vaulting again after 20 years off

[bending again]

If anyone is interested in what it is like vaulting again after almost 20 years off read on... Picked up a pole and vaulted yesterday. Really no training other than skateboarding and yoga. Used an @85' run. 13' 165pd. pole. Shoulders and hip flexor are sore but not injured. 24 hours later stomach muscles are tender and aches in lots of places. Did three vaults. First one got on the pole, second one mushed out the pole going for 11', third vault held lower and popped 11'. What a great feeling to leave a bar up! Happy to be back and vaulting at 43!

[souleman]

OK, Now that you're back, please find and read as many of the threads that there are on this forum regarding us "Ol' Geezers" acting like kids again. I've submitted quite a few that you might find helpful. Most of what I have contributed involves what you need to keep in mind to keep yourself from getting hurt. You will get hurt! Hopefully it won't be too bad. Once you do hurt yourself, while you're recovering, you can then go back again and read the threads that I have mentioned. Second time through you'll believe it and protect yourself and your body. Then you will really enjoy what we all hope will be a long career in masters tarck and field as a pole vaulter. As Bubba always says...."welcome back brotha"!
Later....................Mike

P.S. By the way. Fill out your profile so we know a little more about you and where you are.

[bending again]

Thanks for the reply Mike - How do you fill out a profile? Just some quick info on me. I'm Steve Klassen. Vaulted 83-88 at USC. I live in Mammoth Lakes, CA. There are no pits or meets anywhere in my area. Coach Ron Allice from USC recently gave me one of their old pits, I got a new top piece made, and built a runway in my backyard. I would really like to know of the most common injuries, and the best ways to prevent them. So thanks in advance for the reply, Steve

[souleman]

I don't know how to change the profile now with the new format. didn't look very hard either. Just click and punch around the web site and I'm sure you will find the profile button. I did a quick search on the forum and found a couple of things that I commented on. These are different threads that addressed training and not getting hurt. There are many. You can just go to the search box and type in what you're looking for ex. "pole carry", "run-up" etc or the name of a contributor on the forum. Hope they give you some insight................Later...............Mike

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5001&p=45704&hilit=souleman#p45704
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=5087&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=souleman

This is the one where I address getting back into it and some things to do.
viewtopic.php?f=14&t=7377&p=59489&hilit=souleman#p59489

As it will say somewhere in the threads, the key thing to remember is that you still have an 18 year old brain sitting on top of that body. That being said you need to remember that basically a 60% to 75% effort mentally is about 100% effort on the body. You can PM me and I can send you some weight workout charts that are vault specific and other things you might want. If you're poppin' 11' and just coming back , all you'll want to do is stay healthy and tweek technique and you'll do just fine.

[master]

To access your profile, scroll to the top of this page. Look in the upper left corner. There is the phpBB banner, below that a link for Board index, below that a link for "User Control Panel". Click on that. From the window that is displayed click on the "Profile" tab (next to the "Overview" tab) and you're there.

Welcome back, stay healthy and have fun. You'll meet a great group of people doing masters vaulting; women and men.

- master

ps I took 35 years off before getting back into it.

[JFvaulter]

Welcome back Steve! That first jump after 20 years is always a thrill ride.
I know your former teammate Eric White. Maybe this will encourage him to come back as well.

[vaultmd]

Fight on, Steve!

Just remember that the muscles come back before bones. So start light and work your way up the volume and intensity ladder.

No plyos until you are otherwise in excellent shape.

You didn't overlap, but Trojan vaulter John Kwan is in the San Francisco Bay area as a periodontist.

[bending again]

Thanks for all the replys. Had another vault session today. Just did some pop ups. Still feeling not 100% from a few days ago, but soon. Lots of kids are interested in vaulting now that I have these pits. I remember how great it felt when I learned. It's like the stoke is back. I would say if you are thinking about doing it and haven't yet, pick up a pole and take off. Later, Steve

[Bubba PV]

I'm sitting in Spokane in my hotel room waiting to jump tomorrow morning and this post reminds me why I'm here. GREAT people and athletes. BTW - I lived in Newport Beach, California for 24 years (14 years helping at UC Irvine) and the Steve Klassen I remember from USC was a STUD!! Welcome back Steve!! You might find it ironic that when you were jumping I hadn't comeback yet myself after 11 years off. It will be 20 years back next year. Congrats on all of you past, present and future success. Bubba

[Mugaleedone]

Congrats on coming back to the sport... I just found the site today and registered. I think/dream of coming back and Vaulting agian. It has been 22yrs since I vaulted in college, and I only vaulted for 2yrs though I did clear 16 a few times. I', courious on how you did this comback,,, more about the details. Who did you contact, poles, matts and all that stuff. Thanks, T. Hooker

[Bubba PV]

The best starting place is HERE!! Look for clubs or contacts in your region in the categories near the bottom of the main page. Next is to ask your local high school if they have a vault program, coach or kids, and then volunteer to help if you can jump there. Between those two options you should be able to find someone in your area who will help get you back in the game. Have fun!! There’s LOTS of experience on this forum regarding the subject with Souleman being the unofficial group leader. Bubba

[bending again]

Thought I would post an update. I have had about five vault sessions now. Two of them where I did a full run from about 90'. The others just messing around with a small pole and taking three or five steps. One other twenty year off vaulter has been here with me. The main sore area is achilles for both of us. For me I seem to need several to four days between vault sessions. I have also been sore in my right groin. This is from the drive after take off (left leg take off). Every time seems to be that the soreness takes less time to go away. Shoulders OK, and actually feels like great cross training for the other sports I do. So I have been feeling that I may want to move up a pole on my long run. Probably some time this week.

As far as gettting the facility, I was given the old USC mats from coach Ron Allice after asking him several years ago. I knew that the only way I was going to vault was to have the mats in my yard. When I feel like I have it in me to vault, then I vault if I have the time. Not sure if I would do as well or as injury free if I knew I had to do it at a certain time. I only do it when I feel on enough to take the force of the take off. I have a downhill wood runway with rubber on top. I think it is better for injuries than concrete w/ rubber. As far as poles I just went to Spirit in Carson City (north of my hometown Mammoth) and asked Steve Chappel what poles he thought would work well. Right now I use a 13'165 for long runs and a short 135 for doing pop ups and getting a little bend (holding low enough not to overbend or risk breakage). If you want to vault sometimes it is not easy for an older guy. For me there was no facility within 2 1/2 hour drive, so my only choice other than a one time shot here and there was to build one myself. Helping out at a high school seems like another good way in if there are programs around where you live.