December 2018 Stephen F. Austin University Vaulter Magazine

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SFA and Altius Poles:

BRIDGING THE DIVIDE BETWEEN USERS AND CREATORS

By Sam Kaplan Instagram: @eat_sleep_pv_repeat

Eastern Texas is a hotbed for pole vault development and success. Stephen F. Austin University is the training ground for some of the country’s best past, present, and future elite pole vaulters. Not more than an hour’s drive from the SFA campus in Nacogdoches is the Altius headquarters in Jacksonville, where new technology is always being developed. When a powerhouse pole vault program and a top pole distributer operate so close in proximity, there must be a common

factor. That common factor is Coach Jeff Erickson.

Often times, the only correspondence vaulters or coaches will have with their equipment provider occurs when they place their order. The product is then shipped to the athlete, and that’s that. However, as both a coach of a prestigious collegiate program for the past 19 years, and the operator of a cutting edge pole manufacturer for the past 28, Jeff Erickson is bridging the divide between competi-

tors and the suppliers of the equipment they rely on. This type of relationship benefits everyone involved. The SFA vaulters get access to equipment they may not otherwise have, and Altius Poles gets real time feedback on how to improve their products to better suit the users. In fact, the indoor vaulting facility at SFA shares a building with Altius Poles. The vaulters also have access to outdoor gymnastic equipment such as rings, parallel bars, and a high bar at the Altius facility. The mu-

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tualistic relationship that Jeff fosters through open communication has benefitted Altius poles in many ways. “Come January, Altius will be moving to a bigger and better facility,” says Jeff. “It will include multiple indoor runways with an expanded gymnastics set up for drills.” Getting feedback and rapid product testing for Altius Poles simply by coaching his vaulters is clearly a strategy Jeff and his partner Carl Erickson see value in, as

the expansion focuses mainly on new facilities for vaulter testing, and not on machines or marketing strategies.

Because he spends so much time observing and helping on both the athlete’s and manufacturer’s ends, Jeff discovered that in order to make the best pole, he needed to develop it alongside a vaulter. So when Indoor World Record Holder and 2012 Olympic Gold Medalist

Jenn Suhr and her coach/husband Rick Suhr wanted a new type of pole that would better suit the needs of vaulters, Jeff knew he could help them create the first ever ‘vaulter designed pole.’ Over the past year, Jenn and Rick have been working with Jeff to create the Suhr Adrenaline Hybrid Pole. This new type of carbon pole is lightweight and thin, and strikes the perfect balance between being forgiving enough to easily penetrate

Branson Ellis

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the box, but powerful enough to aggressively recoil. “You’d think that you would hit a pole like this and it’d collapse on you, but no. It’s like a compound bow,” explains vaulter and development tester Zach Ferrara. “It gets you in, giving you that optimal time to get back, but then it’s just gonna throw you and lift you.” After a year of materials investigation, computer analysis, and of course, user testing, the Suhr Adrenaline Poles are finally available to the public

for custom orders, and that is what Jenn, Rick, and Jeff are most excited about. “This gives Jenn and I the opportunity to help a tremendous amount of vaulters,” says Rick. The first vaulters the new line of poles gets to help are the Lumberjacks of SFA, who after their assistance in the development phase, deserve to be some of the first ones to use the product.

When the SFA vaulters get first access to all of the new Altius equipment, it isn’t just

for the benefit of the company. Because Altius is on the forefront of new pole technology, with the hybrid poles and multiple options for carbon fiber, the Lumberjacks often have an advantage against their competitors. SFA vaulters compete at the NCAA Division I level in the Southland Conference against the best schools from all over Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, so when the field is full of outstanding athletes, any small advantage,

Hunter Krc

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Kaylee Bizzell

including equipment, could be crucial. However, only the most outstanding student athletes even get a chance to compete on the team that’s alumni include the likes of 18’8.5” vaulters Colton Ross and Adam Keul, and 2015 NCAA Outdoor and USA Indoor Champion, 16’1” vaulter Demi Payne. In order to even

be recruited to the team, high school girls must be jumping around 13’ and boys around 17’. By no means is the SFA team successful simply because of their high tech poles. In fact, only vaulters who are extremely adept at recognizing and fine tuning each and every aspect of their vault can even take advantage what the

new Altius poles have to offer. This season’s Lumberjacks are no exception.

