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december 2014 issue
contents r e b Decem
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FROM THE EDITOR
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Mental Heights: Growth Mindset = Champion Mindset
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Middle School Really Does Matter for College Admissions
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The Crazy Event We All Love
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Tis The Season
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Don Curry Masters Pole Vaulter
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6 28 Photo by by Ellen Renk and Greg Huffaker
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FROM THE EDITOR Merry Christmas, everyone! 2014 is almost over, and you know what that means: the 2015 indoor season is almost here! For our last 2014 issue, we have some great articles to share with you. For all the middle school vaulters and their parents, Penny Hanson has written an insightful article on the importance of the middle school years. Though middle school grades do not affect your college applications, they do prepare you for high school, which in turn prepares you for college. How so? Take a look at her suggestions, they are worth your time to read!
For all of our Master Pole Vault readers, Vaulter Magazine has interviewed masters vaulter Don Curry. In this article, Curry tells us all about his vaulting— how he started, the injuries he overcame, and the fun of vaulting in the masters group. This man grew up with Bubba Sparks, and he has the same amount of spunk! Whether you are a masters vaulter or not, this is an enjoyable article to read.
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Who is still in a mental rut and can’t get out of it? Or, who has an athlete who is in a mental rut and doesn’t know how to help them? Dolf Berle has written a fabulous article on mental barriers. Yes, vaulters need encouragement to get out of that dreaded mental rut, but encouragement can only go so far. This article teaches vaulters and coaches how to change the vaulter’s mindset in order to succeed. Read this article! Even if you are not having trouble right now, the information in this article will be great to know!
with your family. So put down that cookie and see what you can do to stay focused by reading “’Tis The Season.”
Our featured article this month is the Illinois Wesleyan University Titans. Coach Jeremy Weir has prepared this division 3 vault crew for the upcoming seasons by having these vaulters work hard all preseason. Their team has a great story that you will want to read, and a great coach you will want to know about. This team is also welcoming new coach Jon Blome. New and exciting things are in store for One of the greatest things this vault crew! Jump on over about Christmas time is the to this article, you will love it! wonderful food! The homecooked meals, the cookies, and Once again, we are happy all the other sweets are so hard to have you as a reader during to resist! But remember, you your holiday season. Catch you are still in season. Sadie Lovett next month with more stories, wrote you an article with sug- and enjoy your time with family gestions on how to stay healthy and friends. See you next year! and not gorge yourselves with holiday food. Some elite vaultEditor Doug Bouma ers and coaches have also giveditor@thevaultermag.com en you suggestions on how to stay focused on the upcoming indoor season, but at the same time enjoy your stay at home
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Shawn Barber
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Mental Heights:
Growth Mindset = Champion Mindset by Dolf Berle, 2013 Masters World PV Champion, USA National Decathlon Champion (M50-54) You are in peak physical shape, you are stronger and faster than ever, yet you are in a rut. For some reason you can’t take off, or are afraid to invert, and this means you have certainly stopped having fun. This happens to almost everyone at some point in their vaulting journey, even the most elite vaulters on the planet. The issue is not physical. It is mental, and you know it. This makes it even more frustrating! Surely, you should be able to control your own mind better than this. Self-doubt and frustration start becoming the dominant thoughts when you are at the end of the runway, when you start to plant, and when you are falling asleep at night. You are consumed with
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guilt and fear because you are letting yourself and your coach down. This is no way to live, no way to compete, and no way to fulfill your potential in vaulting or anything else in life. When mindset seems to be at the core of your failure to execute well, there is a very worthwhile course of study. How can you change your mindset and what kind of mindset is optimal? Carol Dweck, PhD has studied and written on the subject of mindset for many years and is considered by many to be the defining scholar on the subject. Her book, appropriately entitled Mindset, The New Psychology of Success clearly articulates how a
Growth Mindset is fundamental to reaching your potential. She further illustrates how what she calls a Fixed Mindset is a sure way to undershoot your mark. Importantly, she also demonstrates how we are able to convert from the Fixed towards the Growth Mindset with dedicated effort. A Fixed Mindset is a recipe for underperformance. The vaulter and coach who have a persistent Growth Mindset will always come closer to attaining their potential in both PR heights as well as placing at championships. Professor Dweck’s work has had profound implications for athletics, careers in all fields, parenting, and relationships.
