PP42's Senior Year Training Blog

[powerplant42]

Even better I'll ask altius to come do a clinic there!

Sent the head coach an email.

[rainbowgirl28]

Hey PP, it looks like HIPAthletics has moved to Maryland: http://www.hipathletics.com/

You should definitely take advantage of the chance to get some indoor, supervised pit time. I don't know where you live in MD, but it's not that big of a state, you can't be more than a few hours from there, right?

[powerplant42]

It's about 3 hours away... It's in the very top corner of the state.

I think I'll just pay to go to some meets at PG (without the rest of my team). That'll be almost just as good.

[vaultwest]

I'm sorry PP but that response is just one more indication of just how much you just don't get it.

[rainbowgirl28]

I get that it would be tough to make it up there on a school night, but it looks like they are trying to add Sunday practices (obviously you'd have to contact them for a schedule). It's worth the drive.

Sometimes you have to make time sacrifices to get better. In HS I had nights (school nights) I didn't get home from PV practice until after midnight because we practiced at a gymnastics club and could not start practices until after the gymnasts were done for the night. Usually took me over an hour to get there and 45 minutes to get home. In college I spent a year driving 90 minutes each way to practice twice a week because I wasn't good enough to make the team at my school. When I lived in Georgia I would drive 9+ hours whenever I got the chance to go to Bell Athletics, and when I lived in St Louis I made the 4 hour drive to the same place pretty regularly.

3 hours is a commute, but if you can get up there on some weekends, maybe the occasional weeknight when you don't have school the next day, maybe some over Thanksgiving/Christmas/Winter break, you will be surprised what a difference it can make.

[VaultPurple]

I'm gonna have to kind of agree with pp on this one in the reasoning that it is 3 hours and that place only practices on Tuesday and Thursday right now. They also charge by the month so thats a lot if you don't know when you will be able to make it.

Ps. What ever happened with the stuff with UMBC?

And probably just over 2.5 hours away is vertical assault in PA, they alway produce good pole vaulters and have a very wide range of practice times.

[powerplant42]

Not sure what happened with UMBC... Wally and another guy were talking to me but I guess other stuff distracted me (plus I had some recovery time that took up a chunk of the summer). I am a busy bee big time.

I'm sorry PP but that response is just one more indication of just how much you just don't get it.

I don't understand this... What I get is that I work for minimum wage for 3.5h/week (on THURSDAYS) and would be spending lots of moolah on membership AND gas. 3h up plus maybe 2h there plus another 3h back is 8h (with GOOD traffic)... That's an entire day... I honestly don't have that kind of time, especially on Sundays (I couldn't even begin to describe my schedule to you). I also have parents that actually have real jobs and need their cars so that I can eat, not to mention they would probably just tell me "no". Please don't criticize me blindly... I don't do that to you.

Extra meets are a good way to get in more vaulting, no? And they're cheap too!

Yeah VP, I might have to check out VA sometime.

[bel142]

And that is sort of the punch line about clubs, vault, and life in general... Depending on what it means to you... To be a student athlete at the high school and even more so at the collegiate level you need to realize that there are so many sacrifices that need to be made to be involved at that level.

Collegiate track and field at any division can be a hugely rewarding experience, it can open many doors... But there is a trade off... Relationships may suffer, school may suffer, sleep may suffer, and something may have to fall to the way side, the demand on student athletes is great. Learning how, not to just manage time but to make tough decision and to become disciplined is vital to the success of any athlete or anyone for that matter.

Everyone has demands... If you want to truly be successful at the vault, you need to invest in training, and make a decision of how it falls in your life... its tough but true.

[kcvault]

Since I have been in college, My wife and I have lived in are car with two animals for 3 weeks twice. Slept on someones couch for a month, lived off potatoes and pasta for months at a time, along with many other obstacles all of which were a result of putting School and track first and work second. We spent two full years driving 5 hours every weekend to LA for track meets, sacrificing many other luxuries to afford gas and entry fees. However though it has taken many sacrifices to be an athlete, I would say the positives that come from it definitely out weigh the negatives.

---Kasey

[vaultwest]

PP, yes you have blindly criticized me on a number of occasions and I was not blindly criticizing you I was trying to help you understand that what you need is some coaching not meet vaulting. I have followed this topic and it is obvious to me that at least you talk a good game about wanting to be a good vaulter. Becca was giving you some very positive advice about how to get there and you chose to ignore it, that's all I was talking about, I will leave all the other nonsense alone.

[rainbowgirl28]

PP are you any closer to this club? http://www.xtremeheightspv.com/

Don't use the published prices as an excuse not to go. Most clubs might post monthly rates, but if someone wants to come from a few hours away, they'll work out a deal with you on a one-time rate.

Also, Christmas break is coming up. Talk to some coaches, work out a deal on price. You "coach" all these vaulters at your school, right? Find someone who'll go with you and figure out something about transportation. Talk to the club coaches, maybe they have someone in their club who lives closer to you so you don't have to drive as far.

[KirkB]

PP, if Altius was coaching 3 hrs away, you'd find a way to get there!

Your ATTITUDE is the biggest thing holding your training back right now. That, and the instant feedback that I think you need from a personal coach ... ANY coach!

You can only learn so much out of a book (BTB2), becuz when you read it, you have a certain "interpretation" in mind. If you read it again a year later ... cover to cover ... you'll find that you have a MUCH BETTER understanding of it. Why? Becuz you now have some PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE in vaulting that you didn't have a year ago!

I would even say that a personal coach that's totally OPPOSED to the Petrov Model (I'm exaggerating to make a point) would be better for you than your current situation right now ... with NO COACH. I know this sounds implausible, but it's more plausible than you might think. Why? Becuz of the value of instant feedback, and the rapport that an athlete can develop with a coach. There's SO MANY THINGS that you need to learn about vaulting ... the Petrov Model is only ONE of them (admittedly an important one).

PP, face the fact that you're not Bubka ... and you're not going to be trained by a Petrov or a Launder for your entire career. I know that you're "striving for perfection" ... which is good ... but while a "less-than-perfect" personal coach may sound to you like it's not the ideal solution (in your eyes), face the fact that IT'S BETTER THAN WHAT YOU HAVE RIGHT NOW!

Instead of being argumentative ... once AGAIN .. with VaultWest and RG, why can't you just say "Yeh, that's a great idea ... I'll have to find a way to trek on up there sometime!" ... and then FIND A WAY ... instead of making excuses why you CAN'T make it! One thing I see in you is determination, so I know that if you want something bad enough, you'll FIND A WAY.

Suck it up, PP ...

"Where there's a will there's a way."

Kirk