November 2016 Vaulter Magazine - UCM by VAULTER Magazine

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VAULTER MAGAZINE 2016

CONTENTS r e b m e v o N

FROM THE EDITOR

THE DAVIS DARTS

MIAA TAKEOVER: UCM MULES AND JENNIES

WHERE THE MIND LEADS THE BODY FOLLOWS

PROBLEMS WITH THE APPROACH RUN

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8 16 34 Cover photo by Joe Hoffmann

Cover photo by Jeffrey Agnello

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FROM THE EDITOR What a great month October turned out to be! Our Halloween cover was a classic example of how one school can turn up the volume with a cover image. The standard was set high once again, and now it’s up to all future Universities to respond with a large cover of their own. November brings forth the holiday of Thanksgiving with all the sights and sounds of an American Holiday in the making. Time to come home and kick off the spikes and enjoy the natural sounds of the home front. Travel safe and read what this issue of the magazine and all that it has to offer on the flight or drive home. Happy Thanksgiving! On the cover for November, we have the University of Central Missouri and their coach Kip Janvrin who started his coaching career 28 years ago. This is an article for all to read as he explains what it takes to be a University coach at his level and the support around him. Read along as they train

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and prepare for the upcoming season. Taking a shot at the National title once again is something they strive to achieve. If you are thinking of going to college for pole vault, this would be an obvious choice.

Davis High School is our featured High School this month, and they never seem to us amaze up with their extensive action and array of pole vaulters. Located in Kaysville, Utah, Coach Jeffery Agnello and his team of coaches bring the sport of pole vaulting to a whole new level. This isn’t the first time this group has graced the cover of the magazine, they have graced the pages of the magazine in the past. Experience is critical, and exposure is crucial for the sport of pole vault and this team has both. Catch what they have to say inside this issue of the magazine. This month we have Robert Andrews with his insight on staying focused and not becoming you own best enemy. These are always great articles from

an industry professional that specializes on phycology of the sport. Robert has also placed a brand-new advertisement with the magazine providing you information how you can best use his services shortly.

A throwback from 2014, Bubba Sparks is always full of useful information and knowledge. Back in 2014, he wrote about the problems with approach and run. We have brought this story back before the indoor season to give you some perspective on his insightful coaching. Thank you for your support and readership. It’s been 55 issues since we started this magazine and significant changes are on the way for this magazine. More articles, training advice and in-depth analysis of the sport of pole vaulting. Doug Bouma, Editor and Executive Director of Vaulter Magazine – Vaulter Club editor@thevaultermag.com

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MAGAZINE Coach Jeffrey Agnello and Coach Matt Williams

Dawson Brannan

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THE DAVIS DARTS 1. Where is your school located, name, and mascot? Davis High School is located in Kaysville, UT Our mascot is the Dart.

2. Tell us your background as a high school coach and how long you have coached? I (Coach Jeffrey Agnello) just completed my 13th year as a track coach at Davis High School. My specialty is the pole vault, but I have been over all of the jumping events for the last few years at Davis. I have also worked with the throws, hurdles, and sprints at different points in my career.

Coach Matt Williams just completed his 7th year of coaching: five years at Box Elder High School in Brigham City, Utah, and two years at Davis High School. Coach Williams is over the long jump, sprints, and the pole vault. 3. Did you pole vault in high school?

I pole vaulted in high school; in fact, I jumped for Davis. At the state track meet, I placed 2nd, vaulting 15 feet in the 5A classification. I also jumped for Weber State University for a short time. I qualified for conference a few times, but due to injuries I was unable to go. Coach Williams pole vaulted all 4 years in high

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school. He vaulted at Catasauqua High School in Catasauqua Pennsylvania. During that time, he qualified for both leagues and districts his junior and senior years. An injury during his senior year put him out for most of the season and essentially ended his pole-vault “career.” 4. How many coaches are there total?

There are 10 coaches total including myself.

