The wrong idea and the possible dangers

[rainbowgirl28]

So far on this thread the focus seems to be on the athlete. Here's a spin that might deserve some comment. I recently held a two day clinic in a neighboring state. The clinic was initiated by one of the head USATF officials in that state. His concerns were that if someone with some knowledge of the fundamentals didn't provide some guidance there was a good chance that someone was going to get hurt. The real basis of his concern was the performance of the vaulters at the previous state meet at which he was an official. So he asked me to provide that knowledge in a clinic/camp setting. So I agreed. We had 28 in attendance, about six or so were identified as coaches, the rest were vaulters or vaulter curious ( acouple thought they might want to do it, but weren't sure). Only one of the "coaches" had any experience with the vault what so ever, and he was a master's decathelete. Each of them were responsibile for coaching the vault because it was assigned to them. I am afraid that this is more the rule than the exception, and unlike most of those posting here the fates of our high school vaulters seems pretty much at serious risk...

This is absolutely far too common. I applaud you for taking the time to run a clinic and improve the situation rather than just sit back and complain about it. I encourage all of you to press your state coaches association to make coaching certification mandatory in your state. No, it does not come close to fixing the problem, but it does help.

I also encourage those older wiser coaches to actively recruit your former vaulters to get into coaching, and to mentor them along the way.

The problem is we have a desperate shortage of pole vault coaches who possess even the most basic knowledge of how to coach the pole vault safely. Two ways of attaching the solution are described above (recruiting more former vaulters, and increasing coaching education). I would love to hear other ideas of how to solve the problem.

[powerplant42]

Put out as much correct public information as possible:
Youtube videos
Wikipedia articles (starting on that today... I do need a LOT of help, please PM me with suggestion/ideas!!!)
DVD's
Books
Websites (PVP is excellent, but it's only one website! There are more than 3321 vaulters/coaches out there looking for information!)
Seminars/clinics/summits

Another way to supplement (and pay for) all that is by solving the problem of lack of participation... We can do that with positive publicity of any kind, even just track and field in general.

This is an excellent topic, and it gets at one of the main reasons for creating Fred: We have a problem that we need to get fixed as soon as possible!

[Vault&Flip]

Put out as much correct public information as possible:
Youtube videos
Wikipedia articles (starting on that today... I do need a LOT of help, please PM me with suggestion/ideas!!!)
DVD's
Books
Websites (PVP is excellent, but it's only one website! There are more than 3321 vaulters/coaches out there looking for information!)
Seminars/clinics/summits

Another way to supplement (and pay for) all that is by solving the problem of lack of participation... We can do that with positive publicity of any kind, even just track and field in general.

This is an excellent topic, and it gets at one of the main reasons for creating Fred: We have a problem that we need to get fixed as soon as possible!

What you mention is part of the solution, but can also be part of the problem. Yes, there is a lot of information out there, but it is not all good information (as most of us are aware). Really it is the main caveat regarding the web in general -- the right information is out there, but one must know the proper place to look for it. I know all of us as athletes or even coaches have received or have heard a fair share of bad advice from other coaches/know-it-all athletes.

Becca has the right point in that state federations can improve safety by having coaches become certified by the state to coach the vault. I am curious who makes the certification/what the requirements might be to become certified? I do wonder if requiring certification for coaches would further push our event to extinction at schools that can barely find volunteers, let alone certified volunteers.

[rainbowgirl28]

Put out as much correct public information as possible:
Youtube videos
Wikipedia articles (starting on that today... I do need a LOT of help, please PM me with suggestion/ideas!!!)
DVD's
Books
Websites (PVP is excellent, but it's only one website! There are more than 3321 vaulters/coaches out there looking for information!)
Seminars/clinics/summits

Another way to supplement (and pay for) all that is by solving the problem of lack of participation... We can do that with positive publicity of any kind, even just track and field in general.

This is an excellent topic, and it gets at one of the main reasons for creating Fred: We have a problem that we need to get fixed as soon as possible!

Power Plant, your intentions are good, but your attempts at reinventing the wheel are not as helpful as you think. There are a few website out there with good info. http://pvei.com/ has some good articles, and http://usapolevaulting.org/ will. I suggest that you spend your energy trying to find published articles by experienced coaches, you would be amazed at how much stuff is already out there.

[rainbowgirl28]

Becca has the right point in that state federations can improve safety by having coaches become certified by the state to coach the vault. I am curious who makes the certification/what the requirements might be to become certified? I do wonder if requiring certification for coaches would further push our event to extinction at schools that can barely find volunteers, let alone certified volunteers.

