Jason Roberts 15ft

[joebro391]

"adrenaline". The cause of many deaths on this planet.

yea, but what a rush. (see what i did there, with the pun??) hahahaha

[KirkB]

I'm speaking more about the lack of pads on the standard bases here than the coach tapping, but they're both SAFETY issues ...

You guys joke about these SAFETY issues, but it's really no joking matter.

In my day, we honestly didn't know any better. We made do with the pads we had, but they were clearly inadequate. At my HS, I had 3 fishnets full of foam pieces that I carried on my back from the equipment shed to the pit each practice (I eventually made a custom-shaped wheelbarrow for this). That wasn't much foam. Under that, there was just sawdust. I was on a first-name basis with my chiropractor throughout HS.

At UW, there was what was considered a state-of-the-art pit, but it didn't have any front buns or pads over the standard bases, and it was under-sized by today's standards.

How I survived my PV career without DYING or PARLYZING myself, I'll never know, as I was quite fearless and reckless. It wasn't until 2002 that I heard about the first DEATH due to pole vaulting - the Kevin Dare accident - and it was a bit of a wake-up call to me. I realized that I had often been "wild on the pole" enough to have fallen like he did - either into the box or onto the standards.

At UW, I did survive 3 severe falls into the box, where I did permanent damage to my ankles, one fall onto the metal base of the standards (out for 2 weeks), and one fall head-first onto the track to the left of the pit (where I lost my 2 front teeth and got a concussion).

But thankfully, I'm here today to talk about it. I thank God and my lucky stars that I recovered from these accidents relatively unscarred.

So when a HS has (a) a knowledgeable coach (I THINK); (b) an athlete fully aware of the dangers of landing on the base of the standards (WE'VE TOLD YOU!); and (c) THE STANDARDS PADS - RIGHT THERE!, then for heavan's sakes, USE THEM!!! There's no excuse not to!

LHS, I hope you can appreciate that I'm not trying to "mother you" (as you called it). Rather, I'm seriously concerned for your SAFETY!

Please discuss this VERY IMPORTANT ISSUE with your coach, and please tell me that you now understand the importance of safety, and that you'll "play safe". Thank you for protecting yourself from injury!

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

Kirk, generally vaulters of your generation (and especially before) had a much better awareness of where they were in the air relative to the landing area.

Vaulters nowadays have so much pit they can fling themselves on, they rarely are conscious of where the pit is. For most vaulters, 99+% of the time, the pit catches them on the landing.

It makes it that much more dangerous when standard bases are left uncovered and exposed concrete surrounds the pit. Even though the pits are bigger, kids are essentially dumber and much more likely to be clueless that they are approaching these hazards on a bad jump.

[altius]

"Vaulters nowadays have so much pit they can fling themselves on, they rarely are conscious of where the pit is. For most vaulters, 99+% of the time, the pit catches them on the landing."

That is one of the reasons that all initial teaching should be done in a sand pit - and drills should be carried out in one in almost every session. This helps all but the biggest dumb bunnies to understand that this is not an extreme event but a complex challenging activity that must be mastered through intelligent, sensible practice. This is also the reason why no 'goofing off' should be allowed on the pad.

The real dumb bunnies should be moved on as quickly as possible because stupidity can be contagious.

[rainbowgirl28]

I agree 100% Alan.

On one of the SkyJumpers videos, Jan is having a session with the kids at the sand pit, teaching them how to bail out safely. He has them gripping too high and landing all over the place (on their feet) so they know what to do if they are headed in the wrong direction.

[ACvault]

On the issue of safety...

I traveled to out of state meets quite a bit in high school in addition to local meets. As is often the case, the athlete will come up short/stall out. I believe the proper way to handle this is to hang on to the pole until the athlete is above a safe landing area in the pit or if the athlete goes the opposite way hold on to the pole all the way to the ground. Yeah, its gonna hurt, but it will hurt a lot worse if you let go and just drop. Unfortunately I have seen athletes who know they are going to come up short or lose momentum and jump off the pole right away and land in the box. I've seen busted ankles after this and also a severely injured back one evening in PA.

[vault3rb0y]

Just remember, the goal is NOT to get on big poles, it is to vault correctly. I wont even mention the tap in my suggestion to you-

Make sure you focus on a strong take off before focusing on a strong swing. The second cannot happen effectively without the first, unless an outside force is acting on you. Any outside force makes you feel energy where there really isn't any. Would you vault on the same pole with a 20mph tail wind as you do with no wind? Hopefully- yes. Realistically-No. It's the same idea. Also, regardless of what your coach is doing there, tell him to back up so he can actually see your take off position and subsequent vault from the side, not from the back.

Confidence is built from repetition, not reliance.