• Corbin Talley-Head (Boys and Girls) Track and Cross Country Coach • Paul Timothy-Distance • Brad Anderson-Distance • Matt Williams-Long Jump/Sprints/Pole Vault • Jamie West-Hurdles • Ashley Cannon-Hurdles • Natalie McKinley-High Jump • Jordan Chronister–Throws • Shawna Cox–Sprints • Jeffrey Agnello-Jumps

5. Do you have a parent volunteer program that helps you out? No, but every now and then we have alumni who come back to help out for periods of time. Parents get involved with some of the meets we host for both junior high and high school.

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Top row: Matt Calvin, Logan Baird, Tanner Thorne, Alex Cottam, Jake Overfelt, Collin Schill, Aaron Nash, Carter Hardy, Cache Arbon, Taylor Southwick, Zach Michaelsen, Lance Ford, Carter Barrus, Kaden Peterson, Tanner Lythgoe, Ben Fielden, Jaxon Potter Bottom row: Mckenna Haycock, Amber Raty, Katie Fielden, Julia Schreadel, Ashley Sullenger, Ashley Harris, Korra Jensen, Courtney Cox, Maren Bunch, Madi Lee, Eliza Hafen, Bryn Lythgoe

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6. Were you sponsored this year by any groups or business for pole vaulting? Unfortunately, we are not sponsored. We have some alumni who donate to our program on a yearly basis, and we do quite a bit of fundraising to keep our pole collection as complete as possible. 7. What is pole vaulting like in your area compared to most programs? Is there a difference? Our program at Davis has Matt Calvin

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always been one of the biggest programs in the state. For the past few years, we have had the most athletes qualify for the state championship out of any other school in the state. 8. Tell us about regionals, state, country, and so forth with your vaulters.

Regionals The 2016 season was quite a roller coaster. There was strong competition between Viewmont, Syracuse (rivaling high schools) and Davis for the top places in meets, on both

the boys’ and girls’ sides. The friendly competition between our three schools really made the region meet interesting. The region meet was one of the hardest for our team, seeing as it was the last meet where our athletes had the opportunity to qualify to compete at the state championship. Austin Hansel and Taylor Southwick placed 5th and 6th. Cache Arbon and Alex Cottam ended up vaulting 13’ placing 3rd and 4th. Matt Calvin won the competition with a great vault of 15’06”.

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Matt Calvin

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On the girls’ side, Madi Lee ended up placing 5th place with a jump of 8’04”. Ashley Sullenger pulled off a tie for 2nd place on the girl’s side with a jump of 9’10”. There was also a lot of heartbreak. One of our team captains, Ben Fielden, was not able to qualify, and Ashley Taylor, one of our top girls, no heighted. Fortunately, some of these losses were just what our team needed to be able to head into the state championship really strong as we realize we need to be focused in the championship. We ended up bringing 14 athletes total to the state championship in the pole vault.

State Level Entering the girls’ competition, we had a lot of representatives from our school. Normally the opening height is about 1’ lower than the qualifying mark, but due to having so many girls qualified throughout the state by mark, they had the state opening height higher than the qualifying mark to get into the state meet. This was to give the higher jumpers less of a wait. We did have four girls no height from the start, which I feared would have a snowball effect. Luckily, we were able to look past that and rally behind each other. Ashley Taylor

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pulled off 9th place with 9’ and Ashley Sullenger pulled off 5th place with a jump of 10’, which was one of her best jumps of the year. Last year (2015 season) was the first year girls could score points in the state championship. Paige Erickson, from Davis High School, set the state record at 10’8.5”. It was broken by two girls at the state championship during the 2016 season at 11’, by Camilla Moses (took first) from Syracuse and Brielle Carr (took 2nd) from Herriman who is also part of the UTPVA (Utah Pole Vault Academy). It was great to see this mark get raised last year, as we know it will go even higher as both of these girls will be returning and entering their senior year for the 2017 season. On the boys’ side it was quite the roller coaster as well. We had many boys representing our team with six going to

