant the last steps have to be longer, because the vaulter has to wait the pole to be planted, with longer steps (longer steps last longer..).