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Renaud Lavillenie
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The professor makes the observation that almost all humans have a Fixed Mindset in some of aspects of our life, and a Growth Mindset in others. Our goal as vaulters is to ensure that we have a Growth Mindset towards this sport we love. Here are the differences Dweck identifies between the Fixed vs. Growth mindsets. Fixed Mindset:
• You believe permanent
traits
are
• You believe intelligence, personality, and moral character are limited and set (and you likely carry this over into your belief about your athletic potential) • You constantly fear having to prove that you have a high level of gift
• Every situation calls for confirmation of your intelligence, personality, or character • Challenge is threatening, and effort is threatening
Professor Dweck describes how there is tremendous dysfunction in the Fixed Mindset. This dysfunction appears in a number of forms:
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1. Your mind is filled with interfering thoughts. Rather than focusing on the optimal route to improve, you are distracted and concerned with the list above.
2. Effort is disagreeable, because you don’t want others to think that something you are supposed to be good at is a struggle. You don’t want to show vulnerability.
3. You have inferior learning strategies. Because your mind is filled will all this fear and needing to impress others, you just aren’t able to put all your effort towards the problem at hand.
4. You view other people as judges rather than as allies. If you view your coach or mentors as judges, you are putting terrible pressure on yourself, which is again distracting you from focusing on the right things (a consistent run, a tall plant, a proper swing, etc.)
In contrast to the Fixed Mindset, the Growth Mindset has very different characteristics. Professor Dweck writes: • You believe people differ, but everyone can change and
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Chad Andrews, Bubba Sparks and Dolf
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grow through application and experience
• A person’s true potential is unknowable and impossible to predict if years of training and effort are applied • Cherished qualities can be developed
A person who has a Growth Mindset has the following very positive attributes: 1. A passion for learning
2. A redefined significance and impact of failure (failure is a way to learn more and learn faster) 3. A changed meaning of effort (effort is good, struggling is not weakness) 4. Thrives on challenge
5. Focused on effort, practice, and hard work
6. Views every situation as an opportunity for learning and growth
In sum, after all her research Dweck concludes that achievement in any aspect of life requires a clear focus, an all-out effort, numerous and evolving strategies, and allies in learning. I can think of no other part of our lives that demands these elements
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as clearly and consistently as pole-vaulting. I recommend deep self-reflection regarding your own mindset. In your practice and competition for the pole vault, are you stuck in the Fixed Mindset or are you practicing a Growth Mindset? Just as importantly, it is important to talk with your coach about this. Is he or she working to build the Growth Mindset in you? A coach who understands the Growth Mindset will praise effort rather than results. By praising effort, coaches are encouraging the behavior that is required to get better and better at the vault. Results matter of course, but it is the means to getting them that needs most attention. The process required to reach them is what we must focus on if we are going to reach our potential. Remember the champions of our past and recognize the Growth Mindset in them. Those who made the transition from steel to bamboo poles, and those who first experimented with fiberglass poles were learning and growing as they entered new physical and mental territory. Our current world record holder Renaud
LaVillenie does not have the size, strength, or speed of his legendary predecessor Sergey Bubka, yet he figured out how to vault to unprecedented heights. Across the world, small children and senior citizens are pole vaulting for the first time, an urge for flight, which defies the limitations and dysfunctions of the Fixed Mindset. To be a champion, one must cultivate the Growth Mindset perennially. Those who can do so will have the most fulfilling practice, day, week, season, and vaulting career. Over time, you may even find that the lessons of the pole vault become part of your way of life.
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75 SC STATE CHAMPIONS, 10 NATIONAL CHAMPIONS, AND 3 “TEAM USA” (WORLD TEAM) SINCE 1998.
www.ShealyAthletics.com Rusty@ShealyAthletics.com
803-315-5998
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Middle School Really Does Matter for College Admissions Please don’t hate me, but I have to tell you that middle school is an important component of college admissions. I am a huge advocate of children being children for as long as possible. And it is true that it can be harmful to pressure 11, 12, or 13 year olds to begin preparing to achieve college greatness too early. However, it is also true that students can use seventh and eighth grade to develop strong skills that will transition into high school.
One of the most frustrating situations for me as a counselor is to see students who have squandered their time in school. They stand before me as seniors and say “You know, I never really understood until now just how important 9th (or 8th or 7th) grades were. I wish I had known what I know now. I would have done it differently.” Students who do not take school
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seriously until their senior year of high school will find themselves with very limited post-graduate options. It is important to prepare early and well for your post high school experience. That preparation begins in middle school!
