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hi everyone. i am having the worse experience vaulting right now. i was just looking for some support. i was at a pole vault camp for almost the whole summer and i was jumping great and i got my grip up a foot higher. my pr is 10 on an 11'6 130 from 7 steps last spring and during camp i held at the top of this pole frm a 3 step, and four step i blew right through it. i was also really excited because i got on a 13' 135 from a six step. in summary, i did awesome this summer. after i got home from camp, i have been trying to practice everyday(i have a pit in my yard) but i have no idea what happened to everything i have learned over the summer. i cant get off the ground at all, only on one and two step runs. i come out to vault with a good attitude but as i try to move my run back, i keep running through and i cannot get off the ground for my life. so by the end of running through quite a few times, i get really angry and i dont want to vault for the rest of the day. i hate thinking how i did so awesome over the summer and now i cant do squat. its really getting to me. any help would be great, and sorry for the length of this post.

I know how you feel. I remember at the end of my sophomore year, when I wasn't doin' so great, and practices weren't going well. I had one more meet left which was the North Coast Championships, (which I happened to pr at), and then my coach had me take a couple of weeks off from vaulting. It kills me to take time off, but when you run through all the time, it's just creating bad habbits. I suggest taking about two weeks off with no vaulting. My coach had me take 2 weeks off with no vaulting at all, and there was one point when he didn't even want me watching videos, but when I came back, I was jumping really well. My coach says that sometimes taking a break is one of the best things a vaulter can do. Especially mentally, because when you go back, you will be excited, and want to vault! Let me know if you decide to do this, and if you do, let me know how it went when you go back! Also, vaulting every day is quite a lot! Hope this helps!

thanks for the advice. ive taken breaks before and it really does help. the only thing is that my dad will probably be really mad if i take a break because he's really into me vaulting and doing well this year and wants me to get on these new poles he bought. he's kind of trying to push things too fast.

not trying to get in the middle of it, but have you told him how you feel?

Even the best vaulters take a few weeks off from vaulting in the fall to get healthy and get mentally refreshed for the next season.

After the summer season I tell all of my vaulters that they need to take 2 weeks away from the event. No training, no videos, no jumping, nothing. Go enjoy your other hobbies and have fun. There are times when I'll send a vaulter away for 2 weeks between their spring and summer season also, for many of the same reasons you are mentioning.

I would also do the same in college, and speaking from experience, it does wonders for the body and mind!!!

hey

set your run up according to my "MID CHART" linked on the PVP home page..

run it several times on the track... planting into a towel.. then see if you can "go up" with that same run on the runway..

sounds like you should have a 37/38 foot "MID" 6 step (3 lefts from the takeoff) and if you are running 6 lefts total, a 12 step run, your start mark will be around 60-62 feet..

in my experience most vaulter that can't "get off the ground" are over striding.. and have a poor pole carry.. which leads to late plants and poor penetration.. which results in the vaulter "not wanting to put himself/herself in a dangerous position..

get your run right and your confidence will come back..

dj

Another thing that most vaulters, and especially young vaulters do is tense up at longer run.
Stay on a small pole at a longer run and relax, knowing that you don't need alot of speed to get off the ground.
Another thing that from a couple years of coaching brand newbies is that if they can't take off, you need to make it REALLY simple.

You can't build a house without a foundation, and you can't jump without your takeoff foot on the ground.
It may sound stupid, but concentrate on putting your foot on the ground and jumping up your last step. Action, reaction. 95% of the time, you will go up if you think about that.

Everyone goes through that at some point during their career.

i know a lot of people put this same post up, so thank you guys so much for responding with all the advice : ) hopefully after my little break i can finally get off the ground

the break helped : )
thanks so much

its already been 2 weeks? lol

yes ive gone through the same thing breaks really do help and working on short run vaultin gettin really comfortable with your form then cranking it back to your long run once or maybe once every two weeks recording yourself is really good that way you can point out the little things we tend to forget while jumping