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david bussabarger wrote:(...) But the point I was trying to make is that Renaud's marks this year certainly didn't come out of the blue. He has been gradually improving over time.
Yes Renaud has a new coach. Although I don't know what his input is. It may be limited to changes in training or pshycological input, etc.., while not making any significant changes in Renaud's technique. I know if I were coaching him I would be very hesitant too make any technical changes. I would just tell him your technique is great and you can break the world record just by getting better at what you are doing now. In otherwords be supportive and build his confidence.

When we started working together, more than one year ago (October 2012), there were two options : either Renaud managed his career plan and made business, or he saw further, trying to improve himself. Figuring who he was about, I knew he was not going to make the first choice. Now, it can happen that one regresses with new training methods. Here, this is not the case. We just have optimized what he was already doing the best so that he continues to improve.

- You 're the new coach of Renaud Lavillenie, how did you feel about those first few weeks of collaboration and what are the priority areas of work ?
I started based on the fact that Renaud was Olympic champion, that he made 6.03 meters 2 years before and that he was the current best in the world. It means that he already make a lot of things very well. My line of thinking in relation to this observation is to optimize everything he does well already. What it does well, if we can do it on a little better, we'll necessarily win a few centimeters. We did'nt start in the context of a deep change : if he puts on weight, for example, I'm sure he will regress back down to 5.70 m, what we can't afford. Renaud is an Olympic champion, he changed his coach, then it's not for losing a year adapting to new training methods. Pole vault is matter of kinesthetic ! You must have good feelings to jump high, you can't change too many parameters, it will generate too much fatigue and make you lose the technical scheme. Technical scheme is essential for confidence, we know one can lose it very quickly and then there is a very long way to recover it. Here is a striking example : the previous Olympic champion Steve Hooker is no longer able to jump high for over a year now, it asks him a huge investment today to make 5.70 m while his personal best is 6.06 m.

- What are the qualities needed to excel in this discipline ?
Firstly, performance is determined by physical qualities. The first is the speed quality. Someone who doesn't run naturally fast will have great difficulties to exceed 5.80 meters, it's really the key point in pole vault performance, you must be able to run top fast with an apparatus and be able at full speed to achieve very precise gesture, there is therefore a notion of speed but also of easing off. The 2nd is what I call the specific strength : we have to deal with a mobile apparatus, so we'll get closer to a kind of gym type muscle building because once the jump engaged, you need a good closing ability (arm on the trunk ) and therefore a very big core strenght, because you run with a weight that can go at the end of the pole up to 45 lbs, it's necessary to be like "wrapped" to be effective. You also need a good power / weight ratio, because you try to take off the ground so the heavier you will be the more complicated it will be. In this ratio I think the balance must always be in favor of strength, not weight. Besides there aren't many beefy bodybuilders left in this discipline, rather we are dealing today with slender athletes, and this is not because they are thin they are not strong.
Another determinant of performance : the psychological commitment to the jump, there is a notion of risk taking in pole vault that can't be found in other disciplines of athletics.
The performance will depend both on the lever, that's to say the length of the pole, and its stiffness. Basically, the higher leverage will be (then the longer pole will be) and the more a chance to succeed a high bar will be facilitated. The only problem is that the greater the lever is and the further you take off from the target, which is the point of impact of the pole. This means that the need of speed increases with the leverage used, and the greater stiffness the pole has, the faster and the more dynamic its return will be. All this means that the more you increase lenght and stiffness of the outer apparatus, the more your physical capacities need to follow.

I am withdrawing from this thread. I don't care to get in the middle of any disputes between PVDaddy, Altius, and David.

Wan wrote:To end with d'Encausse physical and technical considerations :

palm1234 wrote:

Wan wrote:To end with d'Encausse physical and technical considerations :

Wan

The whole interview of d'Encausse has already been translated, in a thread of
Pole Vault International.