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I've been pole vaulting for over 7 years now, and have spent the last 3 years going in and out of what I refer to as "the shanks," which is an inability to take off without a rational cause, or at the very least an extreme hesitation in moving up poles. I've devised many tricks for getting past an episode, but they only work once, so I was wondering if any of you know of a good way to get back to where I was in my younger days, when I would just take off, and not worry about the weight of the pole. I've dealt with this many times, but have yet to find a permanent solution. Ideas?

Haha I thought this was going to be a thread about Bob and Corey Shank

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Haha I thought this was going to be a thread about Bob and Corey Shank

I was hoping this topic was a cure for my golf swing

Bob Shank

Yeah, well I love the movie Tin Cup, so that's where I got the idea. I wonder if wearing a hat with a pole plug dangling from it would help?

Just tell yourself that you don't matter to the world and it doesn't matter if you get hurt. Or just have someone switch the pole while you're not looking... Although that may be dangerous... I wish I had some good tricks, but I don't. Let's hear 'em people!

I remember, the first meet, I was 125 jumping on a 125 pole. I needed to move up to a 135 but was scared of doing it. Well when the first meet came along, the had only put the 135 pole in the pole bag, and left the other one at the school. I had no choice but to jump on the 135. Took 3rd that meet.

Ralph Bender, a German pole vaulter, is writing his PhD thesis on the subject of pole vaulters running through. He presented his results during the Cologne pole vault conference. In his survey 87 German vaulters answered a questionnaire. More than half of those who answered had encountered at least one period (of up to several month) in their carrier where they could not plant the pole. 10% of the vaulters have this problem all the time. It is mainly a training problem. Hardly anybody runs through in competition.
When comparing the vaulters who plant with those who do not, it seems that those running through have a specific fear concerning the pole vault. During their run-up they start thinking of accidents that might happen. They also find it more difficult to mobilize their will power. There does not seem to exist a simple solution for this problem. Shorter run-ups and softer poles may help, but the training effect is not the same. The best solution would probably be not to vault in training for a while. It is however difficult to make the athlete accept this. Usually he wants to assure himself that he is capable to vault and the problem gets worse and worse. In the discussion following Ralph Benders talk, one of the coaches present told from his life as a young pole-vaulter, when he was forbidden to vault by his coach but nevertheless went to the pit at odd hours to try again.

When i couldnt plant id go grab a small pole that I knew there was no way i could be rejected, then i would do a short run and jump, then i would go back a stride with the same pole, and back until i was blowing through so far that I was almost landing off back of mat, this gave a lot of confidence, Then i would grab next pole at same hand hold as on the smaller pole... it would be really stiff but i would go in just because of the speed, but there would not be much bend. Then i just move my hands up 3in at a time.