Matt Calvin

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Front to back: Kaden Peterson, Eliza Hafen, Ashley Sullenger, Ashley Harris, Alex Cottam, Jake Overfelt, Matt Calvin, Aaron Nash, Ben Fielden, Cache Arbon, Tanner Thorne

state. Three of the boys were state returners. All of them started off on the right track clearing a bar. Unfortunately, the meet just didn’t go how we had hoped for all of our athletes as we hoped for better marks. We were prepared

though. I had prepared the kids for each of the situations in practice and meets by staying positive. They did very well, not being affected by other teammates’ results. Keeping their head in the game helped their teammates perform bet-

ter. Matt Calvin was able to focus and ended up winning the state championship with a great jump of 15’03”.

Because of the performance by Ashley Sullenger and Matt Calvin helped our team bring

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home two trophies, 2nd place team trophy for girls and 1st place team trophy for our boys. 9. Tell us about your program and how many pole vaulters you have in total.

We have the most pole vaulters in the state from one school. We have always had a rich tradition in the pole vault. We usually start the year off with about 60 kids coming out. It is rather difficult to manage at first. Those who are patient stick with it through all the drills and the basics. We tend to have about half of that who come consistently. We would love to have all 60 stay, but as you can imagine, the kids get very frustrated with the little Matt Calvin

amount of pole vault pit time they get. I do not cut any of my pole vaulters though.

10. Tell us about your best vaulters and what they all have learned. We have a lot of impressive athletes on our team. It is important to realize that having a successful vault program comes down to the teammates and the chemistry within the team. We have the best group of kids. They are hard workers and support each other. In fact, we even had a girl on our team who broke her finger catching her teammates pole. Being there for one another really helps the success of the entire team. Although we have

too many athletes to talk about each athlete, here are the following athletes that made it to the state championship in the 2016 season

The girls • Kristen Funk-Senior 8’00” • Katie Fielden-Sophomore 8’00” • Julia Schraedel-Junior 8’02” • Madi Lee-Junior 8’06” • Korra Jensen-Senior 8’04” • Ashley Harris-Junior 9’00” • Ashley Taylor-Junior 9’02” • Ashley Sullenger-Senior 10’04” and placed 5th at state! (3rd best pole vaulter from Davis High School)

The boys • Taylor Southwick-Senior 12’5” • Austin Hansel-Senior 12’5” • Jaxon Potter-Junior 12’05” • Ben Fielden-Senior 12’06” Although, he didn’t make it to state he did jump 12’6,” just not in a qualifying meet. • Alex Cottam-Sophomore 13’00 • Cache Arbon-Junior 13’00 • Matt Calvin-Senior 16’00 State Champion indoor and outdoor 2015 and 2016 (2nd best pole vaulter from Davis High School) 11. What is the highest PR male and female currently vaulting at your school?

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Coach Agnello, Matt Calvin, Logan Baird, Aaron Nash, Alex Cottam, Collin Schill, Tanner Lythgoe, Jake Overfelt, Cache Arbon, Carter Hardy, Taylor Southwick, Zach Michaelsen, Carter Barrus, Kaden Peterson, Lance Ford, Tanner Thorne, Ben Fielden, Jaxon Potter, Coach Williams

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Matt Calvin and Ashley Sullenger were our highest jumpers during the 2016 season. They have both graduated. We are lucky to have a few athletes right by each other for the 2017 season. They will push each other to be the best they can be. Our best returning jumpers as of right now are between Cache Arbon, Alex Cottom, and Jaxon Potter on the boys’ side. On the girls’ side our best returning pole vaulters are Ashley Harris, Madi Lee, and Ashley Taylor. 12. Do you have the vaulters jump at a particular club during the off-season or do you coach year around?

