Preliminary announcement of altius clinics in the US.

[botakatobi]

It was Vern Wolfe.

He coached the National HS record holder Jim Brewer. Jim set his first National HS record in the 10th grade. 14' on a steel pole. As a senior, with two days practice on the Pacific Laminates Silaflex pole, Jim jumped 14' 9". Another month later 15' 1/8" for another HS National record. That mark was 6th best in the world in 1957.

He coached both Seagren and Paul Wilson in college, both NCAA record holders and World record holders.

As all know, Seagren was also Olympic champion and runner up in Munich.

As you know, in that era there few specialty pole vault coaches. Wolfe coached most events.

I would certainly credit Wolfe for the earliest development of glass technique. He, Payton Jordan and Ducky Drake (Roubanis) were the earliest coaches known for producing vaulters who successfully utilized the glass pole. While little to none of the early glass technique survives today, those coaches were the pioneers.

[altius]

I will be presenting ideas that have evolved from over fifty years of highly successful coaching in track and field and which will draw together the results of study with great coaches like Anje Kresinski, Maurice Houvion, Vitali Petrov, Jean Claude Perin and Alex Parnov - all who have coached Olympic Champions, plus of course Roman Botcharnikov - whose athlete only finished second at the Olympics!!!

I am sure Vern Wolfe was a great coach but although I was aware of his name while I was coaching in Britain in the 1960s, I never met him and I have never read anything he has written on pole vault technique. So he has never influenced my thinking on this event. On the other hand I have actually spent time with the coaches I mentioned earlier, observing them and discussing their ideas with them.

However I did make the point in BTB2 that the impact of the early attempts to exploit the fibreglass pole in the USA were driven mainly by the athletes and not the coaches - and the former got it wrong! As a result the development of modern technique was left to the Russians, who did not have that baggage to deal with. But this is another story, perhaps for another section of pvp.

[altius]

Over the years there has been a continual debate about the value of a teaching background to pole vault coaches. Almost invariably the majority of coaches feel that it is, or would be, of little value. So without restarting this debate I will simply put forward some very basic principles of instruction that will be emphasized in our clinics.

While knowledge of the technique of pole vaulting and the principles of training are obviously important elements in success in this event, coaches will discover that they will have even greater success if they understand and apply the fundamental principles of instruction outlined below.
1. There is plenty of high quality practice.
This means that athletes must have a clear understanding of what they are to practice and have many opportunities to do so – whether it be a take off drill, high bar work or a full vault. This in turn means that the coach must be able to clearly communicate what is to be practiced – and how it is to practiced - by demonstrating, the use of accurate cues or occasionally through manual manipulation.
2. Practices are closely related to the actual activity
The key term here is specificity and every drill, practice and training mode should be assessed on the basis of whether or not it contributes to the ability to pole vault more effectively. So coaches must always assess what drills, practices and training modes MUST be included, SHOULD be included or COULD be included in their program. This will enable them to develop a completely rational approach to teaching the event.
3. The athlete is absolutely committed to learning.
This is the most critical factor of all so coaches must do everything possible to ensure that athletes maintain this commitment. This can be done by
A. Ensuring that athletes understand the purpose of every drill and can see how it relates to the full vault.
B. Giving athletes – especially beginners - many opportunities to vault at bars.
C. Radiating enthusiasm and positivity under all conditions. While elite athletes accept and expect critiques of their performance, beginners need continual encouragement.

While the theory is important, the critical point is that coaches attending these clinics will see these principles being applied and linked to the art of coaching.

[altius]

Confirmed clinics.
Oregon City with Rick Baggett June 7/8/9
Sacramento State June 12/13/14 with Daniel Isaacs and Rick Baggett.
Somewhere in the vicinity of Minneapolis St Paul July5/6/7 with Chris Milton and Phil Ericson.

Still waiting for Bubba and Kris to get themselves organised.

[rainbowgirl28]

Confirmed clinics.
Oregon City with Rick Baggett June 7/8/9

Hmm... if I'm feeling up to it with a newborn baby, I might try to come down. I could probably pawn Eddie off on his grandparents for the weekend. For the first time in like 5 years, I am not hosting a track meet that weekend!

[altius]

Why bother to pawn him - just sell him and get it done with!

[altius]

Have just realised that some folk may not realise that I am a real -as distinct from a theoretical coach - so while most of these details are in BTB I will add them here. I was the Australian National event coach for the pole vault for fifteen years - which saw OZ move from a top ten average of 4.81m for men in 1980 to a top ten average of 5.41 in 1996 (fifth ranked nation in the world at that point). Unfortunately we have dropped back since then despite an Olympic champion and two world champions.

