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hi, i am a hs vaulter without a pv coach at school. we did have 2 seniors that were 15+ who coached me and the other vaulters. but they graduated this year and next year our vault team will not have a coach. i go to a clinic once a week to jump with a real coach.

OK, my question is when i go back to school, should i jump at school w/o a coach, probably develope bad habits, or should i just jump once a week at the clinic and spend time sprinting at school.

If I were you, I would only pole vault at the clinics and meets, and work on pole runs and slide boxes at your high school (in addition to doing sprint work).

Vaulting with no coach gets really old really fast, and it is really dangerous!

I learned to vault with no coach...left handed, the occasionally trip to Earls camp. but thats it, other than that Im self coached. It seems to be working, I got up to 15-9 with one year to go in HS. Just look at www.stabhochsprung.com thats pretty much how I learned to vault.

but i was wondering if i was going to improve alot just vaulting once a week.

During outdoor i only vaulted once a week, and saw some improvement... I found this summer, that video taping really helps...you can see what you are doing wrong and fix it without relying on anyone else. I would video every vault session you do, with a coach and if you decide to vault without a coach, that way you can see what you are doing wrong, and compare it to videos on the web. Thats how i started improving anyways.

I learned how to vault with out a coach for two years and I did it only because I had no other choice. For me it created a whole lot of bad habits i.e. striding out at take off, pulling down, not using my shoulders. After a while these bad habits led to a broken pole and a concusion. So my advice would be to jump at clinics and when you are alone do pole runs, running drills and a lot of bar work.

but would you improve more jumping only a week with a coach, or jumping 3 days a week (2days w/o a coach, 1 day with a coach)

I don't know your age or skill level . . . But In a word, no. workout,do sprints, poleruns, practice getting inverted but don't jump by yourself.

My opinion is simply that beyond catching problems with strides and take-offs your coach is also your safety net system.

Vaulters are remarkable athletes at any age but many times the worst shortcoming I've seen is the ability of a vaulter to stop vaulting. As an example, when you are tired, or slightly sick, or have a cold and your ears are full of gunk in the springtime you won't stop jumping. Sooner or later you'll make a mistake that could cost you more than you bargained for. The coach is one who recognizes when you are near your limits whether its after one jump or thirty, or ready to push to the next limit.

Just a thought, but look at the whole set of issues and then decide. Chicks may dig the scars and bruises, but I don't think they care for boyfriends in wheelchairs or comas.

I didn't have a coach last year and that sucked! But I still vaulted. Not everyday though. I would sugguest that you got to the clinic and then maybe vault one other time a week at your high school. The rest of the time work on weights and slide box drills. Like many have said w/o a coach you can form bad habits which is true, but only vaulting once a week is sometimes hard too because you tend to get lazy...good luck! ps. I still dont have a coach and I'm at a college