GIRLS vs BOYS

[SinCity]

Do any on you coach your girls technique any different than the boys? Are there any variations to your methods?

We coach several vaulters and the boys are progressing so much faster than the girls. We are teaching them the same techniques and correcting them in the same ways, but it just dosen't seem to be working as well as it should. The boys on average have PR'd a little over 2' this season and the girls about 7".

All these problems we are having are after takeoff, for the most part. Run, plant and takeoff are decent, but something gets lost after they leave the ground. Is it a strength thing? Or a technique issue?

[pistolpete6994]

An opinion....
The guys are stronger so they can get away with more than the girls. The ladies need everything to go nearly perfect. the guys, some things can be off and they can muscle their way up.

Just one thought.

[AVC Coach]

Very true! My boys almost always progress much faster simply because they are stronger. Every now and then I will have a girl progress quickly, but it's just because she is stronger than average.

I coach them all the same, boys and girls, but I understand that some are simply not strong enough to hit the positions that I would like them to.

Be patient, and start them young enough to develop those "pole vault" muscles.

[SinCity]

Thanks guys. I kinda figured that's what it is, but just wanted some other insights, because I feel bad when the girls work harder than the boys and just stay the same and wanted to know If I could do anything different, guess they'll just have to get stronger.

[ladyvolspvcoach]

I've found that girls that come into this program from highschool generally have never really been on a weight training or gymnastics training program. I almost all cases they do not progress much their first year, but look out their sophomore years. I had one girl who jumped 10'7" in high school just improve to 11' at the end of her third year. But the next year she jumped 13'3 indoors. So I think the training takes longer for results to show up in the girls,unless they were pretty successful gymnasts in high school.

[golfdane]

I sense, that it's a power/weight ratio issue as well as a mindset.

Boys are stronger, but they also have (in general), a better power/weight ratio. This mean they can achieve a much higher velocity on the runup and plant.

Still, jumping higher and higher requires a special mindset. One that is probably more present in boys than in girls. It requires a daring mindset.
Boys are more likely to venture into undiscovered territory, while girls are (in general) way more cautious, and only goes there when they feel it's safe.

[dj]

good morning

it's simply a power/weight ratio...

women's gymnastics has been around a long time and the ladies are just as/more couragious than the guys..

don't you think i would love to have Danica Patrick as a pole vaulter!...

kicking butt and taking names...

dj

[golfdane]

Greetings DJ

I think you are right when we talk PV on elite levels. Elite PV'ers are where they are because they dare, BIG TIME. No doubt about that.
However, the original question was why boys IN GENERAL progress faster than girls. I still feel, that even though the most couragious women certainly hold their own, are girls in general a little more precautious than boys.

None of the top women got whey they are now, progressing as little as 7" a season (at least not until they got very high).
IOW, it's not (IMO) courage that is the reason for Isi not going to 5.50.

[achtungpv]

I personally think girls can progress faster than boys if they come from an athletic background. The girls that don't do a sport until 7th grade are the ones that are slow to develop.

Also, girls are less likely (in my experience) to be head cases than boys. Maybe it's the gymnastics background where they've had the fear beaten out of them but generally a girl will plant any pole with any grip you give her and a boy will second guess you a lot of the time. Maybe it's a trust issue.

[dj]

hey golfdane..

i am still of the opinion....basicly power/weight ratio..

but there is something to be said about being cautious ... and not trying something that's "on the edge".. ie some coaches try to force there athlete to "get upside down" when they don't have the pole speed to make the pit or swing properly.. the coach many times even calls them "chicken" to get them to do something that is unsafe.. i have seen more boys than girls that would "just go for it".. fortunately they have the strength to "save" a mess-up..

but i don't think we have had a female death in pole vaulting ... and that tells me they are smarter than us guys and will not let ego get in the way of reason...

and i'm of the opinion that "wild and crazy vaulters" are the fault of a coach or lack of one...

when a coach doesn't "see" what the athlete is feeling.. is when the insecurities begin.. man or women..

dj

[golfdane]

Hey DJ

I agree, that it's PRIMARILY a power/weight issue (that boys in general advance faster and jump higher).

I fact, I agree with your entire post. It's not always easy for a coach to gauge the emotions of an athlete, and vicious or taunting namecalling definately won't make the athlete feel more secure, but might make a boy go for it, even though he feels insecure.
And as you say, will his strength probably enable him to recover partly or fully from a complete zark-up.

Girls are more prone to show their insecurity, and might make a coach precarious about putting pressure on an athlete?

[lonestar]

In my experience, my girls have progressed much faster than my boys. I have had a more difficult time breaking girls out of plateaus than my boys though. Most of my girls are former gymnasts, level 9 or higher, and pick up the basic technique very quickly improving by a few feet the first few years.

Example: One girl jumped 7'0 in 7th grade, then 10'7 in 8th grade, 12'6+ in 9th grade, 12'6 10th grade, 12'9 11th grade. 2 other girls jumped 6'0ish in 7th grade, 8 or 9ish in 8th grade, 11'0 in 9th grade, 11'0 in 10th grade, 11'0 in 11th grade. No improvement in 3 years.

You can see how the plateaus hit after 9th grade.

After they're proficient with the technique though, physiology usually catches up to them and then it's a matter of simply making them stronger and faster. I have them doing body-weight exercises through Age 15, then add weights from Age 16 up.

My boys on the other hand have been much slower to pick up the technique, but their physiology has allowed them to progress faster during the high school years due to strength and speed.

Could be the fact that girls hit puberty earlier than boys (in general) and boys may hit growth spurts later.

Another problem I've observed with ex-gymnasts is that the serious ones were training 20-30 hours per week and when they quit around Jr. High, their metabolism (which was running on overdrive) slows way down and without that much continued training, they struggle with weight gain. Anyone else seen this?