Perhaps more importantly I coached the following athletes - actually coached them 24/7 - did not meet them for a weekend camp occasionally - in the periods indicated. Girls in the Adelaide group from 1996 – 2003
Wendy Young 18 13’10
Christie Elwin 17 13’1 After two years
Lauren Eley 17 12’8’ After two years
Jana Tancosic 15 12’8 After two years
Jamie Scroop 15 12’6 After two years
Tracey Young 18 12’4
+Emma Draisey 18 12’4
Jenny Lovell 15 12’2 After three years
Alice H 18 11’8
Anthea Kotyla 18 11’ 8
Danielle O’Reilly 15 11’6 After 2 years
Helen Schuster 17 11’4
*Jessica Lauder 17 10’10
*The editor of this book.
+ Came to Adelaide as an 11’ vaulter the previous year. All the other girls were introduced to the event in Adelaide.
Boys 1986 – 2000
Patrick Jesser 18 17’8”
Matt Filsell* 18 17’4
Adam Steinhardt 18 17’3
**Steve Wilson 18 17’2
Aaron Grey 18 16’9
Greg Halliday 18 16’9
Chris Lovell 18 16’5
Tom Lovell 18 16’5
Sam Christie 18 16’3
David Cardone 18 16’1
Adrian Barei
 18 16’1
Tim Foster *** 18 15’9
Matt Broadhurst 18 15’9
Andrew Bernacki 18 15’9
John Mattinson 18 15’ 5
Brant Oxlade 17 15’1
Tom Wilson 17 15’ 1
James O’Brien 18 15’1
Mike Heynen 
14’9
Jon Walsh 14’9

Keiran Modra**** 14’7
All but two of these athletes were introduced to the event in Adelaide.

* Came to Adelaide as a 4.60 vaulter
**Matt Filsell 4.82/ 15’9 3/4” at age 15 –AFTER 2 YEARS.
*** Tim Foster 4.80m/15’9” in Decathlon as a junior (7070 points). Senior implements. Came to Adelaide as 13’10 vaulter.
**** Keiran was legally blind – competed in the Para Olympics in other sports fro 1992 -2012. Gold medals in cycling.

Folk might also be interested in the early progress of Angie Rummans who went 9' after one day at the USC camp and then 11'6 after
six days at three camps USC, Appalachian and Duke. Subsequently made good progress to 4.40 with Roman.


Finally remember that there is only one track in Adelaide - although we do have four pads, every pole from 10'8 to 5.10 and a great outdoor gym with three high bars. Oh and the next nearest track to the east is 450 miles away -to the North and West approximately 2000 miles! But the wether is generally good - never have to clear snow from the runways or pads.

[rainbowgirl28]

Alan's camps are very good, I highly recommend them!

[altius]

When are the kids birthdays???

[altius]

Southern California clinics confirmed as
June 18th and 19th in Huntington Beach at Marina high school.
June 21st and 22nd at Dana Hills High school.

Hoping to add a session for coaches on the evening prior to each camp.

The coaches involved will be Kevin Magula, Bubba Sparks, Rick Baggett and Alan Launder (altius)

[vaultman18]

Southern California clinics confirmed as
June 18th and 19th in Huntington Beach at Marina high school.
June 21st and 22nd at Dana Hills High school.

Hoping to add a session for coaches on the evening prior to each camp.

The coaches involved will be Kevin Magula, Bubba Sparks, Rick Baggett and Alan Launder (altius)

What no Northern California love???
Sacramento CA June 12-14 at Sacramento State
Great Facility with 2 PV Pads Multiple Direction Runways, 6 Sand Pits, 2 400m Tracks, Weight Room and Conference Rooms. Great coaches with Alan Launder, Rick Baggett, Daniel Isaacs, Lizzy Norvell and Sac State Pole Vaulters. What more could you ask for?
Info and Registration at [url]tailwindpolevault.com[/url]

[altius]

I would just like to say how disappointed I am that I cannot undertake the planned series of clinics outlined earlier. I was looking to catch up with old friends, making new ones and meeting many enthusiastic young athletes. I was also hoping to share my latest insights into developing Petrov model athletes and finally I was hoping to enjoy travelling in some of the most beautiful parts of the world - and specifically seeing Crate Lake for the first time.

But that is not going to be possible, at least this year so I can only hope that it may be in the future. Thanks for your support. Al