The "Must See's" of pole vaulting.

[MattM]

I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum, please move it if it is.


Hey guys, I believe that to be a good competitor of the pole vault, you must be a good scholar of the pole vault. To be a good scholar of the pole vault, you need to be taught, which required something to teach you. Aside from reading these forums, I was wondering what references you all know of that will ultimately, teach me. For example, reading "Beginner to Bubka" is something I'm looking for. What other references do you know of? What "must see, must read, must watch" is there? (Besides youtube videos, I think I've ran watched those dry )

[Barto]

To be honest, I don't believe there is sufficient documentation in the world to adequately teach the pole vault. Learning the pole vault is more about first hand experience. Go to Formia. Go to Jonesboro. Go to Leverkusen, Knoxville, Bel Aire, Seattle, Carson City, Champaign, Atascadero, Phoenix, Tulsa, and if you get really desperate Louisiana. The information gained from these experiences will benefit you more than memorizing every word ever written about the vault. If you can't travel. Find a coach and do exactly what they tell you. The worst thing you can do is try to self coach and piecemeal your information together from different sources. Better to have a bad plan and follow it completely than no plan at all.

my 2 cents

[MattM]

Sorry, I must have been a bit confusing. I have an excellent coach, and try to attend clinics where are some of the best coaches in the world. I didn't mean for these sources to substitute first hand experience nor training, but rather be an addition to. When you work with a single coach all the time, he tends to only see the same things. One person can only see so much, but the more advice you get means the more things that you can improve on, and a consensus of these ideas generally proves true that a certain change is the correct thing to do. "Find a coach and do exactly what they tell you." The problem with this is that people can be wrong, but by seeking the information from the most beneficial and reliable sources (I.E. Beginner to Bubka) one can benefit greatly, outside of the boundaries of secluding themselves to a sole source.

[KirkB]

I don't believe there is sufficient documentation in the world to adequately teach the pole vault. ... Better to have a bad plan and follow it completely than no plan at all.

To add to this ... a so-so brick-and-mortar coach is better than a dozen cyber coaches!

You may learn some TECHNIQUE thru PVP, papers, or books ... but you won't be INSPIRED in the same way that a personal coach can inspire you ... not to mention instant feedback and a much deeper contextual understanding of your entire PV career ... right up to the minute!

I think vaulters AND coaches should make those treks to those US vaulting hotspots. Maybe even START with a trek to Louisiana!

Too often, a PV coach lives and works in a silo ... wearing blinders ... unaware or unwilling to explore how some US areas grow better vaulters than other areas.

There is a trend towards better vaulters growing out of sunny states ... but surely that's not the case for WA and OR!

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

There are a lot of fun DVDs on NeoVault that you can buy. I think "A Pole Vaulter's Dream" is a must buy, the Neo Vault videos are all really awesome too, and The Next Attempt.

[MattM]

There are a lot of fun DVDs on NeoVault that you can buy. I think "A Pole Vaulter's Dream" is a must buy, the Neo Vault videos are all really awesome too, and The Next Attempt.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

[superpipe]

Mental visualization is a key component to the "perfect vault". Confidence is probably the #1 factor in performing the vault, not that it will be a "perfect vault" by any means. I always suggest watching the following two videos over and over and re-visiting them a few times a week. You may say it gets old and becomes stale, but as you keep watching both of these videos, you will ingrain in your mind the unconscious feeling of the "perfect vault". It's like gaining muscle memory without physically training the muscle. Plus, it takes years to identify all of the technical aspects going on in these videos. I could list a ton, but I'm sure there's plenty I'm missing too. Good coaching and training will help you identify the technical aspects. Constantly re-visiting these videos in combination with your training will help you gain better and better mental visualization of the "perfect vault". Any good "mental training" book talks about "highlight reels" ( visualization of yourself or "the best" performing perfectly ). Swap yourself into these videos.

1. http://www.mansfieldathletics.com/pole_ ... Video1.mov
2. http://www.mansfieldathletics.com/pole_ ... r_jump.mov

[tsorenson]

Hey Matt,
I have watched a lot of pole vault videos and have learned something from all of them. The old Jan Johnson Skyjumpers videos are classic if you can get your hands on them, in addition to the ones Becca recommended. Basically, watching good vaulters (both male and female) is good practice for the visualization that superpipe mentioned, and he has posted some great clips to study in detail, while comparing to your own vaults. Go frame-by-frame and try to achieve the positions you see on these videos in your drills and training, starting from the first step of the run. Stabhochsprung.com has a lot of clips to study as well. Make sure you are getting video of your own practices, drills included, and always strive to improve (treat drills as a competition). Seeing what you are doing in slow motion is always important feedback. I am sure you are doing this already!

Definitely buy BTB2 and the DVD...I do not know of another book with such detail about the event, it is basically the textbook of pole vaulting. One of the great things about the DVD is that there are several of Bubka's, Isinbayeva's and other athletes best jumps broken down in detail with stop-motion at all the key positions. I have read the book many times, also managed to watch the DVD quite a few times and still find it useful, but the music is god-awful (sorry Altius and Neovault...but hey at least I gave you a plug)

I hear Rick has a "little book" that you should ask him for next time you see him. His DVD's are also very good, you can find them on Youtube I believe or get them from him directly (maybe he will cut you a deal, ). I have his "ground work" video that covers much of what you did at the symposium, you can borrow it sometime if you want to check it out.

If you haven't seen it already, David Butler has a good clip of a lecture from the PV Summit. You can probably find a link by searching this site. Also, Spencer Chang's article he posted on this website a while back really lays it out well, try searching for that also.

All of the people I mentioned above deserve credit for sharing information about the pole vault.

Hope you've gotten some vaulting in with the nice weather

Take care,

Tom

[MattM]

Thanks a ton Tom, I can always rely on you.

Thanks a ton for all of these, I'll check them out.

I forgot about Rick's video/book, I'll try to get one off him sometime.

Vaulting has been great, Redmond's pit is poorly designed so we have a crosswind/tailwind about 90% of the time, it normally gets better as we get closer to summer though. First meet is this Friday, hoping to do well.

I've got the Beginner to Bubka video, is it also worth the money to get the book or is the video just taking the book and putting it in motion? Thanks.

[rainbowgirl28]

The book is way more detailed than the video, definitely worth getting the book.

[MattM]

Oh wow, just checked the updated version of the book and it's 310 pages. I'll definitely try to get my hands on this. Thanks a ton guys.

EDIT: I put an order in and BTB2 should arrive soon.