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I've been vaulting for about eight years now, and some days I stand at the back of the runway, and I wonder how in the world my step is gonna be reasonably on every time. Of course this leads to reluctance to vault, so I basically waste the day, or fight myself the whole time, and still waste the day. I'd like to think that I'm a pretty consistent vaulter, and when it counts I vault pretty well, but some days you just can't feel it. So I guess the whole reason for this is, "Is there something that you can focus on to make those days not happen?"

If i ever have a day where i feel like that, I don't bother long vaulting that day. Short vault instead or just do drills. Doubt is a pole vaulter's #1 enemy.

This goes out to all the headcase vaulters out there!

I used to be like that only WORSE.......it was really bad. achtungpv can attest, in fact he was the one who got me to face my demons and forget about fear......just jump. It used to work out where I would run through 95% of the time, and when I would actually go up, it was on a pole way too small. I wouldn't even plant 4.90 poles. Now, I can count the number of times I have run through in the past couple of years on one hand. I dont even take a test run anymore, just giddy-yap and go. At the Lonestar pole vault ranch, we liked to call it "drawing blood." When you do that, it is somewhat scary at first, but the more you do it, the more your confidence improves. I am a huge believer that you have to do things daily to push that fear-factor out--we all have it--or as Scott Hennig would say "become a big bad a$$ ninja." I am not talking about anything do extreme, but little things like trying one pole bigger on your first jump, raising that grip an inch higher than you have held before, and all sorts of little obscure things that help build confidence. I thought I would chime in on this topic, because I know that there was noone who was worse than me 4 years ago, and that is how I got out of it. I saw it work for Mike Fowler, and lonestar also! Just takes some time.

back in highschool I jumped on 15's between 20 and 30 lbs over my weight, never always under the weight sticker, from 5 or 6 lefts. I also jumped without tape or chalk or stickum. just bare poles (carbon pacers and spirits) with sharpy marks for my handgrips. Also I worked nothing but takeoffs, and vaulted about 30 times a day 4-5 days a week. I oughta go back to that again...

while we're on the topic of making your hands stick...

is reverse/double-sided tape legal? i really thought it wasn't, but then my coach tells me that he bought 7 rolls of special double-sided tape for us to put on our poles, and says its perfectly legal...

anyone want to clear this up for me?

I think polevaulters are a culture...I frequently refer to my bad days as "Coach I just am not feeling it". Of course the next question is "What are you talking about Gaut?"

ya in terms of sticky hands, im currently usin some excellent black tape which i thinkis double sided but feels 'tacky' instead of sticky, works great. and has anyone ever used lighter fluid? a friend of mine tried it once from an urban legend but it really didnt do anything but temporarily make the tape wet...

I rarely use tape even. If I do it's only on the top hand hold. It gives me insentive to jump up at the take off and have my step on.

jhesch wrote:ya in terms of sticky hands, im currently usin some excellent black tape which i thinkis double sided but feels 'tacky' instead of sticky, works great. and has anyone ever used lighter fluid? a friend of mine tried it once from an urban legend but it really didnt do anything but temporarily make the tape wet...

Lighter fluid works with regular tape.

I was talking to Brad Walker and he uses lighter fluid. I watched him retape his poles every time he jumped, because the lighter fluid is so sticky that when he pushed off the top of the jump the stickiness tore the tape off the pole sometimes.

when you say it works on regular tape, im assuming your just referring to plain white athletic tape? well thats what my friend used (its not like he poured the fluid on a bare pole) i bet it mustve been the wrong kind (the fluid) or something, cause it didnt make any difference on his pole....

I prefer black friction tape. You can buy it at almost any hardware store. It is sticky on both sides. It is great stuff. I recommend it to anyone who's never tried it.

In high school I used to use both black friction tape AND Firm Grip spray (boy is that sweet but addictive!). So far, since I've returned as a masters vaulter, I've avoided using Firm Grip spray - so I only use the friction tape alone, no spray.