I am not against my vaulters practicing with other clubs, but I do like my vaulters to have consistent coaching. I have one who trains with UTPVA (Utah Pole Vault Academy) during the off season. I do also realize it is difficult to get quality practice sometimes at Davis when we have 30+ vaulters. Our only rule is we will allow our athletes to train with other vault clubs, except for during the season. As a staff we design our workouts with the end in mind. We believe it is critical to be part of the team helping one another be the best they can. This also helps build team unity. I know a lot of schools view track and

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field as an individual sport. At Davis High we try our best to keep our team unified. It is rather difficult with 300+ athletes on the track team, but with such a consistent coaching staff, and as we are all trying to reach the same goal, it becomes a reality giving us the opportunity to battle for the state championship every year. 13. What type of equipment do you have for the vaulters to work with?

We have a variety of pole vault pole brands such as: UCS Spirit, Skypole, Altius Carbon Extreme, and Pacer.

This was our first year with trying the Altius Carbon Extreme poles and I was impressed with how effective they were for the price they were. With poles so expensive I am always trying to write grants to get more poles. We have been lucky a few times and we were fortunate enough to get some grants. Our vaulters got together a few years ago and made a platform which allows us to work on our top form. We also made a lot of slide boxes to help us work on our approach. 14. Do you offer camps or clinics at this high school?

We do a pole vault camp every year at Davis High in the summer. Unfortunately, it is only for kids within our district due to insurance rules. We do tend to get kids from other schools within our district that attend. It is a great camp. Dan Hayward and myself are over the camp. I was very impressed with how the Reno Pole vault summit was conducted which I attended in 2014, We tried our best to make it a similar experience by incorporating what we loved about the summit into the camp. We brought in experienced vaulters to come and speak, such as Jeremy Kemp, a vaulter who went 18’4. Dan and I then split the kids up into groups where they go to different stations and work on the fundamentals as well as their actual jumping. Keep in mind the actual jumping is only one of the stations. Pit time is not our focus. We want to master the fundamentals.

Rather than cram the camp into one week, we spread the camp out to reduce injuries and allow recovery time. Our camp is running over the course of a few weeks: three days a week with a day of rest in between. We also have a competition day on the third day each week where the kids can medal. The real reason we do this is so we can evaluate the kid in com-

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petition and work on areas in need the next week. This camp has continued to grow and became very effective for the kids. Over the last three years Matt Calvin

5 of the 6 state champions in the 5-A classification have attended our camp. Our first few years doing this camp we did it for free and had maybe two

kids show up. When we decided to charge a small fee for the camp, hoping the kids would feel a value, our entries for the camp shot up and we had more kids interested. The next year we doubled the price, hoping to make it more valuable to the kids, and honestly, our numbers grew again. This had us look into bringing in even more help. We are loving our camp especially with it getting bigger and bigger each year. It is a great resource for those schools without experienced coaches, as they will learn what they need to work on to become a better pole vaulter. 15. Do you have an elite athlete locally that helps you teach or train?

We do not have former athletes train with us, but we do have an alumni meet each year where alumni come back and battle it out with the current high school athletes. We also get some alumni who do come back from time to time and help us. This is one of the things that makes our program so great. It is one thing to coach a kid, but when you can bring athletes who actually preformed amazing marks that is another thing. The kids respond so well to these guys and gals. It also reassures the athletes that when 18â&#x20AC;&#x2122; pole vaulters express the impor-

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tance of drills the athletes get a better buy in.

16. Has anything interesting happened during your program this year that you would like posted in the magazine? Matt Calvin was the best pole vaulter at Davis High School and in the entire state during the 2016 season. He won state in 2015 with a PR jump of 14’6” at the championship. Matt Calvin will always go down as one of my favorite pole vaulters I have ever worked with, not because of his end result of his senior year, but of the background story of how he became a pole vaulter. His uncle is Mark Calvin who pole vaulted for Davis High in the 90’s and set our school record at 15’8” and attempted the state record. Mark continued to jump and eventually cleared over 18’. I was determined when I found out Matt Calvin was related to him to make him a pole vaulter.

I made Matt do countless hours of drills during the indoor season his sophomore year. He refused to pole vault in meets because he was kind of scared of pole vaulting. As

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he became more proficient with his drills, he began to gain the confidence needed to pole vault.

