PP42's Senior Year Training Blog

[bel142]

Morning,

If 8 lefts is your FULL competition run then you may want to reconsider it for the first meet out. Keep in mind where you want to go, and this is in more of a reference for a micro scale of training. If you want to jump 14' your first meet of the year you may not want to reconsider the run especially If you ware planning on being on 9/10 lefts by the end of the year if so, then 7/8 lefts will be a good place to start.

If 8 lefts is your full run then my reasoning is this, you have little to work with from then on out, you have maxed our your run (more or less) because your neurological fitness will be getting better increases in speed and strength for you to play with will be minimal.

If I was you, I'm not... but if i was... I would start with about 5/6/7 lefts for the first comp then once you get your competition form down start working on longer runs for competitions later in the year, you may not hit your height for that first meet, but when you add in 6/7/8/9 lefts you will have a definite increase of energy to play with in training, giving you a better idea about pole selection and meet strategy. (if you are going to be dropping money on a pole you want to be real sure of what you are going to need not just what you need now)

The punch line... stagger the run over the coarse of the season, so with increases in competition form/fitness, you also have increases in running speed and energy to work with. Rather than starting out tapped out...

Just a thought about training and peaking...

-bel

[rainbowgirl28]

PP, if you want to stay healthy this year, starting your season with an 8 left run is just about the worst thing you can do. You want to vault in college, right? I know you feel like you have to put up a big mark early, but your plan right now is only going to guarantee you sit out this season injured.



I am pretty sure you haven't been vaulting on a pit yet, so there's no way you'll be ready for 8 lefts so early. Looking at your run, I doubt you'll be ready for 8 lefts this year, but let's come up with a realistic plan to get there.

Do your first meet from 5 lefts and make your goal 12'. There's nothing stopping you from going higher, but you need incremental goals.

If you finish December and you are regularly taking off with a good takeoff, have made 12', are jumping within at least 6" of your handhold (so if you are gripping 13', you should be able to jump at least 12'4), consistently have your standards all the way back, and are not aggravating your injuries, THEN you are ready to move back to 6 lefts... in January.

If by the end of January you have been consistently taking off well, are not aggravating injuries, etc, and have jumped at east 12'6-13', then you could consider moving back to 7 lefts for February.

I assume you have an indoor state meet in February? I still wouldn't consider 8 lefts at this point because you have a long OUTDOOR and SUMMER (maybe) season ahead of you.

After your indoor season ends, start over. Go back to 5 lefts or less, and work on any bad habits that have crept in. If you have meets in March, I am guessing they are usually crappy weather and such. Stay at 5 lefts for these. If everything is good, go back to 6 lefts in April. If everything is good, go back to 7 lefts in late April/ early May.

Once you are at 7 lefts for a few weeks midway through your outdoor season, and you are consistently hitting a good takeoff, healthy, jumping at least a foot higher than your handgrip, then you can consider going back to 8 lefts.


I don't know enough about your height, weight, speed, past poles used, poles available, in order to be able to give you more detailed advice, but pole and grip selection is an important part of this goal setting process as well. Though I caution that you should move up pole and grip because you are blowing through, not because you want to jump higher (in other words, bigger poles and grips are a symptom that things are going right).

Since you don't have much in the way of coaching, I really strongly recommend teaching someone how to catch your mid, and following DJ's mid mark chart. Start at 5 lefts and say whatever grip he says you need to clear 10' (I don't have the chart in front of me). Get your run lined up to that mid and work at it until you either clear 10', or just have way too much pole speed. If you make 10' but are not blowing through, see if you can beat the chart and jump higher than the height he has listed for each grip height. Think of that chart as a minimum guideline. You can jump higher than the height listed for a given grip, but if you can't jump at least that high, you need to work on technique more than you need to work on raising your grip.

Another guideline I have is that HS boys should absolutely not have a longer until they can clear at least the same height as the number of steps they are taking. 6 steps (3 lefts) = 6 feet. 8 steps (4 lefts) = 8 feet. 10 steps (5 lefts) = 10'. 12 steps (6 lefts) = 12'. 14 steps (7 lefts) = 14'. Most good coaches would use an even higher height for each of these runs, that's just an absolute bare minimum.



A crucial part of goal setting is having realistic goals and a plan to get there. 14' in your first meet is not a realistic goal, and you do not have an incremental plan to get there. Please take some time to sit back and think about these things.

