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I have alwasy been told I have a lot of potential! But I seem to break at competions all the time and I dont want to be the person that doesnt go anywhere! My aniexty is getting so bad that I cant even vault at practice really! I think the fact thjat everyone tells me I can do soo much better just makes it worse! I have been attempting to get on a 13 foot pole in practice and that now seems impossible and I want to get better so badly! I just dotn know what to do I think the problem is my performance aniexty, lack of confidence and fear all mixed together... Any ideas on how to overcome it all!?

1. Read the thread about "Big Pole Mentality" here: http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=18013

2. Go back to your shorter/lighter pole, and work on your TECHNIQUE! Your focus should not be on the length of the pole. It should be on inching your grip up as your technique (and speed thru the plant and takeoff) improves.

3. Less anxiety and bigger poles will come with improved technique.

4. Try to "succeed" on at least 9 out of every 10 jumps. If you're stalling out or running thru, you're just psyching yourself out and wasting your time. Get back to basics. The self-confidence that you build as you land safely in the pit after a good plant and swing will reduce your anxiety dramatically. You need to lower your grip, and then work it SLOWLY back up as you regain your confidence.

5. In competitions, don't let the height of the bar influence the height of your grip. Grip according to your confidence level, so that you can swing properly at least 90% of the time.

Kirk

PV1328 wrote:I have alwasy been told I have a lot of potential! But I seem to break at competions all the time and I dont want to be the person that doesnt go anywhere! My aniexty is getting so bad that I cant even vault at practice really! I think the fact thjat everyone tells me I can do soo much better just makes it worse! I have been attempting to get on a 13 foot pole in practice and that now seems impossible and I want to get better so badly! I just dotn know what to do I think the problem is my performance aniexty, lack of confidence and fear all mixed together... Any ideas on how to overcome it all!?

My guess is it's too big of a jump in poles and you're not physically/technically ready for it.

What size (length and weight rating) pole were you on before you tried to move to the 13s? How high were you holding? What size 13' pole are you trying to jump on? How high are you holding on it?

Well today at practice I successfully was able to jump on the 13 foot poles but i need someone to stand there and slightly guide my back... It is a comfort thing and I need to learn to do it without..

I was jumping on a 12 foot pacer 130 holding around 11'10 then we switched to a 13 110 holding about 4 inches higher then we moved to a 13 120 added 4 more inches then we added like 2 more inches on a 13 125. But in meets it hits me hard and I cant jump at all! I am trying to stay confident it is just a little stressful!

My guess is you would perform better on 12' or 12'6 poles and that your performance anxiety issues are largely related to being put on a pole you're not ready for and raising your grip too much.

Even though it feels like they are barely touching you when they tap you, it makes a big difference, and that's why you can jump on the poles in practice and not in a meet.

KirkB wrote:1. Read the thread about "Big Pole Mentality" here: http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=18013

2. Go back to your shorter/lighter pole, and work on your TECHNIQUE! Your focus should not be on the length of the pole. It should be on inching your grip up as your technique (and speed thru the plant and takeoff) improves.

3. Less anxiety and bigger poles will come with improved technique.

4. Try to "succeed" on at least 9 out of every 10 jumps. If you're stalling out or running thru, you're just psyching yourself out and wasting your time. Get back to basics. The self-confidence that you build as you land safely in the pit after a good plant and swing will reduce your anxiety dramatically. You need to lower your grip, and then work it SLOWLY back up as you regain your confidence.

5. In competitions, don't let the height of the bar influence the height of your grip. Grip according to your confidence level, so that you can swing properly at least 90% of the time.

Kirk

Excellent advice!!
As Alan would say: Confidence comes from competence

Improve your technique and make the improvement permanent by repeating with as near perfect execution, as possible. Work with the standards all the way back at all times during training, and move up when your polespeed is so high, that you aren't able to make it (shooting into the bar).
Successrate (completed jumps that are technically sound) is a good measure as well.

i was just reading this post and it sounded like me my first year so i though i could give some advice.

are u afraid of not getting in the pit or are you nervous about messing up in front of everyone and them laughing at you?