Matt Calvin began to have success right from the get go. He ended up clearing 13’9” in the pole vault his first year, where he placed 5th in the state that year as his teammate won the pole vault. His junior year he continued to work hard as he pulled off the nail biting victory with a jump of 14’06”. He came back his senior year with even more fire and determination. He broke 15’ winning the indoor championship and winning the outdoor championship with a jump of 15’3” during the 2016 season.

He was so determined he could break 16’. I found one last meet for him to go to. It was the USATF meet. This was when all of the stars aligned for him and he ended up breaking the 16’ barrier. He is now jumping for Utah State University where he will continue his path to being the best pole vaulter he can be. Matt Calvin is our 2nd best pole vaulter ever in the history of Davis High School.

17. Others Special thanks to the legendary coach, Roger Buhrley, who has been a huge driving force in making pole vault in Utah what it is today. Although he has now retired, because of him many kids throughout the state have had the opportunity to fall in love with the pole vault.

Coach Cody Peirce is another huge driving force in the state of Utah, running the UTPVA (Utah Pole Vault Academy). This is what I believe keeps pole vault alive in Utah. This gives so many kids a chance to pole vault who would never have the options because of the lack of coaches and equipment. He has given many kids from a variety of schools a chance to pole vault and to excel in the pole vault. He has built an amazing pole vault facility which allows pole vaulters to train year round. Each year he produces some of the best pole vaulters in the state. Special thanks to Jeremy Kemp, Mark Calvin, Jerome Jenkins, Hans Jenkins, Dan Hayward, and most importantly the athletes’ parents for helping our pole vault program continue to have success year after year.

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McKenna Haycock, Amber Raty, Katie Fielden, Julia Schraedel, Ashley Sullenger, Ashley Harris, Korra Jensen, Courtney Cox, Maren Bunch, Madi Lee, Eliza Hafen, Bryn Lythgoe

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Front Row Left to Right: Cole Phillips, Brittany Kallenberger, Graduate Asst. Coach Matthew Harris, Kaylee VanBlarcum, Max Rodgers Back Row Left to Right: Joslyn Snead, Jan Jansky, Lexi Heim, Colton Bray, Callie Ruffener, Tyler Schrimpf

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MIAA TAKEOVER: UCM MULES AND JENNIES By: Samantha Kaplan Very few athletes are lucky enough to get coaches who have been living and breathing their sport for over half their lifetime. At the University of Central Missouri in Warrensburg, the track and field athletes do not miss out on high quality coaches. The Division II superstars of UCM get staff who are not only experienced beyond their years in coaching, but are champion athletes themselves. Back in 1988, graduate student and 3-time Division III decathlon champion and division record holder Kip

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Janvrin came to UCM and joined the coaching staff as a graduate assistant. Because of Janvrinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expertise as a multievent athlete, he was staffed to coach the jumpers, sprinters, and multis. In 1996, Janvrinâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sprinting-jumping mindset joined forces with the distance mentality of cross country Coach Kirk Pedersen, as they became co-head coaches of the Mules and Jennies track and field teams. However, what makes the coaches of UCM stand out is their desire to keep pursuing track themselves. Coach Janvrin never let his passion for victory in the sport

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escape him, as he competed as a decathlete in every single USATF Championship from 1989-2005 and even competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. What is so admirable is that while remaining a competitive athlete throughout the 1990’s himself, Janvrin simultaneously stayed dedicated to learning how to coach. “UCM’s first vaulter Roman Botcharnikov, who studied under Vitaly Petrov-Bubka’s coach-- taught me most of what I know as a vault coach, “ says Janvrin. The UCM coaches know what being a

champion feels like, so they know how to inspire a team that will chase that feeling. For the upcoming 20162017 seasons, UCM has six extraordinary coaches on staff. Along with the two head coaches, the Mules and Jennies have decathlete Kurtis Brondyke as an assistant coach in all events, throws coach Tucker Woolsey, and the two graduate assistants Megan Snow, jumps and Matt Harris, pole vault. Facility wise, UCM’s indoor track just received