It varies by state, but if it is set up right it doesn't seem to result in the loss of coaches. As long as the clinics are offered at various locations throughout the state and are affordable, it is not a deterrent. Schools love it because it reduces their liability.

[Livininthepast]

I was attempting to not post a reply to the argument that vaulters do not continue on to become NFL players.

I am not the smartest person in the world, but I cannot get over the ignorance of that statement.

NFL players are such because they found talent in that game and their body can absorb physical punishment.
The key here is that all athlete require one main ingredient: DESIRE

If one does not pocess desire, he/she will not excell in a sport.

Does the author of that post mean to imply that Bruce Jenner was not a great athlete because he did not play football?

[dj]

hye

was it NFL QB Steve Burlin (spelling) that jumped 16-3 at Savana High School in Anaheim, CA?

dj

[Tim McMichael]

I was attempting to not post a reply to the argument that vaulters do not continue on to become NFL players.

I am not the smartest person in the world, but I cannot get over the ignorance of that statement.

NFL players are such because they found talent in that game and their body can absorb physical punishment.
The key here is that all athlete require one main ingredient: DESIRE

If one does not pocess desire, he/she will not excell in a sport.

Does the author of that post mean to imply that Bruce Jenner was not a great athlete because he did not play football?

Ouch!

I am not trying to say that there are no vaulters who are great athletes, or that Jenner could not have played professional football. Although, I don't know; he ran an 11.09, 100 in the Olympic final. I am saying that the technical side of the event dominates the physical side, and that IN GENERAL athletes in the sprints and the NFL are better in terms of raw speed and strength. I am also saying that it does not take more than a decade to master the 100 meter dash. Athletes in the sprints have risen to world class levels in just a few short years after taking up their event. I don't know what Usain Bolt's PR was two years ago, but I have no doubt that it was nothing close to what he can do now. The vault is not like that. The inches often come hard, and it takes years just to master one element of technique. I over-rotated over the bar for two full years before I figured out what was going wrong.

Bruce Jenner was a fantastic athlete, in his own event. But I think that fact supports the point I am trying to make. Jenner could have beaten me out of sight in every event save one. And in the vault I could beat him by more than a foot from a ten step run. He took off the wrong foot for his entire career, and as far as I know, still holds the world record for a right hander jumping off his right leg. The difference between us is entirely technical. And my assertion is that technique IN GENERAL trumps athleticism in the vault.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BEzX0klB ... 80&index=6

I once had an argument with Dan O'brien about who was the better athlete, and he insisted that I was – which I thought was ridiculous on the face of it. He had more athleticism in his little finger than I had in my whole body, and I told him so. But he planted with his top hand by his ear on most jumps, and still jumped in the seventeens doing that. For me, the vault was a technical event that I had gotten pretty good at, and it allowed me into competitions in which I was easily the worst athlete on the field – in any event.

This argument largely depends on how you define athleticism. I am using the criterion of empirically measured speed and strength. There are obviously other elements involved that could be brought to the discussion. It did not hurt that I had been vaulting since the age of five, and decades of development of muscle patterns could also be considered an athletic talent.

Your point is well taken. Desire is an intangible aspect of athletic success that does not get enough attention. The will to succeed is a powerful force that could also be lumped into the equation when we talk about athletic talent. It is true that an athlete with the ability to vault who instead desired to become a football player possibly make it to the NFL. I still contend, however, that an athlete with the ability to run a ten flat 100 meters would have a better chance of making it over an athlete with the physical ability to vault 19', which can easily be done with 10.5 speed, and with good enough technique even slower than that.

And please forgive my ignorance. I did not intend to offend. And thank you for responding to my post. I dashed it off in a few minutes without sitting down to think about it for a while. I hope this clarifies my meaning.

And none of this touches on the subject of who OUGHT to be encouraged to take up the event, which is, I think, the subject of this thread.

[Vaultdadof2]

hye

was it NFL QB Steve Burlin (spelling) that jumped 16-3 at Savana High School in Anaheim, CA?

dj

DJ,
It is Steve Beuerlein. He went to Servite HS in Anaheim and I do not believe that he was a Pole Vaulter.
I do know that if he did vault that he did not go 16'3" because the record at Servite is 16' 0" and is held by Steve Williams class of '86.
On a side note, I would love to see that record fall this year and if coach BJ Vandrovec has anything to say about it, then it will fall.

[dougb]

A really good topic.

As a high school coach I want the following in a beginning vaulter.

When, at the carnival, you can’t pass up the climbing wall.
You like to play chess or any other game that requires planning ahead.
You play games that require instant reaction, Video games included.
You want to be really good at something.

If the fastest jock in the school fits, then that’s iceing on the cake.

Doug Balcomb