State Training

[mjsuggspv]

Good morning,

I am a sophmore pole vaulter. I have been vaulting for a little over a year and am about a month away from the State Track and Field Championships. What should I be doing (drills/training/nutition) and how much should I be doing to try to try to peak when it counts. Currently, I have been focus on getting more consistent with my invert and really swinging with my trail leg (Full Aproach). I would appreciate any advice as to what I should be doing.

Thank You,
Emilia

[EIUvltr]

Whatever your current limiting factor is, is what you should be working on. Chances are it is your form. Very few kids your age have perfect form and are being held back by their lack of top end speed or general strength. Also peaking isn't something that really pertains to novice or intermediate vaulters anyway so I wouldn't worry about it. Just keep working on your short run vaulting, pole runs on the track and maybe some flying 30s and you'll be alright.

As far as nutrition goes, avoid eating a lot of carbs for breakfast and lunch, save them for after you work out/practice. Your muscles will be more prepared to receive glucose after being stimulated by exercise. Also eat more veggies than you can bear to look at.

If you post videos, we can be much more helpful as far as giving you specific things to work on.

[altius]

Do everything possible to stabilise your approach run!

[mjsuggspv]

Ok, I can see where this is coming from. Thanks!

[mjsuggspv]

Also peaking isn't something that really pertains to novice or intermediate vaulters anyway so I wouldn't worry about it.

So as long as I can keep correcting my form I can keep progressing and getting better within the month?

Just keep working on your short run vaulting, pole runs on the track and maybe some flying 30s and you'll be alright.

I have a a short run (4L) and a long run (6L). On my short run I am definitively more aggressive but I cannot get up to the speed I can get on my long run. My long run is incredibly faster but it is intimidating. Should I keep the short run for drills and focus on controlling my long run or just stay with the short run. What things can I do to stabilize my long run?

Thank you for your time.

[littlewilson85]

After reading your thoughts about your 4L and 6L run, I would like to suggest maybe a 5L run. My female vaulters do a lot of short runs for 3L, but early in the season we compete from a 5L run. For some reason, the girls really like to 5L run. Possibly due to the fact that they can get up to speed and control the run. The two areas your struggling with. With my experienced vaulters, we work off the runway on a 6L run and get lots of reps. By the time championship season rolls around, my female vaulters move back to a 6L run.

[mjsuggspv]

With my experienced vaulters, we work off the runway on a 6L run and get lots of reps. By the time championship season rolls around, my female vaulters move back to a 6L run.

Would you recommend any paticular drills or just hop on the track and run my steps out?

[littlewilson85]

As a coach, I lay the run out on the track and have a towel for the box. We work on hitting are mid marks and take off marks with proper technique. I am looking for the athlete to accelerate through the plant and takeoff.

[mjsuggspv]

Alright, thank you all for your time.

[EIUvltr]

in my experience its better to hit the takeoff at 8m/s while you're still accelerating than 9m/s if you've already hit top speed and are decelerating. This is why you can seemingly jump quite high from 3Ls compared to your long run, because you are still accelerating which allows for a more powerful jump even if you aren't moving that fast at takeoff. Just something to think about.

[mjsuggspv]

This is why you can seemingly jump quite high from 3Ls compared to your long run, because you are still accelerating which allows for a more powerful jump even if you aren't moving that fast at takeoff.

But even if it was more powerful would it be better to start working and getting more controlled on a long run to maximize the potential for a good vault? Or should I just stick with what was recommended (5L) and work on that.

Also, how many days a week should I be vaulting and how many should I just stick with pure running. Right now my head coach (who is a little bit pole vault...ignorant) has us do this half run/ half vault, where we run the first half of practice then go vault.

[EIUvltr]

It's okay, knowledgable pole vault coaches are hard to come by. Its a sport that requires a lot of research on behalf of the athlete, and sometimes a lot of $$$ as well.

I would say that at this point in the season, you should be vaulting first. You want to have the most energy for your vaulting work, then you can do some running/lifting afterwards. Becca made a comment a few years ago about how she would have her vaulters run first because it kept away the slackers who want to vault because it gets them out of running. I think this is a great idea for January?February, but not for May/June.

But even if it was more powerful would it be better to start working and getting more controlled on a long run to maximize the potential for a good vault?

Yes, absolutely. Like Alan said, you want to do everything you can at this point to get your run down pat. If you have a good run, the vault will take care of itself (for the most part). Or at least adjustments in the air will be a LOT easier. However if you're not used to a 5L, then I wouldn't switch it up all of a sudden this late in the year. Stick with what you've been doing and perfect it. Unless you are struggling from 6L then maybe you want to go down to 5L, but thats the only reason I can think of.

Also, how many days a week should I be vaulting and how many should I just stick with pure running

Ask 10 coaches and you'll get 10 different answers. For younger vaulters like yourself, vaulting should be done a LOT, at least 3 days a week. For seasoned veterans you don't need to vault as much. I haven't vaulted in years but I know I could pick up a pole tomorrow and get a decent bar. As for pure running it depends on a lot of things, too many to list in this article. But I would say that for young vaulters, pole runs and vaulting itself can be speed work in and of itself to an extent. A couple days per week of sprints on top of that is probably fine. Most power athletes in the US are over volumized as it is. You're not a 400 runner or a marathoner. Your event lasts a few seconds followed by a lot of rest, so endless conditioning is unnecessary and potentially detrimental.