College Freshman- Moving Forward??

[Vaulter7]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site, as well as this sport. I'm a college freshman for my NJCAA div. 1 team. Also bear with me! This might be a tad long, haha. In high school, I was primarily a long/triple jumper. I tried vaulting my soph year, and my hs did not have a coach, aside from the girls coach who told us very basic instructions (row, hold on to the pole, get upside down, etc). I had a random guy from the air force come through and got me to about a 10'-10'6 bungee over the span of 2 weeks, and then he vanished lol. Never competed that year. The next, I tried it throughout the year, but again, with no coach, I only managed 8'0. A few other vaulters had told me to keep up with it, and that I would get it but I didn't listen and quit.After high school I was trying to find an event that I'd be competitive in College, and I came back to the vault in July of this year. It started off slow, with me not clearing anything past 8'. Fast forward to the end of November, and everything sorta clicked in a week training with a few clubs over the time span. I'm now eclipsing 13 feet, in the span of 6 months with a goal of 14'3 to qualify for indoor nationals. I think it's possible, but how should I go about this in regards to my progression? My goal is to get to 15'6 for outdoors.

Any tips/advice would be GREATLY appreciated. Thank You!!!!!!

[KirkB]

... everything sorta clicked in a week training with a few clubs over the time span. I'm now eclipsing 13 feet, in the span of 6 months with a goal of 14'3 to qualify for indoor nationals. I think it's possible, but how should I go about this in regards to my progression? My goal is to get to 15'6 for outdoors.

Hey V7, welcome to PVP! Couldn't you think of a more creative name than "Vaulter7"?

And who's Sam Barber. Do you mean Shawn Kendricks?

Anyway, all joking aside, congratulations on sticking with it! You'd better update that PR of yours on your profile, now that you're in the 13 foot range!

My best tips are to:
1. Keep attending the club practices (especially if you don't have a college PV coach).
2. Train hard!
3. Listen to your coach!
4. Talk it up - ask your fellow vaulters what they think you should focus on in your vault technique - or your training routines.
5. Stay optimistic. You're optimistic now, but there may be some bad days ahead, or you may get injured (it happens). Just stay optimistic thru it all.
6. Don't lose sight of your goal(s). 14-3 indoors? Go for it! 15-6 outdoors? Go for it!

Good luck!

Kirk