Letting Competition Get to Your Head

[PaffordPV]

Im Matt
Right now i am a sophomore in highschool and i am 2 weeks away from states. All sophomore year i have vaulted in the 12 feet range and im now back up to 13'6. Last year as a freshman my PR was 13'6. So i havent improved much. i don;t know why because i work my a** off. My partner who is also a sophomore last year got 14 at the last meet of the year. and he now has gotten 15 feet. I think him being so much higher than me has made my concentration drift off and it makes it harder for me to improve. I am wondering if anyone has something close to the same problem, because it isnt competition...its my partner. I usually strive off of competition but for some reason when its my partner i just cant try as hard. Does anyone have any tips for me.
Its a tough situation and i think i need to get out of it quickly before i fall behind, because i want to do it in college....and i don't want to pay for schooling, ahaha.
I've also tried reading the book "mind gym" for sports phsycology but it hasnt seemed to help, as much as i believe in myself and stay positive nothing ever works out, this is the first time ive said anything negative about myself since sometime during the winter season.

[whoadude42]

well, i dont know if this is the exact situation that you are talking about, but i have a had sort of a similar problem. Just yesterday we had a big meet and i usually dont get nervous at meets but at this one i did. there is a new girl vaulting this year and she is really good. i think i was nervous that she was going to do better then me and i would lose my varsity spot. i got super nervous and ended up doing horrible and was very frustrated afterwards. Today there was a really small jv meet and i just vaulted in it for practice but decided i just needed to relax. i ended up going a foot and half higher.
i guess what i am trying to say is just try your best to relax and dont worry how other people are doing, just worry about yourself

[vault3rb0y]

Who coaches you guys? they should give you some insight to help you.

But my vaulting partner last year was the national champion, and he would consistently be coming in when i was getting out around 16'. It motivated the crap out of me, and he would show me that things can be done. It should give you more confidence to jump with someone going a little higher than you. If he isnt way more athletic than you, you should have a mindset of "hey... i can do that too". You may have trained your A** off, but are you doing the important steps to see results? Running and lifting early in the season a lot, and working on your pole carry and technique are vital to see results. Sometimes if you get stuck doing things a certain way in the pole vault, even if you get faster and stronger your technique keeps you from going higher. Just a thought, i havent seen you jump before, so i dont really know.

If you are serious about vaulting in college, first thing is first- it has to be because you love pole vault, not because you want money for college. Depending on where you want to go academically, you might not get any money. Even as a 16'+ vaulter, some programs just dont have the money in their current recruiting cycle. So accept that you might not get any money.... at first. They can always give more when you get there. Last thing, if you are serious about being good in college, make sure you are training with a coach who knows his/her stuff and can produce technically sound, quality vaulters. Thats a key. Anyway, good luck with everything!

[accept fear]

the thing about pole vaulting, unlike any other sport, is you are not supposed to think during the meets. practice is the time for thinking about your jump and fine tuning your form. its hard to actually get better at meets. before you jump just clear your mind. know that you can do it, you do it every day in practice, nothing has changed, so dont think about it. the best way to do this (at least for me) is to talk to someone else inbetween vaults. it dosent have to be about vaulting, just any happy topic. also, dont look at the bar before you jump, it just psychs yourself out. another way to clear your mind before your jump is by counting your steps. that will force you to only consentrate on that.

this is just what works for me. i actually had close to the same problem earlyer this year. just dont think

[powerplant42]

BEWARE: Counting steps, unless already engrained in your head, shouldn't be done by more experienced vaulters. It messes with what your brain SHOULD be focused on: clearing the bar. Also, I would actually discourage talking to people in between vaults unless you're at an enormous meet. It can be relaxing, but ultimately distract you. You should just go chill out and visualize your next jump while you still have 3 or 4 jumpers before you to go. This gets you ready to jump!

[rainbowgirl28]

Also, I would actually discourage talking to people in between vaults unless you're at an enormous meet. It can be relaxing, but ultimately distract you. You should just go chill out and visualize your next jump while you still have 3 or 4 jumpers before you to go. This gets you ready to jump!

That's different for everyone. Some people vault better when they are slightly distracted and not overanalyzing their jump.

[GiVaulter09]

I agree with becca... I like to be relaxed and having a good time when im vaulting not just over thinking everything.(since I tended to be a very mental vaulter before this season).