Middle school grades are never considered for college admissions, so why should they matter? They matter because there are several opportunities for middle school and junior high school students to increase their potential. This is a lowrisk time to work on time management and study skills. These skills will prepare the younger students for success in high school. The transition to high school can be difficult for many students because of the increased curriculum pace and the massive distractions! Middle school students do very well when they have already
learned both time management and study skills by the time they enter high school.
When you apply to college, you should be able to demonstrate depth and leadership in one or two extracurricular areas. Use middle school to figure out what you most enjoy—music, drama, government, church, juggling, business, athletics? By figuring out your true passions in middle school, you can better focus on developing leadership skills and expertise in high school— explore and enjoy everything! My best advice for middle school students is to READ! Read a lot! The more you read, the stronger your verbal, writing, and critical thinking abilities will be. Reading beyond your homework will help you do well in high school, on the ACT and SAT, and in college. Whether you’re reading The
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Hunger Games or Shakespeare, you’ll be improving your vocabulary, training your ear to recognize strong language, and introducing yourself to new ideas. Reading is a critical skill for both high school and college.
Take challenging courses in middle school! If you have options such as a math track that will eventually end in calculus, choose the ambitious route. When your senior year rolls around, you will want to have taken the most challenging courses available at your school. Tracking for those courses often begin in middle school. Position yourself so that you can take full advantage of whatever AP courses and upper-level math, science, and language courses your school offers. Middle school is also an excellent time to explore foreign languages. If you take two years of Spanish, you can take Spanish 5 or AP Spanish in your junior or senior year to satisfy your foreign language credits in college and/ or perhaps continue with a minor in a language that will open your career opportunities with a bilingual focus.
What if you aren’t that strong of a middle school student? If you find that your skills in an area such as math or science aren't what they should be, middle school is a great time to
Penny Hanson
seek out extra help and tutoring. If you can improve your academic strengths in middle school, you will be positioned to earn better grades when it really begins to matter in ninth grade. Remember your freshman year grades DO matter so prepare yourself to tackle these courses.
Always keep in mind that your middle school record doesn’t appear on your college application! You shouldn’t stress about college in seventh or eighth grade and your parents shouldn’t either! This is not the time to be calling the admissions office at Harvard. Use these years to explore new
things, to discover what really excites you, and to develop good study habits to serve you well in high school and beyond! This is time well spent and you will never regret this preparation. Enjoy middle school knowing that you will be well prepared to start high school on a high note. And don’t forget to be a kid! Please feel free to contact me with any questions! Penny Hanson Hanson College Consultants penny@hansoncollegeaccess.com 720-883-6800
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The Crazy Event We All Love Located in the centralIllinois town of Bloomington, the Illinois Wesleyan pole vault team trains hard with Coach Jeremey Weir for the upcoming seasons.
Previously coaching high school track in Wisconsin for three years, Coach Weir is now entering his fifth year coaching the Titans: “This year I will solely focus my efforts on pole vault.” For the past four years, Coach Weir has been coaching the multis, high jump, and the hurdles along with pole vault. There are seven coaches who cover both the men and women track programs at Wesleyan where Coach Weir works with both the men and the women pole vault. Coach Weir has always been around pole vault. “I grew up around the vault since I was able to hold a broken crossbar, run down a grass runway,
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and jump into mattresses in my back yard” he says. Since then, Coach Weir has not been able to get enough of the sport, and even calls himself a “pole vault geek.” The geek in him is beneficial to his athletes though, because he has the knowledge to help them improve. “I send them a lot of information on the vault, training, and nutrition. I hope they can look back in 10 years and be able to appreciate it and hopefully even pass it on if they end up coaching” Coach Weir says. All of Coach Weir’s advice will start to pay off as the Titans plan to suit up three women vaulters, three men vaulters, and one decathlete this year. For Coach Weir’s group of athletes, he has his own program philosophy: “Work hard, have fun, and love the process.” This philosophy makes the atmosphere at
practice not a tough, serious, and focused time, but rather a practice where they all can have fun while doing something they love. “We love to goof around and have a good time in this crazy event we all love! Our vaulters are very fun, goofy, and possibly lean towards being a bit on the sarcastic side. As a whole, we are able to dish it out as well as take it at practice, which makes the process of all of this that much more enjoyable. We enjoy working hard to get to the best we can be on the track, in the weight room, and of course the classroom,” he says.