Brittany Kallenberger

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a major upgrade. The track was resurfaced with Mondo material after the 2015 season, which is sure to make for a faster runway and a safer surface for athletes worried about shin and joint problems. Vaulters specifically can look forward to both indoor and outdoor pits, as well as gymnastics facilities and a pool for drills and form work. Any vaulter looking at UCM should know that the biggest thing Coach Janvrin is looking for is dedication. “We have athletes of all abilities. All we ask is that they work hard and aspire to be the best they can be,” says Janvrin. And this attitude has definitely paid off when it comes to results. The UCM vault program has put out some pretty phenomenal jumpers. Fifth year senior Cole Phillips leads the way for the men as the NCAA Division II indoor and outdoor runner up. He holds the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) Conference record with his personal best of 5.37m. On the women’s side, another fifth year senior, Brittany Kallenberger is one of the best vaulters UCM has ever seen. She holds the 2015 outdoor Division II national

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title and has a PR of 4.05m. These two vaulters, along with fifth year senior Max Rodgers (4.07m), sophomore Colton Bray (4.64m), senior Kaylle VanBlarcum (3.74m), and second year Rebecca Freund (2.75m), not only lead the way in height, but by guiding their younger teammates, encouraging them, and creating a friendly and educational environment for all. New to the UCM family this season are the two freshmen men Jan Jansky and Tyler Schrimpf, with PRs of 5.00m and 4.19m, and the three first year women Callie Ruffener, Lexi Heim, and Joslyn Snead, all with PRs well over 3 meters (3.76m, 3.43m, 3.35m respectively). The UCM vault crew has an exceptional group of talent headed into the indoor season.

The Mules and Jennies are lucky to have such a group of vaulters, as both teams are aiming to repeat their success at the MIAA Conference and the NCAA Championship. According to Coach Janvrin, “The MIAA is one of the toughest conferences in NCAA Division II,” but that does not stop UCM. “The Jennies were indoor and outdoor national champions in 2015 and the men have been as high as 3rd indoor and outdoor.” The UCM

track athletes have a history in being successful in their conference and nationally. “UCM is traditionally near the top of the MIAA conference and a top 10 NCAA team,” says Janvrins. Last year, the MIAA had three men vault at the NCAA Championship who are returning for the upcoming season. MIAA standouts from UCM are Phillips, who was the 2015 indoor and outdoor pole vault champion, and Kallenberger, who won on the women’s side in the outdoor season. Looking ahead to the 2016 season, both Phillips and Kallenberger have the chance to defend their MIAA titles, and upcoming vaulters have the opportunity to grab the other podium spots. The women look to defend their coveted NCAA team titles, as the men fight for that top spot. Although the vaulters at UCM are hard workers, what helps make them a family is how they bond outside of pole vault and track. The UCM track athletes love to come out of their shells early on in the year. “We have a huge karaoke contest in September on campus that all the sports teams participate in. It’s a great way to bring our teams together,” Coach Janvrin says. At UCM, the athletic family extends beyond one

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Pictured below: Cole Phillips, Brittany Kallenberger, Graduate Asst. Coach Matthew Harris, Kaylee VanBlarcum, Max Rodgers oslyn Snead, Jan Jansky, Lexi Heim, Colton Bray, Callie Ruffener, Tyler Schrimpf

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team to all of the Mules and Jennies at UCM.

The UCM track and field team is well into their training season. The team jumps right into practice the Monday after Labor Day, but the dedicated Mules and Jennies had been putting in work in the off season and together, unofficially, as a group when classes started in August. Coach Janvrin’s approach to Kaylee VanBlarcum

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coaching the pole vault is to have a lot of jump days. “The length of the approach is dictated by the time of year,” says Janvrin. He believes there is little use in going right to a long run first thing, when so much can be worked on from a short approach in the beginning. Coach Janvrin stresses the approach with all of his vaulters, including things like elevated take off drills in his practices.

