Starting from zero

[Jumpin'Joker]

Dear friends,

First of all, let me introduce myself.

My name is Daniel and I am and I live in Spain. I'm 45 and I'm not athlete, but my daughter (11) is training athletics for 3 years. I'm the president of a small athletic club for children.

Athletics situation in Spain is far from the one in the US. First of all, and most important, physical education at schools and high-schools is a minor matter, restricted to a couple of hours per week of general physical exercises. No soccer competitions, no basketball and, of course, no athletics. Most young people give up practicing sport when starting in the University, because there is not sport time there, competitions or training and it's very hard fitting together studying and training if sport is not integrated into university time.

Training sports is done by sport clubs after school time. It is voluntary activity and maybe a 30% of children practice some sport. Most of these sport clubs are private clubs (not getting public money). As far as athletics is a minority sport in Spain, most clubs are small sized and resources are quite limited. On the other hand, working time for athletics coaches is limited to 1 or 1 and a half hour per day, so finding qualified coaches is very difficult. It's easy finding coaches for running, long jump and all these 'easy' techniques but I don't know any coach experienced in pole vault closer than 100 miles from us.

With this situation, I started learning myself as much as I could about coaching. I've been doing this for 2 years and I'm still waiting for an official notice to get official grade. Last one was in 2009 and nobody knows when next one will be...

This is the scene I found with athletics for children in my area: no training at high school or university, no public investment, no qualified coaches. For this reasons, I think I'm ready to start training my daughter in pole vault. If she reaches a good level, I will consider other options in the future, but I would like her to start, at least.

I though it was important you to know our situation, because all information I can get is from the internet. I've some training books, but pole vault is too complex to be learned just from a book.

I've been surfing many internet sites and BBs and I think this one is the most suitable. I'd like, if possible, making questions and getting help. I'd like, if possible, uploading videos of our workouts and getting comments and suggestions. Maybe this topic can be useful for somebody else in a situation like mine. Probably starting from zero is boring for most of you, and I'm sure there is a lot of information about this in other topics, but my English is not good enough (especially in technical terms) to make profitable searches.

Thank you in advance for your help.

So, here it is the first question: we train in a track, with sand pit but not landing pit. This is a problem I’ll face in the future. All equipment we have is a 6' 8" straight pole. As far as I've read, straight pole will be enough for us at least for the next months, but I'm afraid 6' 8" will soon become too short even for my daughter's height. I've been trying to get a longer one, about 8' 4" but all straight poles I've found in equipment suppliers in Spain are 6'8". Will I need a pole longer than 6' 8"? Is there any on-line store in the US I can find longer ones?

Thank you again!



Daniel

[cdmilton]

I would recommend you purchase the following book and DVD. It is a fantastic resource! It will teach you how to start coaching a beginner from scratch with only a sand pit.

http://polevaultpower.com/store/btb.php

For poles, you will need something longer than 6'8" very quickly. I would order a 10'-11' pole for her in a weight greater than what you expect her to be in the next year.

http://www.gillathletics.com/store/prod ... th=10'6%22

http://www.ucsspirit.com/vaulting-poles ... irit-Poles

Good luck!

[Jumpin'Joker]

Thank you for your reply, Chirs. I've just ordered the book and the DVD's.

Her weight is now 33 Kg (72 lb) and I think she will be about 40 Kg (90 lb) next year. Will this pole be useful as 'straight' pole in the meantime?

Daniel

[cdmilton]

Thank you for your reply, Chirs. I've just ordered the book and the DVD's.

Her weight is now 33 Kg (72 lb) and I think she will be about 40 Kg (90 lb) next year. Will this pole be useful as 'straight' pole in the meantime?

Daniel

Yes sir, it will be a good straight pole while she is holding low. As she improves her run, jump and swing and her grip raises closer to the top it will begin to bend even though she weighs less than the pole rating.

[Jumpin'Joker]

While waiting to receive the book and DVDs I ordered last Wednesday (From Beginner to Bubka and Isinbayeva too!) we will start training following the directions and drills proposed by James H. Bemiller & Robin Hardin in their article published in Track $ Cross and Country Journal (http://www.tccjournal.org/uploads/Vol._1_No._1.pdf, vol.1 issue 1, page 4). We will start training with a short straight pole while waiting for a longer one.

I think it is a good summary about how to start training with rigid pole, but I have three questions, the kind of questions most of you will think they are stupid questions, but here we go:

1. Is the jump during take off an active jump? I mean, like long jump or high jump.

2. If yes, is this jump towards a certain angle?If jump is very flat (horizontal), it can help bending a flexible pole, but I think it will produce a premature vaulter's pendulum (swing) and will decrease the transfer of kinetic energy into potential energy. If it is too vertical, it will be difficult to transfer the momentum to the pole and vaulter will fall down after raising because the 'lack' of the horizontal component of the movement will avoid the pole to reach the vertical.

3. Is the same (active jump) while using a straight pole or using a flexible one?