PoleVaultPower.com

After viewing 12 hours Texas high school vaulting, I was inspired to write about the generally accepted technique in the state at the high school level.

So here's the Texas High School Pole Vault Manifesto:

1. The ideal takeoff point is below your bottom hand. This is called pre-bending the pole prior to take off so it will launch you.
2. LOCK AND BLOCK. Preferably the arms extended should make a perfect 90 degree angle. Hold this position. Throwing your head back and tucking your feet will help.
3. DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE. You should be able to count ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPI. If you rock-back before 2 MISSISSIPPI, you have failed.
4. SAG AND FLAG. Break at the hips. Kick for the bar but never ever break your bottom arm in.
5. Standards no deeper than 20". The preferred setting is 15.5".
6. You are not warmed up until your 15th vault.
7. If you miss a bar, move your hand grip "back".
8. The weight label is also the only place you are allowed to grip the pole. No lower.
9. This style of vaulting is called "Compression Vaulting". Not making this up. That's what a coach called it.
10. Run through the box. There is no jump.
11. The preferred grip width is 30"-36".
12. The pole should be carried with both arms extended and away from your body.
13. To get out of the rock back position, it is necessary to pull as hard as possible with both hands in order to extend the feet upward.
14. Carry the pole parallel to the runway.
15. Turn up and finish your vault no matter what.

You should write a book, but don't do it until you retire or everyone will know the secrets of how Texans vault so high! (at least that's what one of the coaches that was there yesterday had told someone he was going to do)

achtungpv wrote:3. DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE. You should be able to count ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPI. If you swing before 2 MISSISSIPPI, you have failed.

Disagree with this statement - Texas High School Coaches do not teach people to swing, they teach them to "ROCK BACK!"

lonestar wrote:

achtungpv wrote:3. DRIVE DRIVE DRIVE. You should be able to count ONE MISSISSIPPI, TWO MISSISSIPPI. If you swing before 2 MISSISSIPPI, you have failed.

Disagree with this statement - Texas High School Coaches do not teach people to swing, they teach them to "ROCK BACK!"

Ugh. That's my own philosophy creeping into the manifesto. It has been fixed.

LOL

The manifesto has been updated with suggestions from some of the greatest technical minds Texas has to offer.

Please help keep this document alive. It's importance for the sport cannot be underestimated.

I guess all the people jumping high must be because of the great club coaches since all of us HS coaches are such dumb butts. That or we just have such better athletes than the other states that for years they have overcome poor coaching to put up some of the best marks in the nation. Of corse our nation sucks in the pv too because we have been told the last couple of years at Reno how bad we are compared to the Aussies and the Russians.

Why can't high school coaches accept criticism??? Are all high school coaches infallible when it comes to there style of coaching??? I think that this manifesto is a tribute to bad coaching techniques, which is why kids get hurt in the first place... Kids dont get hurt in this sport if they are taught to vault correctly... Poor coaching is a problem at the high school level... I'm not saying all high school coaches are bad, but good ones are few and far between... Plus, how many of the top high school vaulters in the nation do not have private coaches or attend some sort of camp??? By the way, which american holds the world record (men or women) in pole vault?? I seem to have forgotten...

By the way Dev, there is no "take off" in texas high school vaulting... You are supposed to run straight into the pole... If you try to jump off the ground, you lose the amount of bend you could put into the pole... Also, if the pole seems to be soft, then you should "grip forward" to make it stiffer...

Addition:

*Carry your pole tip at eye level the entire run so that it will force you to lean back to support the weight of the pole

blakedow wrote:Why can't high school coaches accept criticism??? Are all high school coaches infallible when it comes to there style of coaching??? I...

Criticism, when constructive is a great tool, but every year at any major PV competetion there are people who sit in the stands and gripe about the coaching. Just like football, basketball and baseball the people in the stands know more than the coaches. I have taken kids to the state meet for years and I alwys talk to other coaches and get thier thoughts on my kids. I don't know it all like some people. There are alot of different ideas on the PV and I think we have alot of great people coaching the vault in Texas, some private some HS. Just make sure we are all part of the solution not part of the problem.

CowtownPV wrote:
Criticism, when constructive is a great tool, but every year at any major PV competetion there are people who sit in the stands and gripe about the coaching. Just like football, basketball and baseball the people in the stands know more than the coaches. I have taken kids to the state meet for years and I alwys talk to other coaches and get thier thoughts on my kids. I don't know it all like some people. There are alot of different ideas on the PV and I think we have alot of great people coaching the vault in Texas, some private some HS. Just make sure we are all part of the solution not part of the problem.

Point well taken. Obviously a stereotype will always include those who don't deserve to be classified as such, like yourself. You're right John, we do have a lot of great people coaching the vault in Texas, some private, some HS.

What disturbs me is that there is a wealth of knowledge about the sport available to anyone with an interest in it, via books, dvd's, camps, clinics, conversation with coaches, etc... In my honest opinion though, the majority of coaches, not just in high school, and not just in Texas, don't seem to take any interest in learning any of it. Everybody(a gross generalization) is already an expert.

I sure as hell don't know it all, never will, and don't purport to, but I think one of the key aspects to my vaulters success lies in the fact that I never stop searching for information, never stop asking questions, and never settle for one method of how to teach kids this sport. It bothers me when I see coaches using the same ineffective methods over and over for the last 30 years when numerous biomechanical studies have proven these methods to be wrong. You can't fight the physics. Not saying that we all have to coach alike, that would be wrong too. Nor does everyone have to jump alike, because you can't make pole vaulters with a cookie cutter. When I see vaulters at the state meet though with major fundamental errors in their vault, I simply think of how much better they COULD and SHOULD be if they were getting the right information.

There are too many great coaches in our state to list, but if I did list them, trust me, your name would be on it. That's my opinion though. The measure of a good coach goes well beyond technique too, but that's a whole other topic.

I just feel that too many coaches are complacent with their methods, and simply regurgitate what the popular coaches (both good and bad) have been preaching about for decades. We need more open-mindedness across the board, myself included.

I agree there are alot of coaches out there who are not willing to learn but some times the vault is hard because there are alot of different ideas that even the "experts" don't agree on. Some coaches are just lazy but some are coaching three sports, teaching 5 classes and coaching several events in track. I just think we have to be carefull about ripping coaches in a public forum because we need all the support we can get for the pole vault and track in general. Good coaches will always be open to new ideas but we have to carefull how we approach them. We really have come along way in Texas and hopefully we will just get better.