The first Titan athlete suiting up this year is Jeff Toraason vaulting 3.68 or 12 7/8. Jeff is the decathlete of the team and the Senior Captain for the vault squad. “He has come a long way since only starting to vault his sophomore year of college. We expect a huge personal
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Jeff Toraason
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best out of him this year, which will help him in trying to secure a trip to nationals in the decathlon” Coach Weir says. The men’s crew also has Junior Jake Colliander, Sophomore Cameron Ward jumping 3.97 or approximately 13ft ¼, and new to the team Freshman Sean O’Carroll. “After losing a few 15 footers the past few years, I would say we are somewhat rebuilding, but all of them are looking to make huge improvements over the course of the year” Coach Weir tells us.
On the women’s side, the Titans have Senior Meridith Beird, who jumps 3.77 or 12’4 ½ and is the school record holder. This vaulter has had an outstanding college career by making nationals as a Freshman placing 9th indoor and 14th outdoor and returning to indoor nationals her Sophomore year placing 11th. Before competing at outdoor nationals her Sophomore year, Beird’s season abruptly ended with an Achilles tear, but that did not stop her. After rehabbing her entire Junior year, Beird’s coach says “she is poised to make another run at nationals this year.” The women’s crew also includes Sophomore Jamie Gradishar, who jumped 3.52 or approximately 11’6 ½ last year as a Freshman. Coach Weir
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says she will be pushing Beird in heights all year. Locking in a spot at nationals is also very possible for this vaulter. Rounding up the women’s crew is Sophomore Isabella Schneiderm, who jumped 3.01 or 9’10 ½ last year. Her coach says that she is looking to make a big personal best this year and placing in the top 8 in conference.
Coach Weir has his own way of coaching that does not require his vaulters to jump one specific way. “I lean more towards teaching Petrov’s way of the vault, but I believe not everyone fits into a specific mold and everyone is unique in their own way,” he tells us. Coach Weir is always researching and learning new things for his athletes. He looks for new technics for vaulting and information on sprint mechanics, lifting workouts, nutrition, and anything else that will help improve his athletes. His job as a coach is his passion and he takes it seriously. Coach Weir also has knowledge in Sports Health and Science. Having this knowledge allows him to see the details of each vault and fine-tune the different sequences to help his athletes improve. “The conference will be strong this year like always,”
Coach Weir tells us, “but I tell vaulters that they need to compete against themselves, not others. If you are constantly improving yourself, the competition will take care of itself.” The conference competition will return seven women of the top eight finishers from last year all who were over 11 feet. On the men’s side, six of the top eight finishers from last year will return along with an added 15’6 and a 17’6 freshman that Coach Weir is aware of. On the national stage, 14 of the women from last year were over 12 feet, but there were many women who jumped 11’6 or better and are looking to move up this year. As for the men, 16 of the vaulters from last year will be returning and all were over 15’11. The Titans are in for a great year of competition both in the conference and at nationals. Though Illinois Wesleyan does not give the vaulters another opportunity to train by having a gymnastics gym, the University does, however, have one of the best indoor facilities in the nation. This indoor facility has the same surface as the London Olympics track and a newly installed HD timing board. The vaulters are also provided with the essentials for drills to perfect their technique: a
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rope, rings, a high bar, a topof-the-line weight room, and a pool for underwater vaulting. The University did approve an expansion project that will be completed in 2016. This project includes a new training room, year-round track and field specific locker rooms, another fitness center, and an expansion on the facility’s second-story-wraparound balcony used for track meets.
Jamie Gradishar
Getting into Illinois Wesleyan isn’t all that easy. Coach Weir says they look for student-athletes who receive an ACT score of a 28 or higher and to have a high GPA. It is also important to the coaches for the athlete to be a hard worker across the board and to have that “coachable” aspect so the coaches can work with them. “As long as a student-athlete has a willingness to learn and work for something, they can improve on the runway and also in life” says Coach Weir. Though the pole vault is an individual event, the coaches keep the program very teamoriented by also looking for athletes who will fit in with the overall team. The Titan’s season does not technically start until the end of October, so at the end of outdoor season, Coach Weir gives his vaulters four
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Meridith Beird Jamie Gradishar Isabella Schneider Jeff Toraason Cameron Ward Jake Colliander Sean Larkin
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to five weeks completely off to let their bodies recuperate from their many months of hard training. After their time off, the vaulters start their training with lifting workouts and vault drills. During the off-season, Coach Weir likes to let his athletes enjoy other sports like tennis or basketball and things that give them the
Cameron Ward
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lateral movements because during season, all they do is run a straight line.