I really recommend taking the time on your weekends and drive how many hours it takes to work with a decent coach.

Please let us know more about what vaulting you have been doing this fall, what poles you are on, grip height, and what poles you will have available this year.

[vault3rb0y]

Make sure you are using the principles of SMART Goals.

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Realistic
Timely

Lets start with your goal of 14' by the first meet.

Specific- It surely is specific for both what and when.
Measurable- Either you jump it or you don't. However, in reference to specificity you might measure how you get to that 14'. Progression? Are you planning on opening at 12'6- a foot higher than your official PR? Or will you be forced to take a minimum of 6 jumps (assuming all 1st attempt makes) starting at 11'6", your current PR?
Attainable- 14' is a height you could conceivably attain, yes.
Realistic- This is where you run into trouble, because although the goal is technically attainable, just look at what you are setting out to do. 2 1/2 feet PR's are huge and almost unheard of.
Timely- Usually this criteria is made because you don't set a time table. But i would say your time table is too strict. You are really only giving yourself 2 more months with minimal jump time to PR by 2 1/2 feet.

I would suggest looking at the 14' goal and considering what obstacles you will likely run into. Injuries seems to be a big problem, so make a goal to stay healthy. Make sure that healthy goal is SMART as well. Look at your physical attributes- what SMART goals do you have for your speed, explosiveness, strength? Set SMART goals for each of them. Then look at the technical side of your vault. Are there technical flaws so large in your vault that they should take priority over your physical goals? I would bet not. Set SMART goals for your technical vault, and your biggest one in my opinion should be consistency. Even if you have some flaws in your vault, dont get paralysis by analysis. Take vault after vault after vault and only focus on Finishing solid jumps that feel good and are consistent. Like Morry said, practice like you play. The whole point of drills is to simulate a part of your vault. If you haven't felt what a vault feels like in a while, drilling for that part of the vault will only minimally help you. You can only fix your vault if you are comfortable enough to make changes to it, and that only happens when you are able to jump consistently.

If you make SMART goals, you will stay motivated as well, because each week you will be internally making SMART goals to meet. If your goal is too far away, like a 2 1/2 foot PR, your mind cant formulate how to get there as easily as it can a goal like "have a consistent acceleration and free take off" or "run 5 60m dashes at 'X' speed." If your formulas add up, your little SMART goals lead you to your overall SMART goal. If your formula can't add up, and you can't meet the little goals, re-evaluate your long term SMART goals.

[vault3rb0y]

If you don't mind seeing some things I have planned for this year, This list is of my long-term SMART goals for the year. Every week, although i dont always write it down, my coach and I come up with SMART goals for the week- both physically and technically. So although the long-term goals can be a little fague (train with intensity, etc) they should be narrowed down in your short term SMART goals.

.....and dont expect to achieve all your long term goals. They are goals that can conceivably be achieved . You must be realistic and constantly re-evaluate.

I hope this gives you an idea of the complexities that goal setting creates, and helps you set SMART goals as well.

[KirkB]

PP, you're getting a lot of good advice from a lot of experienced vaulters here ... they've all been there and done that. All you need to do now is heed their advice and follow in their footsteps. Put your ego aside, and you can do it!

Don't gamble "all-or-nothing". Don't put all your money on 14-0 for the first meet. What you do at the END of the season is much more important than what you do at the START of the season. Hedge your bets. Better safe than sorry. Slow and steady wins the race. Strive for steady progression, improving your PR by just a few inches at a time. (Sorry for all the proverbs.)

And most important of all ... GET HEALTHY and STAY HEALTHY! You need to be 100% in your state meet (or whatever your end-of-season meet is.)

Kirk

[powerplant42]

I guess I did jump the gun a bit with the full run idea... I didn't think it was such a great idea myself, but I can be that way sometimes unfortunately...

I've got a big list of goals that I've written out. I'll put those up later... They are pretty SMART I think... I'd appreciate any help making them smarter.

More film up later on tonight. I think you'll all be quite pleasantly surprised!

[vault3rb0y]

Of course, we can help ya with those goals. The best person to help with those goals will be someone who knows your vaulting best and has a less subjective view of what you are capable of though. In high school i would sometimes make unrealistic goals in some areas, but then not give myself enough credit in other areas. It was up to my coach (morry) to help me decide what we both thought i could be capable of in certain areas and overall for the year. Lookin forward to the videos!