The UCM pole vaulters kick off their indoor season on January 20th at their very own UCM Invitational. It is the beginning of a tough line up of meets, all leading to the MIAA Championships on February 24th-26th, and the NCAA Division II Championships beginning on March 10th. Be sure to look out for the veteran Mules and Jennies as well as the rising stars this season as they vault their way to the top.

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WHERE THE MIND LEADS THE BODY FOLLOWS By: Robert Andrews - www.tinssp.com

Pole-vaulting, more than most sports, requires tremendous mental focus and mental strength. It also requires the development of strong character traits necessary to defy gravity and achieve the remarkable heights we see today’s jumpers clearing. Bravery, courage, faith, trust, determination, resilience, and toughness are just a few of the character traits mentally tough athletes develop.

There is one common theme I see in athletes who achieve tremendous success and those who suffer and struggle in their respective sport. Both have remarkably strong minds.

Peak performers have learned how to use their minds in very positive and highly efficient ways. The struggling athlete has learned to use their mind to create doubt, erode selfconfidence, and create stress and pressure. Yes, negative thinking is a learned behavior.

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Stress and pressure create tension that inhibit fluidity and flow while jumping. Self Awareness Is The Key

Mindfulness is simply “being aware of what you are doing when you are doing it.” Mindfulness is the key to harnessing the power of a strong mind in a very positive way. Being aware of our thought processes before and during competition can profoundly impact performance. Be mindful of your thoughts and behaviors well before you arrive at the track.

For many athletes, self-doubt and anxiety begin hours before competition. Fear-based thoughts, comparing oneself to other athletes in the competition, and negative thinking send the mind in the wrong direction. Brain functioning is 90% unconscious. The unconscious mind turns everything into a “yes”. So the body believes eve-

rything the unconscious mind suggest. Limiting thoughts like “I hate jumping in the wind”, “I will never beat my rival”, “I never jump well in the morning” turn into realities. The body goes wherever the mind tells it too.

Many athletes exhibit negative behaviors during competition and don’t have a clue they are doing it. They get angry and frustrated, allow negative and limiting thoughts to enter their mind, create stress-producing rituals, and some even shut down.

Strategic self-observation is the art of observing oneself before and during competition. It is almost like having a small version of yourself sitting on your shoulder giving you feedback. This small voice whispers in your ear “there you go, getting all frustrated and angry”, “you’re getting quiet and shutting down”, “you are really starting to think in a very negative way”.

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Try this “little me” exercise for a few days. I think you will be amazed at how often you are self-correcting. Whenever you receive feedback that your mind is heading in the wrong direction, self-correct. Turn the negative into a positive. It is a very powerful exercise.

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Self-awareness is critical to making positive changes in mindset, behavior, and the way you respond to events during competition. We can’t change anything if we are not first aware of it.

With a clear focused mind the body is free to meet its full potential during competition. Your body will feel lighter and more relaxed. Competition is fun and passion ignites great performance.

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PROBLEMS WITH THE APPROACH RUN Nothing is more frustrating and confidence killing than step problems and run throughs. Because of this I have a whole series of various exercises and drills meant to quickly overcome this issue. Rule #1 is that if you run through three times in one day you are done. I’m not going to allow this to become a problem or obsession. Rule #2 is that you always have to be willing to take a step back if it means solidifying a fundamental skill that will pay career long dividends.

As always I’m not the expert. I’ve just been around long enough to make every mistake you will ever make. ;-) So these are some of the ideas and suggestions that have consistently worked for me. Combined with your own experience we should be able to fix anyone. So Rule #3 is that I know nothing but we together know everything. The top causes I see for step problems are not running with rhythm, trying to run too fast, running too fast to early, letting your hands lower in front of you as you begin to plant, and letting your top hand drift back too far behind your hip over the last three steps. These cause discomfort, lack of ability to accelerate and jump up, and the change of depth perception at a critical time. Ideally you want to run with your hands up and elbows to your side like you are in a sprint-

