Pole Vaulting is a skill that has been around since the Greeks started the Olympics. Until recently, it was regarded as only an event that boys could do. This was because of the arm and shoulder strength that was required.
Pole Vaulting is an event that is expensive and dangerous. In recent years, schools, federations, and even State Legislatures have went out of their way to try and protect the athletes that do the skill. Vaulters today are required to wear light weight helmets at many Track & Field meets. The Pole Vault is also considered to be one of the Field Events.
In the early years. a pole vault pit consisted of a large landing area of sand or sawdust, a vaulting box (pit), cross-bar, standards, and a pole. Each of these has improved to help protect the vaulters over time. In todays meets, large air bags (pits) even have large curtains around them to protect the vaulter when he lands. The pole that is used has developed over time. A pole made from bamboo used to be used. That has now evolved into a specialized pole that is made out of carbon fiber or fiberglass. The standards are set so that they can be moved forward or backward to help the vaulters. The crossbar is so flexible that they hardly ever break. All of these items are very expensive to purchase for school districts. School districts in our area even share the expenses as well as the equipment for practices. Some just don’t even provide for the event at their school whenever they host a Track meet. Some insurance companies won’t even cover athletes because of the risk factor to injury.
Still the event exists and it was one of the most challenging for an athlete to do. Unless a coach has had experience with the event, it is also very hard to coach.
Athletes that decide to learn the skill are best off to start as early as they can. It is a skill that must be practiced through repetition again and again. It is extremely difficult to learn the skill in one season. The skill requires refined technique as well as strength and speed development. This article will give your vaulters some tips and ideas to help with their vaulting techniques. This will be especially helpful for the beginners.
The first thing that a vaulter must learn is pole grip and how to plant the pole in the box. Once those two items have been done, take about a five or six step approach to the pit and just practice putting the pole in the box. Do not worry about the vault, Just concentrate on the steps and the plant and the grip. The grip must be where the vaulter can get the pole vertical. They may have to lower the grip to accomplish this. The pole must be vertical for a successful attempt.
Now without a cross bar, practice landing in the very middle of the pit. If at all possible, have the vaulter hold their grip on the pole all the way into the pit. Beginning vaulters should eventually be able to move the pole to their side and away from their body as they get better. This is a lead up to the skill of pushing the pole a way once they start using a cross bar.
Once the above are mastered, you can now start working on the take off leg. Many good vaulters will use the same leg that they might use if they were a long jumper. some will even practice the long jump to help develop their approach to the pit. The straighter you can keep the take off leg, the better off the vaulter will be. Again practice this without a cross bar and continue to focus on landing in the middle of the pit.
For beginners and even experienced vaulters, always start practice with the crossbar very low. I have even had the cross bar as low as half the distance of the vaulting pole in height. This helps with penetration in the vault. The stronger the penetration, the less chance of a vaulter landing on the cross bar or even on the vaulting box. Repetition again is the key here. If the cross bar gets knocked off by the pole, don’t worry about it. This is just practice.
The approach is different for everyone. Like the long jump, each athlete has to find the comfortable distance from the pit for their approach. Stronger better skilled athletes generally have a longer approach because they have to develop speed down the runway for the take off. They should mark their spot with a cut in half tennis ball, that they can recognize. Finding this spot should be done before the event or meet even begins.
The pole used is based on the weight of the vaulter. However, a good rule to follow is use the shortest and stiffest pole you can until you are ready to make a change. Don’t just assume that you can change from meet to meet. The pole does help you improve but, not as much as execution and experience.
While we are on poles, a good drill to help develop strength and grip would be to do the following. Find a strong vertical pole that is set in the ground, concrete, or steel. This might be an old volleyball standard that is set in a automobile tire with concrete. Have the athlete reach as high as they can on the pole without leaving the ground. Now, take athlete tape and tape it around that grip area. Have the athlete grip the tapped area and practice lifting the lower half of their body up. Be sure to have spotters so that they don’t fall or land on the concrete tire. This is great for developing shoulder and arm strength.
Never let a vaulter practice by themselves. Always one or two athletes near by to assist the vaulters. They are great for catching the pole as a vaulter pushes it away as they clear the cross bar. this also helps to protect the pole as well as the vaulter.
As vaulters get better with experience, they will try different things and make adjustments with their execution. This should be encouraged but, watched closely by the coach. A coach watches for the safety of the vaulter. If they see that the adjustment might be dangerous, they stop it immediately. The vaulters safety if first and fore most.
Lastly, vaulters must understand that success takes time. It is not unusual for a vaulter to miss every attempt. Even World Champs have days that aren’t good. It takes patience and everything working exactly well for a good attempt. Factors like crowd noise, wind, slippery runways, sore muscles, cold weather can all have a major impact on a vaulter. The key for the vaulter is to stay persistent over time. It is also just as important to be safe. It is impossible for me to write about every detail on vaulting in this article. It is my intent to provide just a few pointers and some important information. There are so many diiferent ideas that can be used for the technique as the vaulter advances in both age and skill.
A great web site that will help more than this article is found at www.polevaulteducation.org . I highly recommend this site for all coaches and vaulters.
