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Hey everyone just wonderin how everyone is comin along and if your competing this season if you think you are peaking at a right time. meaning not going down hill as of yet, ha, but yeah just lets hear it. or what is the best time to be peaking out during the season, because college is a lot diff than highschool with the long indoor right into outdoor with no time off inbetween. what is some good advice

in my experience the concept of "peaking" seems to apply a lot more in physically exerting sports like cross country or swimming. not to say pole vaulting is easy, but in terms of aerobic fitness, its def. not the same level as either of the previous sports. during most of the track season i seem to improve right up 'til the end, so i dont really know what to tell ya in terms of peaking for vaulting.

i find peaking to be a huge factor in the vault. While i agree that it is not all physical, I do believe that there is a very defined peak. I believe that most of the peak is mental; feeling right, feeling confident, and feeling like there is no way you can be defeated. Almost everybody knows what i'm talking about. It's that day when you no longer worry about moving the biggest pole you've ever been on, but rather you're just thinking about getting over that bar. You think of nothing, it all just seems to fall into place.
The physical aspect of it also is there. Training hard up until a month or so before you're desired peak and then backing way off to let your body recover and build up strength. When you can have these two factors, along with the biggest meet of your year combine all on the same day, you will have that one jump that defines the season and makes the whole year of pain and training worth while.

And to answer the original question........i feel i'm right where i need to be at this point in the season to be peaking in Mid May

My college head coach always used to say there are two meets a season, Conference and Nationals, the rest is training. Consequently that is when you try to peak.

peaking?????
what is that....i just go ballz to the wall every time i pick up a pole
you have to believe that you can jump your personal best every time you jump

vaulter580 wrote:peaking?????
what is that....i just go ballz to the wall every time i pick up a pole
you have to believe that you can jump your personal best every time you jump

I couldn't have said it better. Never forget that your a vaulter, not a sprinter, or a distance runner. We are a different breed, and we got into this sport because we are all a little bit crazier than most. My training partner did not jump or workout for almost a month last year, then went to a meet, and jumped 5.55, which is 5 centi's under his PR 5.60. So don't stress about peaking, just have fun, thats what it is really all about.

If you say that you "peaked" in the middle or beginning of the season, then what are you doing after that. quitting? The whole idea of a "peak" sounds like it belongs in a different sport.

I agree...I constantly improve as the entire season goes on...I don't think I ever reach a peak...

except for this damned 12' barrier I'm still trying to BREAK!!! ARGH!

if there was no such thing as peaking why is the world record still held by sergey, i dont get it , i know everyone on this planet who goes out to vault at there meets goes out thinking of a new PR i do every time, but sometimes it doesnt happen, i think everyone jumps balls to the wall every weekend, but sometimes you just cant get what you want, so peaking does play a roll, even in polevault no matter what you say, after that last meet or whatever you meet you are in whether it be conference or nationals , you arent always gonna improve

vaulter580 wrote:peaking?????
what is that....i just go ballz to the wall every time i pick up a pole
you have to believe that you can jump your personal best every time you jump

Right on

uconnvaulta wrote:if there was no such thing as peaking why is the world record still held by sergey, i dont get it , i know everyone on this planet who goes out to vault at there meets goes out thinking of a new PR i do every time, but sometimes it doesnt happen, i think everyone jumps balls to the wall every weekend, but sometimes you just cant get what you want, so peaking does play a roll, even in polevault no matter what you say, after that last meet or whatever you meet you are in whether it be conference or nationals , you arent always gonna improve

i agree that peaking does play a role.
our training isnt as designed for peaking the same way as distance runners, but i know that i want to do my best toward the end of the season. and yes, i do go out and try go jump as high as i can every weekend, but i think i realized sometime in high school that i couldnt set a pr every week. i dont know about everyone elses training, but i know that i do different things in october and may and that is so that i can perform at my best in the spring. my grip will be higher at the end of the season and i will be on bigger poles and jumping higher if everything goes according to plan. that seems a bit like peaking to me. some of you division 1 athletes especially better worry about peaking since you have to do well in may to go to nationals.

Skyin' Brian wrote:

uconnvaulta wrote:if there was no such thing as peaking why is the world record still held by sergey, i dont get it , i know everyone on this planet who goes out to vault at there meets goes out thinking of a new PR i do every time, but sometimes it doesnt happen, i think everyone jumps balls to the wall every weekend, but sometimes you just cant get what you want, so peaking does play a roll, even in polevault no matter what you say, after that last meet or whatever you meet you are in whether it be conference or nationals , you arent always gonna improve

i agree that peaking does play a role.
our training isnt as designed for peaking the same way as distance runners, but i know that i want to do my best toward the end of the season. and yes, i do go out and try go jump as high as i can every weekend, but i think i realized sometime in high school that i couldnt set a pr every week. i dont know about everyone elses training, but i know that i do different things in october and may and that is so that i can perform at my best in the spring. my grip will be higher at the end of the season and i will be on bigger poles and jumping higher if everything goes according to plan. that seems a bit like peaking to me. some of you division 1 athletes especially better worry about peaking since you have to do well in may to go to nationals.

Right on .