Off the runway, the vault crew likes to do activities together to keep close as a team. “This year we will be doing some dinners as a group and anything else they want to come up with” says Coach
Weir. Coach Weir did have to draw the line at a skate board speed contest, but surely this close knit family of crazy’s will come up with something else to do! The Titans do not have any elite vaulters training with them, but Coach Weir does help coach The Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club that is also based in Bloomington, and that club has hosted great camps with Brad Walker, Mary Saxer, Jeff Coover, and Jordan Scott this past year. The Titan vault crew has a full, crazy season ahead of them. However, they will be transitioning from Coach Weir to a new one as Coach Weir heads to Davenport University in Grand Rapids, Michigan where he will build a brand new pole vault program for the Panthers. The former Titan vaulter Jon Blome is returning to be the new vault coach. Jon competed his entire college career as a Titan, as he earned his degree in Anthropology. As a Titan, Jon’s personal best was 15’9. Jon is also a founding member of The Flying Dragons Pole Vault Club where he still helps coach just like Coach Weir. With Jon, the Titan vault crew will have a great and successful season!
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Meridith Beird
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Tis The Season
It is that time of year again where Christmas cookies and candy are at an endless supply. Those of us in college also have the spoils of coming home to mom or dad cooking a big breakfast and a large home-cooked meal for dinner—something our stomachs are not used to. All these treats do not make it easy to remember that you are in training. You have to remember that your body is not used to eating that many sweets or having
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that big of a meal. Sure, you don’t have to worry about your legs feeling heaving for Monday practice, but you will feel it come January when your coach gives you a hard running workout. Trust me, it is not fun. You do not want your entire preseason to feel like a waste all because you had an unlimited amount of cookies. So what can you do to keep
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your cravings at bay and not to overload yourselves with an excessive amount of gravy?
Here are some ideas to help you during the Christmas season and keep your indoor season in mind. For starters, limit yourself to the amount of cookies or candy you have. Generally, when you’re training every day you rarely have sweets. Yes, you want to have something for your sweet tooth, but limit yourself to something like three per day. Jeff Coover suggests “if you want to have a cookie or two, eat them after a workout when your body is begging for calories and carbs.” Also, if you plan to run that day, reconsider whether you should have that piece of pie before you run.
Another idea is to drink more water. Coach Weir tells his athletes to do this because drinking water makes you feel full. You’re already drinking a lot of water during the week at training, but now that you are home, pick it over milk for breakfast or soda for dinner. My lifting coach told me that a glass of juice is roughly 250 calories. If you have a glass of juice a day, that is 1,750 calories in a week. 1,750 calories is equivalent to half a pound of fat, so if you cut out those sweet drinks, that is half a pound you do not have to worry about. You are
not training as much at home during the holidays as you are at school, so avoiding those drinks are calories you do not have to burn off.
Home-cooked meals definitely make it hard to limit yourself. However, did you know that it takes your brain 20 minutes to register that you are full? It does, so you should keep that in mind when you go to dish out a second helping of mashed potatoes. Try to eat slower to give your body a chance to recognize that it is full.
Also, when you are having these home-cooked meals, have your normal portion size. We all get excited when we get to eat these wonderful meals, but do not pile everything on. Take the amount you normally do and eat it slow. If you are still hungry, then get a little more. If you pile it on right away, then even if you feel full before you are done, you will still clean your plate because it is there in front of you. Another thing to keep in mind at the dinner table is the amount of salt you use. Avoid shaking a bunch on your corn and only use a little bit. You could even see if your mom or dad would use garlic when they are cooking instead of salt, because garlic will give you that salt flavor, but be better for you.