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ing position. You want to keep your hips up like you are stepping over an intermediate hurdle on each step. You need your shoulders square and not turned partly sideways. All of these skills can be learned by using a heavy pole gripping about 6”/15cm from the end. Even though I jump on 14’1”/4.30m poles, all of my drills are done gripping near the end of a 16’9”/5.10m pole. Why? It’s heavy so I can’t put it where it’s not supposed to go. It falls by the laws of physics and I merely adapt my body position to find balance. When I do take off and plant drills into a heavy slide box with a pole this big, my pole feels like a toy when I pick it up to vault. When I’ve been planting against a heavy slide box that will knock me on my butt while gripping 16’5”/5m, I’m not too intimidated about gripping 13’/3.96m on my wimpy feeling pole. So it’s a win/win.

Now for the fix. The first thing to do is to find a very low pop up grip so that even if you turned your ankle at take off you would still get into the pit safely. Now set up a fun obstacle course. For example, from 100’/30.5m put a high hurdle, a low hurdle and three cones along the runway. With that pop up grip the vaulter crawls under the high hurdle, jumps over the low hurdle, runs to the first cone and turns around one full rotation to the right, weaves around the second cone, spins to the left a full circle and then plants the

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pole. This will shock you but every single vaulter will be able to do this and take off on the first attempt even with these obstacles and no step. Okay so now from the box, run a circle around the back of the pit and run out to 70ish feet and come down the runway with two forward rolls followed by two backward rolls, pick up your pole at 40’ and take off. Again they will all be able to do this. Now my message becomes, “How important is this step you are so worried about? Look what you just did with no step! “ It’s real simple, once you get the signal from the box that you will be on, THEN you can run with confidence. So now the run from their perspective is that the entire run up to “when the box calls” is really just the on ramp to the freeway. When the box calls you’re now on the freeway and it’s go time. I will often tell a vaulter that today you have only 50 fast steps. Find a comfortable way to run so that you get 15 jumps instead of four from those 50 fast steps. This is all about rhythm and not running until the box calls. Once you’re in a groove you can always run fast one step sooner, but remember we are talking about problem run kids here. My first non vault introduction to is to run down the

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sideline of the football field. One foot in front of the other running down the white line. Now try to get two steps or one stride for every 5 yards, three for every 10 yards etc. Now set up five hurdles on the track10 yards or meters apart. You can use the high hurdle markings if you want. Set the hurdles on their side so the bend is up. Start off slowly with seven steps between the hurdles. The vaulter will immediately sense the rhythm required to make this happen. Now go 6 steps, then 5, 4 and 3. Got it down? Pick up a pole and start at 7 steps in between and get as far as you can.

This may sound crazy but it can all be done in one day and is a fun confidence builder. The key is to run with rhythm with hands and elbows in, and the hips high with a balanced posture. Now let them try this for two take offs from 3 strides/6 steps. If that went well then walk back 10-11 heel to toe steps to the next stride and move the grip up a hand. Continue moving back a stride and up a hand after two successful take offs. Heck I’ve let them get all the way back to 20 strides/40 steps just to show them they can do it.

The key again is putting the vaulter in a position where they can feel like they can safely take

off on every jump. It doesn’t matter if it’s a small pole as confidence will quickly allow them to move up.

Finally some words of wisdom from my old coach Dave Johnston, “You change the pole, not the vault dummy. If you run

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Bubba

differently then you’re defeating the purpose”. He is also the mad scientist who came up with the physics for the six stride mark chart. His feeling is that too many vaulters run the first or middle third of the run too hard and that’s why they are lost or out of position at the

box. I totally agree. If you use his chart correctly, and you run the middle third you won’t get to the box. Remember the first two thirds of the run represents the freeway on ramp where you gain rhythm, momentum and speed. If you can’t accelerate or jump up at the take off you

need these drills. When the box calls there needs to be a visible acceleration that tells us that you’ve got it. I hope this gives you more relief than the dues I had to pay to learn them the hard way. All the best to you! Bubba

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VAULTER MAGAZINE 2016