PoleVaultPower.com

This note is to confirm that I am withdrawing from the Pole Vault Power forum. Rather than simply fade away, I felt it would be better to let folk know of my decision to stop posting and the reasons for it. I realise that some readers will be disappointed, others will not notice or care one way or the other while a few like dtrack28 may chortle with glee. However the latter should know that he has done me a favour by helping me make a decision which I have been putting off for some time. Posts take time – worthwhile posts take a lot of time – and I have better things to do with the limited time I have left than debating aspects of technique with folk who have never coached an athlete in their lives and who have yet to discover that a little knowledge is a dangerous thing . Finally when a young athlete can diss a coach who has committed forty eight years of his life to helping young people, by suggesting that a book he wrote was simply a restatement of other peoples ideas, it certainly is time to withdraw.

Of course I presented other peoples ideas in BTB and on this forum – and in the academic world at least it is normal to credit those people with their ideas. However if folk read BTB – and my posts – they will see those forty eight years of experience reflected there, along with a vast range of experiences which few US coaches can have had. For example apart from Petrov, Houvion, Krysinski – all coaches of Olympic champions - how many people even know of Alex Parnov, yet Alex is one of the very few people – if not the only one - to have coached two 6.00m vaulters and who will shortly have a third now that Steve Hooker (5.91m earlier this year –10th ranked in the world last year) is moving to Perth to work with him. And here dtrack28, if his pr really is 14’6â€Â

I could tell that you've been getting frustrated and figured this day would come. Please leave your "stuff" in the site so I (and others who value your knowledge) can PM you from time to time when we need your imput on a question. You've always been forthcoming with help when I've ask a question of you and I trust you will continue that. Thanks again for all of your imput to this forum. You will be missed. Later.......Mike

were all going to miss your indepth post that noone else felt that they wanted to help others as much as you did

I'll give him one week

Just check your e-mail from time to time, some of us might want to ask(PM) you specific things now and again. Especially if one doesnt have your e-mail address. Dont delete your account here so we can still PM you. Unless you want that to stop too.

What a shame! I'm sorry to see you go, and you will surely be missed!

That's too bad. Sorry to see you go. But, as everything else does, things do change, for better or worse. Don't be a stranger though, your words will always be inspiring here.

It can be frustrating sometimes to post. There are others with great knowledge that refrain from posting due to the "little people", people who insist on taking stabs at you. Yes it is an open forum so people have the right to respond, even if it is petty or totally off track from the topic. I have limited my post the last couple of years, but it has been due to my time restraints.

It takes a great deal of time to respond in detail and when some of us do respond we spend perhaps most of that time, war gaming, thinking about exactly how we say it and how others may interpret it and respond.

I am sure that I am not the only one that will miss your posts. Becca has developed a great service here for the vault community. It will be a sad day if we no longer heard from you, as well as some of the others. Your knowledge and posts have been, and would continue to be, greatly appreciated. Even if they are few and far between.

Rusty Shealy

altius wrote:Perhaps it is time for a technique site for coaches alone, so that they can pursue the more complex aspects of this event without having to deal with the myths and misunderstanding which still bedevil the pole vault.

That's what the Coaches Forum is for. No one can post in there unless I grant them access. I would love to see you all use it more often.

Altius, thanks for all the time you have spent sharing the wisdom of your knowledge and experiences. Few others have the breadth of experience and the benefit of working with the world class coaches and vaulters you have.

Your concerns with this forum are well founded. However they are ones that all forums like this experience. We all decide whether to participate or not. Although I do not put myself in the catagory of most of the coaches on this forum, in response to posts, whether questions or discussions, I do take the approach that people deserve my best effort in my posts. I know that takes extra time and it is a personal choice.

Having had the great experience of attending your camp in Nampa last year, I learned then of your knowledge and your committment to sharing that knowledge with young and old (me). I know you strive to provide the best information in a manner that can be understood by the recipient. When that takes more time than you have available for this aspect of your life, a decision has to be made. I understand yours. Thanks again for the time and effort put into other people in athletics and particularly in the vault.

I value your friendship and hope to see you around someplace, sometime, and maybe someday in Adelaide. Until then, I'll keep in touch occasionally; hopefully one of these times to report some vault success story.

- master

Readers should note that in his statement above, Altius missed out the
crucial word JUNIOR (ie IAAF Under 20 age group) in the fourth paragraph.

They might also be interested to know that the top ten male performances by Adelaide athletes in the past fifteen years are 6.00m, 5.90m, 5.80m, 5.60m 5.51m, 5.45m, 5.40m, 5.40m, 5.40m, 5.30m.

This in a city with only one rubberised track, no indoor facility, no professional coaches and no college scholarships.

Alan
I too am very sorry to see you go, As great as this forum is, it is a very frustrating place, so I can understand your decission. But I will miss your posts and your humor most of all.

IT IS KIND OF FUNNY HOW THE PEOPLE THAT NEED YOUR INSIGHT THE MOST ARE THE ONES DRIVING YOU FROM THE FORUM. but I guess that is the way it is in most things.

I will miss your posts but hope to keep in touch, best of luck to all of your new endeavors.

Vault On
Dan

Thanks for your time!