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7A Boys Competition at the 2017 AHSAA Outdoor State Meet.
FIRST VAULT PRACTICE
Unfortunately, our "first practice" every year has become more and more like several patients waking up from a coma. They all suffer from amnesia. Let's go back down memory lane...
Years ago, after 2 months of conditioning, we would have our first team pole vault practice. It was always on a Friday. For some reason, the AHSAA started the training season on a Friday. That was fine, because it was the one day we needed to knock the dust off. It was a field-event-only practice for returning athletes. It was their safe practice to re-assimilate, commune with their equipment and the runway, and make friends with the mats. There was no coaching that day, just supervision. "Do what you need to do to be coachable on Monday". Athletes were all in the same boat after 3 months off from touching poles. I didn't catch mid-marks back then, so I spent most of my time posted near the box. There were lots of stutter steps and "athletic" plants those days.
Assimilation back into the swing of things doesn't take as long these days. The conditioning is different and my coaching style has evolved over the past decade. As Chris Taylor would say "smarter not harder coach". Over the years, my coaching eye has developed where I can see steps, takeoffs, and posture errors if I stand far enough away from the mid-mark. That really helps, especially when you start having your vaulters catch each others' mids and takeoffs. Our first session this season, though short, was very deliberate and effective. We moved small poles and established strong mid-marks while figuring out what our new strength required in S-glass. It was nice to see our starting flex's drop from last year. And as a small caveat, once you get that first practice out of the way, the serious vaulters typically improve in their other aspects of training, instantly.