Losing motivation

[letsbreakrecords]

Hi, season just started and as a sophomore my PR is 7'0. I was doing so well as a freshman and over summer workouts I was kicking 9ft and was getting pretty close. However, I got injured during basketball in the winter that put out my left ankle and knee, the ones I use for take off. I didn't clear jack squat on our last meet. I opened at 6'6 and all my vaults were horrible. I don't know what to do to improve because most newcomers are gymnasts and they're getting more attention from my coach. I really want to improve but I don't know what to do ): I'm kind of stuck.

[AVC Coach]

Have you got some video of your jumps that you can post for us to analyse?

[scootz42]

Yes, please post a video. You will get a lot of feedback and help.

[ClintonMagus]

My daughter was a two-time state champion and record holder, but she was injured last year. Although she jumped all last season as a Junior, she wasn't able to achieve anything close to what she had hoped for. Physically, she was sore. Mentally, she was simply "not into it".

The solution? She completely laid off vaulting for seven months. I didn't mention it at all during the summer or fall. We did watch the Olympics because people we knew were jumping. Finally, in December, she wanted to go jump at our indoor facility, but I wouldn't let her do it until she had a few privates from Earl Bell. He is an absolute guru with the mental aspect of the pole vault. He also took her back to low heights and basic jump techniques. As a result, she is jumping better than ever with real determination, confidence, and maturity and sees the sport as much more than a social gathering. At meets she takes only enough warm-up jumps to verify her numbers and opening height, and then she sits down and lets everyone else wear themselves out before she comes in. The result - three for four first place finishes so far this year, with the other one the result of a cold 25MPH crosswind that messed with everyone.

Bottom line - take time off where you do stuff completely unrelated to pole vaulting, then go to a coach who will start at the beginning and build you back up.

This is only "tangentially related", but whenever our jumpers are having trouble getting off the ground during warm-ups at meets, I make them do a couple of one- or two-step pop-ups to prove they can get into the pit before I let them take another jump. This is an abbreviated version of what Earl did, and it works every time.