The 2018-2019 SFA vault roster is full of familiar faces as well as a quite few strong newcomers. Leading the five women will senior Madison Pecot and junior Kaylee Bizzell. With their 13’8.5” and

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13’7.33” PRs respectively, they are the most experienced vaulters on the team and are sure to be great role models for three incoming freshmen. Coming in with the highest clearance by a high school girl in 2018, 14’ vaulter Nastassja Campbell will be joined by Gabbi Dornak (12’1”) and Melanie Prieto

(11’6”) to round out the women’s squad. On the men’s side, not a single jumper is going into his last year of eligibility for SFA, as the oldest members of the group are redshirt junior, 18’1” vaulter Antonio Ruiz and junior, 17’1” Chad Horstmann. Returning for their second year are sophomores Carter Scott (16’5”) and Hunter Krc (16’1”). Making his first appearance as an NCAA athlete, Texas state high school record holder Brandon Ellis (18’3.25”) will be competing for SFA, while redshirt freshman Tyler Stafford will join the team to develop his skills for future seasons of competition. The robust team of eleven elite vaulters gives SFA the depth of field that is so important in a conference like the Southland, especially since SFA track and field’s biggest goal of the year is to take back the conference championship from the rival Sam Houston State University, who currently own both the men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor titles.

Training for such an intense season of competition requires a rigorous season of practice. “Training for SFA track and field starts September 1st,” explains Jeff. “We focus on getting the athletes in shape and stronger in the

weight room.” Once basic fitness training winds down, vaulters begin event specific practice at the Altius facility at the beginning of October. This is when vaulting, technique training, and experimenting with new equipment really begin. Of course team bonding is important to create a close dynamic, so the Lumberjacks vault squad enjoy cookouts, fishing trips, and tubing and wakeboarding on the lake together in their off time.

The SFA team is a strong group of talented and dedicated vaulters who are by no means boiled down to the equipment they use. Altius Poles is an innovative brand creating the poles of the future today, but can by no means take credit for the accomplishments of the athletes who use them. However, pole vault would be stagnant without innovations in equipment technology, and improvements in equipment would never be possible without brave vaulters looking to share their needs, desires, input along the way. When the two forces work together to make each other better, they can become more successful than they ever could have been alone.

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EXERCISES TO PREVENT ANKLE SPRAINS IN POLE VAULTERS

By: Kreager Taber

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Ankle

sprains

are

the

most common injury seen in

athletes, and are of particular

concern

to

pole

vaulters

because

of

the

dangers

associated

with

spraining

the takeoff ankle. Once an

ankle has been sprained, the

joint is weakened due to the

neuromuscular damage from

the trauma, and the athlete

is at an increased risk to

reinjure the same ankle. After

repeated injuries, 20-50% of

athletes report chronic pain

or instability, leading to the

need for more recovery time,

a decreased likelihood of a

successful season, and in the

case of a vaulter’s takeoff

ankle, a much weaker jump.

Repeated

injuries

to

the

takeoff ankle also diminish

the

vaulter’s

ability

to

generate

enough

energy

during the run and takeoff;

therefore,

preventing

ankle sprains should be of

particular

importance

to

vaulters.

While wearing ankle braces or taping the ankles before physical activity have both been linked to reduced rates of ankle injuries, strengthening the ankles and increasing mobility are more long-term, cost effective solutions. Tape and braces are tried and true bracing methods to help

athletes

begin

exercising

after an injury, but as a

prevention

strategy,

they

allow the athlete to dance

around the issues in their

mobility or strength that

could

be

responsible

for

their

impending

injury.

Studies

have

shown

that

neuromuscular

and

proprioceptive training, or

working to prime the ankles

for impact and increasing

the athletes’ awareness of

their

placement

of

their

feet

during

exercise,

are

two of the most effective

prevention

programs

for

first time sprains, and can

also help decrease the risk

of

reinjuring

the

ankle.