if it is the first then all of this brillant pole vault minds that have been commenting are right go back to the basics and learn them well. (this actually goes for the second too because confindence in your jump is very important ) also remember don't change things in your jump from practice to your meet (ex. try to quicken your steps to generate more speed (you will normally end up having to studder step to get back to normal))

if it is the second remember that pole vaulters do something very unnaturual that most people are afriad to do. remember that most of the people laughing have never even attempted to pole vault for fear of the sport, and the ones who have pole vaulted and are laughing are probably because they remember a 100 times when they have did the same thing and are laughing with you not at you and i know all of previous pole vaulters that are laughing still have that initial moment of "Oh crap are they alright?!?!?!" because they understand how dangerous the sport is

i remember in probably my 3rd meet i had ever competed in there was one of those lulls in the meet when nothign else is really going on other then pole vault so everyone was watching and it was my turn. well the bar was a 10' or 10'6" and it was my PR at the time (wow i just reliazed how far i have come) and everything was good on my run/plant/swing until the top when i kicked out because i got scared because i had bent the pole more then i ever had before and it just so happened that one of my legs went above the bar and the other went below . anyways while i laid on the mat debating in my mind, through the pain of course, if i was ever going to have kids i vividly remember what sounded like the whole stadium of people laughing at me and i was SO embarrassed. but then i heard my coach speak up and yell, "hey all yall shut up hes doing something at all yall are afraid to even try to do!" and everyone shut up because they reliazed that my coach was right.

from then on i was cured of being nervous in front of a crowd when pole vaulting. everyone messes up sometimes, even bubka did when he was learning. just remember though that its all a part of learning and its going to happen as it happens to all vaulters

hopefully this post helped you and if not well then hopefully it will help someone else who has this problem sometime in the future

You're getting some really good advice in this thread!

I would also just like to add a couple more things:

If you're having problems with your nerves in training and keep messing up/can't get anything right for some reason, I highly recommend you "reset" your jumps. If your 10 or 12 step (5-6 left) run-up isn't working, go back to 2 or 4 steps (switch down poles and move down your grip appropriately) and build it back up again if you can. Sometimes we all lose our mental footing and we feel we can't get anything right on the day - don't be afraid to take it back down a notch and try to get going again. Get your confidence back and once you've established your confidence you can progress further. Remember, it's much better for you to actually get somewhere rather than waste a training session trying to force something that won't work. Now you won't have the option of doing this in competition but what it will do is minimize your negative/bad training sessions, which will hopefully help you out at a meet.

In terms of anxiety for performance, I would have to agree with all the other posts in this thread. Technique is the key to this sport and even your confidence revolves around your technique. In many cases people try to switch poles too early. Even though they are physically strong enough to use the next pole, mentally they may not be confident enough to do so. I would say that most of this type of mental hesitation comes from a person not establishing their technique well enough in their own mind. Perhaps you are unsure about a particular part of your vault? Are you consistent with your jumping? Maybe you've had some bad/scary experiences being rejected by the pole? There's only really one way to wash out all of that and that's with frequent, consistent and successful vaults with a smaller pole. Once you feel like you "own" that pole then you are mentally ready for the next one. Unless you are a fast growing teen or making enormous improvements in technique and demolishing the next pole, I would strongly argue against moving up poles in rapid succession. Again, that "big pole mentality" thread is a good read.

Wow thanks guys this has helped a lot! I think I get my performance aniexty from the pressure I put on myself.. my coach once refered to me as a waste of talent becasue i have mental issues that have kept me on the same pole for so long.. I am really trying to push through it and get on a 13 foot pole! I am doing a little better now at practice with a different coach who thinks i can finally hit 12 soon which has been my goal for awhile.. thanks so much again! Coinfidence has been an issue for me with all my sports and I am slowly gaining coinfidence and it is amazing how much better you vault when you have coinfidence!

PV1328 wrote: ... Coinfidence has been an issue for me with all my sports and I am slowly gaining coinfidence and it is amazing how much better you vault when you have coinfidence!

One thing (the BIGGEST thing) that helped me was to always KNOW before every vault that you would be landing safely in the pit ... so you could jump as hard as you can, swing as hard as you can, and keep swinging back-back-back until you're inverted PAST vertical. If you ever have any self-doubt, lower your grip or use a lighter pole before you jump.

If you're afraid of stalling out and landing in the box, then this fear causes hesitation, and the hesitation causes you to actually stop swinging - at precisely the time when you should be CONTINUING to swing.

Once I KNEW that no matter how hard I swung - even past vertical - I would still make the pit and land safely. As a direct consequence of this, I jumped hard, swung hard, and shot straight up ... and usually over the bar.

In reality, you don't actually shoot "past vertical", but if you're not afraid of doing that, then you end up shooting straight up. The momentum you've generated by rotating the pole to vertical is what carries you horizontally over the bar - you don't intentionally shoot your legs over the bar.

However, you can't even THINK about shooting past vertical (let alone do it this way) if you lack the self-confidence that you'll land safely ... EVERY TIME!

On a different topic, I would just ignore what the coach is saying if what he's saying isn't giving you confidence. The confidence that you need comes from within - it doesn't come from people around you saying what you're doing right or wrong. YOU and ONLY YOU are responsible for your own self-confidence! Once you figure out that it's what YOU do (and ONLY what you do) that makes a difference in your attitude and confidence, you'll learn how to cope with your emotions much better. This is particularly true during meets, but it also applies to each and every practice.

Kirk