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The Process of Getting a Measured Approach Working with brand new vaulters Vaulters hold at the “reach grip”.  They “know” what foot they want to jump from Vaulters on the Track Coach will mark a chalk runway and box on the track Chalk runway will have takeoff marks and starting marks from 40 to 60 feetContinue reading “Getting Steps for the New Vaulter”

Coach Dave Phelps is hosting the Newark HS Pole Vault Camp on June 7th and 8th. It’s a great place for vaulters from “rookies” to high school advanced vaulters. I’ll be there for the whole camp as well. Here’s the link to the 2021 brochure – I’ll update for 2022 as soon as I receiveContinue reading “Newark HS Pole Vault Camp”

One of the questions that came up at the OAT-CCC Pole Vault Safety Clinic, is what are the “basics “ of pole vault poles.  So here goes. All Pole Vault Poles work.  While there are varying reason for liking one brand of pole vault pole over another, in general, all brands of pole vault pole work.  They areContinue reading “The Basics of Poles”

After coaching pole vault for a full forty years – I’ve seen an evolution of terminology in the event.  In the mid-1990’s, USATF tried to “standardized” how we talked about pole vault, because so many of the terms were “regional”.  Here in Ohio, there was a whole “school” of pole vault from Eastern Ohio coaches.  They had tremendousContinue reading “Pole Vault Terms (I Don’t Use)”

“Magic Numbers” There are four “magic” numbers pole vault athletes need to know before they are ready for competition.  Where they start their approach run  Where they takeoff from  Where they usually set their standards Where they want to start the competition For example,  Alonzo, a 13’ sophomore boy                   Abigail, a 10’ sophomore girl  – startsContinue reading “Numbers and Pole Vault”