Try looking up recipes for dinner, too. Mark Hollis says that one thing he does is convinces his family to include as many vegetables as possible with dinner. He says “maybe sauté some green beans with olive oil and garlic rather than green bean casserole.” You could also see if your family would be willing to put marshmallows on only half of the sweet potatoes so you can still enjoy them, but without the added sugar from the marshmallows. Something else you could try is cookie recipes that do not require as much sugar. Pinterest, Google, cooking websites will have so many recipes that will be healthier for you. Your parents would love to do this with you, too! They do not get to see you as much when you are away at school, so they would love to use cookie making as a time to spend with you. Christmas is a time to spend with your family and this is a great way to do that. Even if the ones you pick do not turn out the way you want, you still had a great time making them with your family. Being at home also gives you an unlimited amount to “mom and dad’s” food. Try to avoid eating the processed food in the cabinets and focus more on the fresh food in the fridge. You still do not want to eat, eat, and
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eat, but staying away from that box of Mac-N-Cheese will keep the calories away. If you want to have a “cheat day,” Jeremy Weir says he tells his athletes to make it on the day that the big holiday dinner is going to be. The biggest thing you want to remember is that you are in season and once break is over, your training starts back up and meets will start soon. Coach Kyle Ellis tells his athletes that “it’s fine to have some treats, but keep in mind the season is coming up.” You want to keep your short-term goals in mind. Coach Weir says to ask yourself “will this help me or hurt me in meeting my goals?” Having a few cookies here and there will not hurt your season, but if you
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are like me, you will want to eat the cookie dough and then the cookies! As athletes, what we have to do is keep ourselves from doing that. Mark Hollis says, “the key to holidays is just trying to balance having a bit of the things you want with staying in the rhythm of training and nutrition so you’re ready for indoor season as soon as you’re back.”
Always continue cardio even though it is hard to do it when you are home. You do not want to get out of your training routine and struggle to get back into it in January. I find that bodyweight exercises are always easy to do when I am home. You can always do push-ups or abs. If you have a doorframe pull-up
bar, use that so your muscles do not get out of your lifting routine too bad. You can even do body-weight dips by using a chair and make it harder by someone holding your feet off the ground. Though these are not equivalent to your normal lifting schedule, it is a lot better than not doing anything at all. If you can get out and run a few days a week, you will be happy that you did once school starts again. I know it is not going to be fun or easy to turn down Grandma’s Christmas sugar cookies, I am going to struggle to do it myself, but we all will be happy that we did at our first practice back and we are ready to go for indoor season!
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Jenn Suhr
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Don Curry Masters Pole Vaulter
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VM: Today we are talking with masters vaulter Don Curry. Don, I understand from Bubba Sparks that you two grew up vaulting together in each other’s backyards when you were kids in Houston. Tell us about how you first got started and what your first impressions of the sport were.
We vaulted with anything we could find (Closet poles, broken crossbars, aluminum poles, etc.).
DC: I was always involved in athletics. Because Bubba lived in my neighborhood and since we seemed to enjoy the same things, we became good friends. He was a few years older than I was, so most of what I learned about Track and Field was simply by discovery with Bubba. Together, along with other neighborhood kids, we created the Backyard Olympic Games. We were multi-event people all the way. We ran, threw, and jumped every event. We competed in everything we did. The summer was never boring.
DC: Well, I guess the statute of limitations has run on most of it, but we used to sneak out at night and go up to the High School and break in to the weight room. Not as vandals, just to lift weights! We would put the pits out, run off the top of the weight room, and jump off—in pitch dark! It was about 25-30 feet high. When we were at Southwest Texas, (Texas State) we would jump the fence at the stadium late at night to vault, throw the javelin, or jump of the top of the bleachers onto the pits (They were
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VM: You and Bubba have been vaulting together now over 45 years. That’s amazing. Tell us about a few of the fun or crazy things you guys have done during that time.
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tiny little bags of foam and it was about a 50’ drop). Also, we were the original halftime show at the College basketball games. We did synchronized trampoline routines, minitramp competitions, anything we could think of to entertain the crowds. VM: What do you feel have been your favorite accomplishments?
DC: I think my biggest enjoyment has been the trip to World Masters Competition in Italy. I borrowed a single pole on the day of the meet, and competed with the European vaulters who had all their poles. I tied for 5th, jumping 12’4”. Locally, I was very pleased to win the National Senior Games in Louisville, Kentucky a few years ago. It was a nail-biter. We had five guys still jumping at 12’6”, including Bubba, and I was the only one with a prior miss. The wind picked up and was gusting at about 25 mph from the right and I was the first jumper. I pulled off a clean jump at 12’6”, and ended up being the only one to clear it. You just never know, but you can’t mail it in, that’s for sure!
