did i set my goal too high ?

[ttpm15]

My biggest problem is that i don't hold the drive phase long enough to go deep into the mat ( my standard is always around the 17-20 inch ) I just run, go to the drive phase then swing upside down right away. If i'm using a pole 10 lbs over my body weight, i will blow through it and landed all the way in the end of the mat. We don't have any pole thats around 15 lbs heavier than my body weight though.
My coach also told me that sometime i let go of the pole too early, probably from me looking at the crossbar. I need to stop do that. Any tips ?

My PR is 11 feet my sophomore year ( last year ) holding around 11'6 on a pole thats 20 lbs over my body weight.
Looking to go 14 feet 1 inches this year ( i'm pretty sure my school record is 14 ft ) and 15-16 ft my senior year.
did i set it too high or it is a reasonable goal ?

[VaultMarq26]

Gripping that low your goals would be pretty difficult. You need to be gripping at least 13 6 to even think about a 16 foot jump. That would be jumping 38 inches over you grip which is what elite vaulters do

[rainbowgirl28]

I think you need to focus less on the height of what bar you want to clear, and more on the nuts and bolts of how you are going to get there. If you're only gripping 11'6, you probably need a combination of getting faster and better technique with your run/plant/takeoff. Do you have any video?

[ttpm15]

i know that i will have to hold higher to clear higher bar. I'm holding about 6 handgrips down from the top of my 160 pole. I agree that i'll have to work on my mechanic ( drive phase ) to go higher but it is hard to work on my mechanic when i can only pole vault during track season.

[rainbowgirl28]

I agree that i'll have to work on my mechanic ( drive phase ) to go higher but it is hard to work on my mechanic when i can only pole vault during track season.

You're way off base there. Start by watching this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SSah2B6Xnw

[bigg24-7]

It's not a bad thing to set lofty goals but in your case you may be shooting for too much. It sounds to me that you're pretty much straight sticking right now. So focus on learning technique. Plus once you get technique down bars come easy, maybe next year shoot for 12'6'' or 13'6'' with technique and vaulting over your grip, then next year the sky is the limit. And never get discouraged. Every 18 footer was struggling with 11 feet at one point in their life.