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A series of jumps by Kurtis Marschall at a meet in Canada. It includes his 5.10/16'9" PR. Just 17 he looks like a young foal - not completely coordinated yet! He was jumping on a 16/195.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SpJvkDx ... e=youtu.be

Very good for a 17-year-old, and good Petrov technique!

I also watched his 5.05 in Adelaide on Feb 22nd, on youtube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZeEKB8PEo.

I agree with you that he has a good future. A little scary on the last couple stallouts (after his 16-9), but he seemed to take quite a few jumps leading up to his 16-9. That's not a bad time to quit for the day, not unlike a certain WR holder that should have quit for the day a few months back.

I think Kurtis just needs to speed everything up a bit. And perhaps put on a bit of muscle. Everything he does is fairly good technique-wise, but rather slow through each of the vault parts (after reasonably good runway speed). His trail leg gets lazy in the stretch, and I think he can whip it down much faster. This will speed up all subsequent vault parts.

I know his time will come under your watch.

Good luck in the World Juniors!

Kirk

Thanks for the interest Kirk. It was scary because he moved to five pounds to a 200 - too big for him. - a 197.5 and a 202.5 will be in Eugene to supplement his 200 and 205.

Your comments reflect his adolescent growth status. When he comes through it the next couple of years I believe everything will tidy up. This is captured in my phrase - "What is technically desirable must be physically possible'.

There was tough competition in the qualifying round for Kurtis today.

http://www.iaaf.org/competitions/iaaf-world-junior-championships/iaaf-world-junior-championships-2014-4954/results/men/pole-vault/qualification

He cleared 5.00, but there were 9 vaulters over 5.20, and another 9 over 5.10, so I guess he missed the cut.

He should do well in future years though, as 5.00 ain't bad for a 17-year-old.

Looking on the bright side, there were 5 other vaulters over 5.00, so I guess you could say he's ranked somewhere around 19th-25th in the world, with 2 more years as a junior.

Kirk

Thats the way we are looking at it. We have had many lads at the WJs but never anyone with another shot in two years time.

Who coaches Cedric Dubler in the land of Oz? Was quite the skinny lad to be going over 8000 points in the decathlon. With a 7.74 long jump and setting a PR of 4.80, he might have a nice future in the vault with the right training. I have a feeling that the senior implements are going to be pretty tough for him at the next level as far as throws are concerned.

Gary Brown coaches Cedric in Brisbane. You are right about the vault. I tried to convince Cedric to specialise in the vault a couple of years ago before I realized how good he was in the Decathlon - not sure Gary was impressed but we are still friends!!

But never forget that the decath is a runner/jumpers event when it gets down to it.

Wow! I haven't seen overall technique that solid in a young vaulter (Kurtis Marschall) ever. His approach run mechanics are incredible. So great to see the Petrov/Bubka model done so well in a young athlete. Love it! He's going to blow up big!

Thanks - I will pass your kind remarks on to him.

In all of the debate about which is the best model of vaulting - or even whether there is one best model - I can only restate that the Petrov model is probably/arguably the easiest to introduce to young athletes. So all of our athletes in Adelaide are following this model with some success -at least by our standards. I trust you have taken a look at the clip of Maddie Griffiths in the beginners section. At 12 -and after very limited time -she has begun to demonstrate SOME of the elements of this model.

The major advantage with having such a cleary defined and effective model is that both coach and athlete know exactly where they are going - how each piece fits into the next. This not only means a clear progression but that each element can be transferred easily into the whole event. Not only that but the athlete can understand the way each progression and drill relates to the whole event. So at the moment Maddie clearly does not know how to invert - but with continued work on the high bar and the use of long swings she will quickly develop that ability - assuming of course we don't lose her to basketball!