Staying Consistant

[vault3rb0y]

I know its hard, but see if you can find a local college or just open pit that someone might give you permission to use. Maybe look for clubs around where you are to vault with. They are great resources to consistent jumping all year round. On top of this, when a new coach might ask him to do something, he might be under more pressure to do it, in order to make himself look good, and he might jump high under any practical conditions. I know from experience, that when my dad would tell me to do something vault-wise, it was more like a suggestion. When my coach tells me, its the law. You might have a different relationship however and i won't assume. Thats just whats true for me.

[pvdad81]

vault3rb0y, those are good ideas,
However, there are no clubs or colleges with track teams within 100 miles of us. Mississippi is a pole vault vacuum. We have to travel to Louisiana to compete in AAU meets this summer.
Sometimes I forget that he has only been vaulting for about 15 months now. Hopefully, as he matures he will get more confident and more consistant.

[ladyvolspvcoach]

any video??? How many lefts is he running??

[pvdad81]

I never really counted his steps. His run is around 80'. I have video but it will have to wait. We're going out of town now. Any places to vault in Oklahoma City area? We'll be there for a week with our poles. It would be great to get a practice in.

[ladyvolspvcoach]

I know that there aren't many folk on this board that give credance to the value of numbers, but they are everything!!!!! It's vitally important. He's probably running 7 lefts with that starting point.

[AVC Coach]

You are absolutely right ladyvolscoach! Numbers are everything when it comes to the vault. Steps, mids, take-offs, grip height, pole length, pole weight, flex, standard depth, standard height, runway speed, etc.

I still remember my exact run from my senior year in high school and that was 19 years ago.

[pvdad81]

Well, there's good news and bad news.
The good news is, we found a place to practice in Oklahoma city. Wes @ Valtiletics let us practice with them for a week.
The bad news is Jonathan was mushing out all his poles.
The good news was that Wes is a USC Spirit dealer.
The bad news was that the factory was out of 14' 155's
The good news was they made us one and shipped it same day and we got it on Friday before our meet.
The bad news is even with the new pole Jonathan is having the same problem.
The good news is now he had a huge jump at 14' (over it by 9") and was inconsistant at 14'6". He was over it but hit it either on the way up or on the way down.
Thanks again for all the advice and thanks to Wes for helping us out.

[vault3rb0y]

Sounds like you are in the classic problems of rising high school vaulters, not enough poles!! Hopefully he keeps mushing the poles. Have him mush every pole until he finds the one thats gonna shoot him just right. Sounds like from the number of poles hes gone through he should be going real high real soon!

[pvdad81]

Well vault3rb0y, today he did just that. He mushed out his brand new pole at the AAU regional in New Orleans. Luckily, Doug Fraley and Kyle Rose loaned us a 14' 165. Jonathan won the meet with a jump of 15'. (a 12" PR)
Anybody need a brand new 14'155 USC Spirit?
Here is link to vid for ladyvolspvcoach
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLZSg3FPF3M