High School Coaches

[Bee]

OMG, what do you do with a coach who holds you back? At home meets he holds our son back to a short run (3 steps) and this past meet he would not let him use his bigger pole. The father of the boy that was competing with our son was putting the bar up upside down and on the edge of the pins and we have to sit by and watch and can't say anything. Our son is getting really upset because he has always beat this kid easily and it is like the coach is wanting our son to lose on purpose! I am so mad and upset I don't know what to do. HELP!

[rainbowgirl28]

Ask your coach to explain why. Short runs are great for working on improving technique and fixing bad habits. Would you rather have your son beating this other kid at a home meet, or at the League Championships when it counts?

If you pressure the coach to move your son back to a longer run before he is ready, you may hurt the long-term development of the athlete.

Usually coaches who are not very good err on the side of too long of a run, too much grip, too much pole. I don't know the whole story here, but communicate with the coach and listen to what he (she) has to say before assuming they are holding your child back maliciously.

[Bee]

He vaults 15'1, he is a Junior. We continue to have problems every season starting out and we go to the coach and athletic director but the coach is the only person within 3 hours that knows what a pole is I think! Very unhappy. This is ruining our son's attitude.

[rainbowgirl28]

When did your season start? How many meets has he had so far? You mentioned he makes him run from 3 lefts at home meets, how far is he running from at other meets? When does the postseason (League/Districts/Whatever) start? Has your son ever had any injuries? How many days a week does he practice pole vaulting?

[Bee]

We are in our 2nd week, districts don't start until middle of May. He runs 12 steps at every meet but ours. No major injuries. He wants our other vaulter to go to state too and it is like he is pushing him and lifting his confidence that he will always win, in the meantime destroying the other vaulter. Our school wants the points at away meets and lets him do what he knows he can. I am very frustrated I know because I cannot do anything but I am seeing how this is wearing on our son. I listen to the other parents and getting really upset knowing that the results would be different under different circumstances.

[rainbowgirl28]

We are in our 2nd week, districts don't start until middle of May. He runs 12 steps at every meet but ours. No major injuries. He wants our other vaulter to go to state too and it is like he is pushing him and lifting his confidence that he will always win, in the meantime destroying the other vaulter. Our school wants the points at away meets and lets him do what he knows he can. I am very frustrated I know because I cannot do anything but I am seeing how this is wearing on our son. I listen to the other parents and getting really upset knowing that the results would be different under different circumstances.

I think you guys are too hung up on trying to PR every meet. Ask your son what technical things his coach is giving him to work on in these home meets. You guys have a long season ahead and your coach is trying to get your son to peak at state. It really doesn't matter who beats who in a dual meet. Maybe your son is too hung up on winning (instead of improving his technique) and his coach wants him to go to a short run to emphasize technique and not worry about what other vaulters are doing.

Instead of assuming the worst intentions of the coach, and getting school administrators involved, just have your son ask the coach what his plan is for the season. FInd out how many steps he plans to have your son run from at various points in the season.

If you guys don't like it, there is a whole summer season of track meets in which your son can run from 20 steps, beat the heck out of his body, practice bad habits, and lose his love of the sport.

It sounds to me like your son needs to communicate more with the coach about the plan for the season, and you as a parent need to step back and let him coach. If the coach is making any mistakes, he is erring on the side of safety and teaching good technique. The key to becoming a successful vaulter is learning how to vault with good technique. The heights will come. Getting hung up on winning at every single meet is a recipe for disaster. Having a parent saying negative things about the coach will only make your son have doubts and his performances will suffer.

If you're going to go to your son's meets, you should either be helping put the bar up, or videotaping your son. Your job is to cheer him on and tell him good job, no matter how he does. Winning is not important, having fun is. When your son is having fun and listening to and trusting his coach, he will experience the most success. Environments in which parents are fighting with the coaches are never productive.

[altius]

Agree with Becca. You are becoming too involved to take an objective view of this situation. Where are you based??

[chasing6]

This same thing happened to me (although I was the coach). The father of one of my beginning vaulters came up to me in the winter and asked me, "My daughter's going to run from 8 steps and jump 8' to qualify for sub districts in her first meet right?" His tone told me this was more statement than question. When I told him it was not likely he became very unpleasant and basically said I was a bad coach for not getting his daughter jumping very high in 6 practice sessions. I tried to explain that she was hardly ready for a 4 step and that the 6' bungees she was clearing was very good for her experience and abilities. It did not help the matter.

During this whole ordeal the poor girl was standing next to him looking very embarrassed and ashamed. Unfortunately she quit her HS track teem only a week or so after the season started, and I really hope it wasn't because of her father. The worst part is that she loved pole vaulting when her dad wasn't around, and she could have been an above average HS vaulter at the very least.

For the moral of this story refer to becca's post above. And please be nice to coaches.

Edit: Spelling error.

[Bee]

I know I was mad when I wrote the post the other day. This is my problem which I did address the coach last night (no better situation). Our son loves vaulting whether he will do it in college I do not know. His PR is 15'5 he is a JR and we live in the midwest. We take him to some indoor meets in the off season because we do not have a place to practice. He was approached by a coach from KC and long story short we drove him 3 nights a week to KC for practice with a private coach. Our coach at High School was furious! He arrived at an indoor meet to watch him and preceeded to tell off our son, me, and the private coach because he didn't authorize him going to these practices. We were all embarassed. He has not let this go. In 5 meets we have sat back and watched our HS coach take him to a 3 step run, use a pole that is way to light, and allow this other student to use our son's pole which we paid for to compete. Which by the way I am upset about because just last year this boy broke 2 poles by getting them stuck under the mat. Our son will not say anything to him because he has said he won't let me practice if I say anything to him, in the meantime, the other boy is getting extra practices with a pole that is way better than the school provides and instruction at a meet while we sit with his parents all the while listening to how great their son has become since the school got him a newer pole! duh Talk to the athletic director no way they side with the coach.

[rainbowgirl28]

I know I was mad when I wrote the post the other day. This is my problem which I did address the coach last night (no better situation). Our son loves vaulting whether he will do it in college I do not know. His PR is 15'5 he is a JR and we live in the midwest. We take him to some indoor meets in the off season because we do not have a place to practice. He was approached by a coach from KC and long story short we drove him 3 nights a week to KC for practice with a private coach. Our coach at High School was furious! He arrived at an indoor meet to watch him and preceeded to tell off our son, me, and the private coach because he didn't authorize him going to these practices. We were all embarassed. He has not let this go. In 5 meets we have sat back and watched our HS coach take him to a 3 step run, use a pole that is way to light, and allow this other student to use our son's pole which we paid for to compete. Which by the way I am upset about because just last year this boy broke 2 poles by getting them stuck under the mat. Our son will not say anything to him because he has said he won't let me practice if I say anything to him, in the meantime, the other boy is getting extra practices with a pole that is way better than the school provides and instruction at a meet while we sit with his parents all the while listening to how great their son has become since the school got him a newer pole! duh Talk to the athletic director no way they side with the coach.

Just be patient. Too many egos at play right now, your son is the one getting hurt. They won't keep him on a short run for the meets that count, they'll want his points.

15'+ is good enough to vault at most colleges in the midwest, and there are a zillion of them, so certainly keep an open mind about that. Your HS coach can't stop your son from jumping at Junior Olympics and the like this summer. The short run now will just make him do that much better later in the summer because he will be fresher.

[Bee]

I am really stupid when it comes to the computer. I sent a PM but it is still in my outbox. Did this send? I was trying to reach GTC. Thank you