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VM: What were your biggest disappointments and how did you overcome them. DC: The worst thing for me has been the shoulder injuries. I had three surgeries in six years (Not to mention the numerous other minor setbacks). I have become much better at judging how serious a twinge is, how careful I have to be with minor things before they progress. I am still learning, but I have created a good water rehab process for these and other injuries. Don’t Quit! Change! VM: In an event where injuries are the rule and not the exception, Bubba tells us that you have gone an extended time-period, over two years, and remained injury free. He also tells us you have never been in this good of shape your entire life. ALL masters vaulters would love to hear how you have managed to accomplish this going on 60 years old.
DC: The general rule is “When you can’t vault, work those parts of the body you never have time for.” After my last surgery, I got my weight under control. I eat smaller portions and have kept my weight down below 150 lbs. from 162. I began to work my
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legs three times a week, running strides, bleachers, lunges, squats, and plyometric hops. I then put a high bar in my back yard and now I am out there 2-3 times a day doing Bubka’s, levers, and pull-ups. The new secret is “consistency” and “Purpose.” Every workout has a purpose and a goal—I no longer do mindless workouts or vault sessions. Every jump, every lift, every rep has a purpose. I no longer let the unimportant things in life knock me out of my workouts. I occasionally miss, but it is a designed rest or simply unavoidable. Also, Brad McFarling and I have been vaulting together for a couple of years. He’s just as intense as I am and you need that extra set of eyes and lots of video. The first 8 years of my Masters Vaulting was with Bubba, but when he moved to California, I was on my own for a while. Injuries and bad habits put me in a funk and I was totally frustrated. It’s great to have a vault partner again. VM: Where do you train now and how often do you jump?
DC: The past couple of years I had committed to vaulting at Brad’s home. I say committed because it is a three-hour round trip plus a 2-3 hour workout. I drove this twice a
week just to jump with him. Recently, Brad opened a new indoor training facility in College Station, Texas (Coach Mac’s Academy: It’s a memorial to his father who passed away this year). It is awesome. The cold, rainy days are not keeping us from our twice-aweek regimen. Additionally, my wife and I are now looking to move to College Station to train there and coach there. Jumping twice a week is critical. You are better off jumping twice a week, even if it means missing a leg workout. The legs need to learn to adapt to the vault, and running just does not get them ready. VM: Tell us about your poles.
DC: I have experimented with all kinds of poles. I am currently jumping on a series of Essx Recoil Advantage poles. I buy the 4.3m poles and cut them to fit. Mostly I cut the top to fall under the bar, but I have been known to trim the bottom to make it roll a little easier. I typically grip between 12’2” and 12’8”, and I will raise my grip about 2” each time I move up to the next pole. The transition is seamless. My biggest pole is the equivalent of a 4.0m 170 lb pole, but has a higher sail piece since it was originally a 4.3m pole. At
december 2014 issue
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about 150 lbs, if I can grip 12’8” on a 170 lb pole, it works out to a 4.0m vault.
Bubba Sparks and Don Curry
VM: What are your goals for the coming year and what bigger meets do you have on the schedule? Will you go to Reno in January and World Masters in France next summer?
DC: My schedule for 2015 is still a work in progress. If I’m healthy, I would love to go to World’s in France. The pole hassle is the prohibitive factor. It is expensive to ship them, and we are trying to work out some details to get several people to bundle and ship together. Using an International Meet to travel is one of the best ways for me to keep my wife, Gayle, involved. I love the Reno Summit, but often feel like we are herded like cattle in and out, and they wait too late to post final schedules. It is a great place to start the year. I hope they are listening! If not, we may have to throw a local indoor meet in protest. My goal for 2015 is first to stay healthy, but secondly I want to have multiple 13’ vaults this year. I really want to jump 13’ when I am 60. Still a rare occurrence.
VM: What advice would you give to a masters vaulter thinking about returning to vaulting? DC: Get off your butt! There is no better way to stay in shape, and no better social circle. The
camaraderie is second-to-none, and everyone is willing to help you get started or become a World Champion. There will be injuries, especially the first 2 years, but it is worth every pull, strain, tear, and break! VM: Thanks for sharing with us Don. We will all be pulling for you!
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december 2014 issue
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