Therefore,

neuromuscular

training is crucial before and

after an athlete injures their

ankle.

Neuromuscular training aims to enhance the athlete’s unconscious motor responses and joint control, and improve the way their joints react to unanticipated stimuli. For the ankle joint, these exercises include using balance boards, Bosu balls, mini-trampolines, and other exercises to improve the joint’s reactivity. When using balance boards, the athlete should stand on the board as their coach or an athletic trainer passes them a medicine ball. They will be trained to react to the variations in the throw, and their ankle stability will be increased as they learn to shift their weight and compensate. Once the athletes have worked on

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that exercise and become experienced, they should move to Bosu ball exercises. The half-medicine ball offers unparalleled opportunities to improve core strength and ankle stability. The

athlete should stand on one foot, and avoid placing the other on the ground for balance. The coach should then pass a medicine ball to them in varying directions and with different strengths

to challenge the athlete to compensate for the changes in weight. By throwing the ball to a point above the athlete’s head, and to points by their sides, their ankle must adjust to the

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changes in their center of gravity and the muscles will be strengthened. If the athlete has great difficulty doing this exercise on the Bosu ball, they can begin by performing the drill on

flat ground. Incorporating neuromuscular drills with mini-trampolines also offer a multitude of benefits for athletes, as they bring about the same improvements in stability as exercises with a balance board or Bosu ball while incorporating jumping. In order to complete these drills, athletes should jump on one foot while their coach or a partner tosses them a medicine ball in varying directions. However, drills should only be done with a mini-trampoline if the vaulter has adequate ankle strength to excel in exercises with the balance board and Bosu ball. Clinical studies have reported that neuromuscular training, when done effectively and consistently, lead to approximately a 50% reduction in the likelihood of repeated injury.

In addition to neuromuscular training, exercises to strengthen the muscles around the ankle joint also work to prevent ankle injuries. Toe taps, where the athlete flexes and points their toes to improve dorsiflexion and strengthen the muscles anterior to the ankle, are a perfect place to begin as they require no equipment and the athlete can even do them

in their classes. Eleven different muscles are involved in dorsiflexion and plantarflexion, the two movements incorporated into toe taps. In order to work on the athlete’s abduction and adduction, the athlete should hold their leg steady while moving their toes inward and outward, or even spell out the alphabet or trace numbers in the air to keep the exercise fun. Nine different muscles are involved in this motion, making it crucial to incorporate for a holistic treatment approach. Once the athlete is able to complete those motions without difficulty, banded exercises can be incorporated to build more strength. The athlete can work their dorsiflexion and plantarflexion against a band that they, or a partner, hold steady to add resistance. In addition, working the calf muscles and those lining the shins, and ensuring that the hips are mobile enough to move effectively, can help decrease the rate of ankle sprains for athletes and lessen the risk of repeated injury.

Ankle sprains can range from a slight annoyance that sideline the athlete for a week to a season ending injury depending on their intensity,

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and even one sprain greatly increases the likelihood the athlete will injure themselves again. Therefore, prevention of ankle sprains with neuromuscular and strength exercises is key. When incorporated correctly and consistently, these exercises greatly decrease the risk of spraining an ankle because the athlete’s joint will be more prepared to deal with strain while sprinting down the runway, landing oddly on the pit after a jump, or playing games of pickup soccer or basketball for cross

training. Strengthening the ankles, and incorporating neuromuscular exercises often in training, should

References

be a priority for coaches before ankle injuries occur to help their athletes avoid preventable injury.

• Grimm, N.L., Jacobs, J.C.., Kim, J., Amendola, A., Shea, K.G. (2016). Ankle injuryprevention programs for soccer athletes are protective: A level 1 meta-analysis. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. 98(17):1436–1443 DOI: 10.2106/ JBJS.15.00933

• Verhagen, EALM., Bay, K. (2010) Optimizing ankle sprain prevention: a critical review and practical appraisal of the literature. BR J Sports Med. 44:1082-1088, DOI:10.1136/ bjsm.2010.076406

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