Help, New to pole vaulting

[SkylerH]

Hey, I am a Junior in High School and I have only pole vaulted for on year. It's something that I really enjoy doing but my max weights for lifting are low (175 for bench press and 235 for parallel squat) and I think those and the lack of training is why my PR is low and my run is off sometimes. I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what I should be doing for training. Thank You!

[KirkB]

Never mind the weights.

Just learn to run fast, with consistent strides, while holding the pole, and get in the gym and learn how to swing on ropes, highbars, and rings. The gym is where you'll get stronger - in all the right places.

Good luck.

Kirk

[SkylerH]

Thanks for the advice! Ill try getting my run more consistent but my town is a bit small so we don't have any ropes or rings at my gym or at my school.

[KirkB]

Do small towns have trees?

Buy a rope!

The rope should be about the same diameter as your pole.

Kirk

[SkylerH]

Haha good point, thanks for the idea.

[KirkB]

THE JOY OF SWINGING ON A ROPE!

I grew up on a farm, and it seemed like we had ropes everywhere. In the barn, we strung them up on the rafters, swinging into piles of hay. In a forested area of our farm, we had a rope that swung across a large gully, and another rope was our only means of getting into our tree fort - by swinging from the hillside onto the tree. That rope was purposely positioned to make it difficult for younger siblings and their friends to access the fort. If you didn't swing fast enough on it, you couldn't reach the fort!

For all the rope swinging I did as a kid, I only had one accident (I broke my arm) - when a rope I hung from a chestnut tree came loose (I didn't tie it to the tree properly, so it came loose).

We also had a rope that my dad strung from an outside rafter of our house. It was intended to be a fire-escape, but I soon re-purposed it as a PV training rope.

So maybe I've been lucky this way, but for those living in more suburban areas (or a small town ), there's still plenty of opportunities to hang ropes from trees, and to just swing on them. You just have to use a bit of imagination.

If you're a Beginner pole vaulter, you don't need to do any particular drills at all - just have fun, and at the same time, condition your body to get used to swinging on a pole - it's an easy transition!

Kirk

[powerplant42]

I agree with Kirk! Focus on having fun for a while. Almost any strength training that is appropriate for now can be done with bodyweight.

Browse these forums for good ideas for a basic training schedule for a relative newcomer.

[mohammed]

I think that you should be focusing on running faster and getting stronger because the fastest way to get better in the vault is to get faster and strong that way your able to start moving bigger poles with higher grip. You could also work on the techinqcal aspect of the vault. And you can do that by going on a high bar or pull up bar and work on the swing by swinging with the trail leg straight and not just tucking in and shooting up. Or if your able to get on a rope you can do rope drills which is like what you were doing with the high bar but now it with a rope and if you have enough room you can add a run and then the drill turns into a run up then you jump of the ground drive and swing and hold the swing up there

[KirkB]

... And you can do that by going on a high bar or pull up bar and work on the swing by swinging with the trail leg straight and not just tucking in and shooting up. ...

Kirk

[monteo]

For your run, get some mini hurdles (about 6-9" tall, depending on your height), space them out on the track, and run through them while carrying the pole. About 3' apart is good for making your feet move fast, 4'-5' is usually about right for overall speed in terms of stride length and cadence. Make sure you are lifting your knees to get over the hurdles, not lifting your feet behind you, and of course maintaining and upright posture and running on your toes the whole time. After you are comfortable with this, (50 to 100 runs), start dropping the pole and jumping after you get out of the hurdles to simulate a plant (NOT planting in the plant box). When you can do this without your body (primarily hips and shoulders) twisting (again, lots of reps), you should find that your run is much more consistent.

Mini hurdles can be made for a couple dollars apiece out of 1/2" pvc pipe with the correct fittings if your school doesn't have them. The advantage to this is that when they break, only individual components have to be replaced.