To continue on the discussion of how I might change my technique today, if I had it to do over again ...
There's a few sub-topics I'd like to raise about this. The first one is what I'll call "
EXTREME POLE VAULTING". It's the sole subject of this post.
There's no doubt that pole vaulting could easily be classified as an extreme sport. It's dangerous, it's difficult, and it takes a dare-devil type athlete to even WANT to vault. But this isn't really what I mean in the context of this post. For this post at least, I have a much narrower meaning.
I thrived on training and vaulting to the extreme. I trained hard - to the extreme. I knew situps were good, so I did 100s of them several times per week - to the extreme. I knew that I needed to have loose shoulders for a smooth "through-the-shoulder" plant, so I stretched my shoulder muscles every day - to the extreme. I felt that the split/hinge/snap/rockback highbar drill was a very close simulation of the split/whip part of the vault, so I did 100s of those too - several times per week. So many and so often that it became "automatic" - my muscle memory took over to the point that I didn't have to remind myself how to swing on the pole. I could just jump/split/hinge/whip as powerfully as I wanted, and all my body parts would go in the right direction - automatically. All I needed to focus on was jumping effort and whipping speed - an extreme jump and an extreme whip. And so on. Everything I did during training was "to the extreme". I'm quite proud of the fact that I left each practice totally exhausting, knowing that I'd trained as hard as I possibly could - that day and every day.
Every meet I entered, I entered it with the thought that I was more prepared than any of my competitors - simply because I had trained harder. I didn't even have to ask them how hard they trained. I knew how hard I trained, and I knew what's humanly possible, so I knew I was ahead of my competition on that basis alone. Now actually, today, I must admit that I competed against some very hard-training vaulters, and most of them were physically more talented than I was. But my mindset was that they might be faster or more talented, but they didn't train as hard. That mindset put me into a mental state of mind during a meet that didn't allow me to concede anything to my competitors. True or untrue, you must BELIEVE that you're better than your competitors, or you'll have a tough time beating them.
You have no idea of the self-satisfaction that this gives me today - 36 years later. Sure, I'd like to have vaulted higher. But I have absolutely no regrets. I surpassed my highest self-expectations.
Just as I trained to the extreme, my Bryde Bend technique was "to the extreme" ...
Some of this is typical of all vaulters, but some of it was "just me".
A high pole carry is good, so carry it as high as possible.
The faster the run, the higher the vault, so run as fast as you can - to the extreme. (This one is rather obvious, but maybe not if you add the clause "under control".)
The stronger the jump off the ground, the better, so jump as hard as you can, as hard as if you're long jumping in a competition - to the extreme.
Driving the chest forwards is good, so drive it as far forwards as you can - to the extreme.
Stretching the trail leg back (a natural consequence of a good jump) is good, so stretch it back as far as you can - to the extreme.
If you lift your trail leg back and up after stretching it, you can get even more of a whip during the hinge part of the vault, so lift your leg up/back even more than just a stretch - to the extreme.
The more your trail leg is stretched (long/straight) during the whip, the better, so stretch it and hinge it entirely straight (no knee bend at all) - to the extreme.
Whipping your trail leg thru to the chord quickly is good, so whip it as fast as you can - to the extreme. Work on the speed of this on high bar and rings - to the extreme.
Getting inverted early is good, so invert as early as humanly possible - to the extreme.
Adding energy to the pole during the extension is good, so PULL LIKE HELL - to the extreme.
I admit to some exageration here, by saying "to the extreme" after each part of my vault. I do that purposely, to make my point. By intent, I vaulted TO THE EXTREME. That was just me.
So, so far, so good, eh? Nothing wrong with what I've said so far?
Actually, there is!
You shouldn't do EVERYTHING to the extreme. For some things, you need to find the best BALANCE. Volteur alluded to this.
As I was writing the description of my Bryde Bend a couple months ago, I began to reflect on what I might have done differently, if I had it to do over again. There were certain parts of my vault that I now realize I was too EXTREME at. I should have had a better BALANCE.
I'm not referring to the "Jump to the Split" part of my vault, nor my whip. Even with my 2008 new-found knowledge, those actually remain as the 2 BEST parts of my vault, even after careful reflection today.
In my next post, I'll compare my short run vault to my long run vault. They were EXTREMELY different.
In the meantime, feel free to comment on what I've disclosed thus far.
Kirk