Jason

[powerplant42]

I'll put up my goal list later... I'd like to discuss the video for right now. This was probably the best workout I've had in the past 10 months, both muscle/pain-wise and execution-wise. It felt GREAT in both senses. Biofreeze is my friend!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AQBew8FHFA

I made a very simple adjustment that made a LOT of difference (for my sand drills): I moved the run in. That was it, and that caused me to get the feet down quicker and jump UP! That was really my problem... I was relying too much on the speed of the run (which was subconscious). I think the difference beThe grips in the vid vary a lot... I did a couple of lower ones and moved up. That's really the pattern (there might be one or two deviances from it though, but you can probably tell). I ended up gripping right around the same spots as last time (plus around 12'4"-12'6"ish for my 3 steps). Something I think I should start paying more attention to is my trail-leg after take-off... Now, the bending might be instinctive (to protect my hamstring), but I'm going to make a conscious effort next time to keep it straighter/longer throughout each repetition. Another thing to work on is making the plant earlier in the 3 step drills. In all of them the plant is just half a tick behind where it should be, except for maybe in the very last one (which is why the pole is moving so much faster... the grip was either the same or higher than the one right before it). Oh, and I did switch poles right near the end (from a 15' 170 to a 13'7" 160).

Now... The full run. I'm all ears. What do you all see? What do I need to work on? (Remember that I can't do any high-intensity running drills for very long... Dozens of sets of ostriches and claws are, unfortunately, not realistic.) I thought it FELT rather good. (I'm sorry, but I have no numbers for you all.) Sorry for the poorish quality... I had to back the camera up a lot so I could get the whole run. I'll have to try to get someone to film for me next time I put up a full run.

Oh, and no bubkas for becca this time... Next time though!

[VaultPurple]

Your still letting your hips slam forward and not your swinging into the pole. Also because your hips swing through right away it points your chest upwards towards the pole (while it is still at about 45degrees) so that your upper body is parallel to the pole almost right after take off.

Watch my video (Skip to 5:30, I posted a comment with the 5:30 in it so u can click on it)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrH95QaN ... vie_player

And notice how my chest stays forward and my body pretty much stays vertical (perpendicular to the ground) the whole time.

When you jump you need to be pushing the pole up and to vertical, if your hips go forward like that, then you are no longer pushing the pole up, your just dragging it in...

[rainbowgirl28]

I still think you are overgripping and that the hips are a symptom of that.

Here are some videos of some sand vaulting. You may not agree with everything they are doing, but just focus on the hips. Grip lower until you can consistently get your hips to stay behind the pole and not just slam into it. That's my two cents.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81rASVhFR4U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p4qUsjwZUQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L352c61eEC0


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slBvV2fq3Wo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmbDCTTGw8

[kcvault]

Something I think I should start paying more attention to is my trail-leg after take-off... Now, the bending might be instinctive (to protect my hamstring), but I'm going to make a conscious effort

You are taking a long last step though it's a little better since you moved your step up. The long step is going to put more pressure on the hamstring then anything. As long as you do a good active warm up with B1,B2,B3 these are when you bring your knee up extend it out like you would if going over a hurdle and then pull it back at the ground. B1=walking, B2=skipping, B3=running. (Someone else can give a better explanation) This will stretch out your hamstring enough to be able to hold your trail leg back. I am not sure were this in comparison with the other grips but somewhere between 1:04 and 1:07 would be what you should grip right now until you perfect the drill. You already identified the biggest problem which is not holding your trail leg back causing your hips to swing right off the ground into the pole. You want to make sure you are taking off in a backwards c position and holding that position throughout the drill. I really like the way VP is doing this drill specifically at 6:18 in his video. Take the grip you were holding somewhere between what you were holding at 1:04 and what you were holding at 1:07 and make it look like VP looks at 6:18 once it looks like this then it will be time to start raising your grip. Also high volume low intensity of single leg hamstring curls, straight leg dead lifts, and hyper exstentions will help your hamstring get stronger and heel faster. (Notice I did not say high intensity.) There is also a lift with a plates ball and a lift you can do with body weight that the athletic trainer at Stanislaus showed me that can help strengthen your hamstring, tell me if you want me to post a vid of these two exercises. (these are the things I am doing for rehabilitation right now, since I also have a hamstring issue)

---Kasey

[kcvault]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SmbDCTTGw8

I would focus mostly on this one of the videos RG posted since in some of the first ones they make a box in the sand allowing them to not have a free take off. But still view them just focusing on the hips.

---Kasey