Coaching and Care of Athletes

COACHING AND CARE OF ATHLETES Apart from actual pole-vaulting and the complementary exercises I have described, the pole-vaulter should do a good deal of running with the pole, plenty of training with the sprinters, and a good deal of work in the gymnasium. Press-ups from the floor, with the feet elevated on the wall– bars to an almost vertical inversion of the body, and pull-ups on the horizontal bar or the beam are valuable exercises. All good vaulters can balance and walk on their hands, while it is significant that Bill Sefton, joint holder of the world's record, was also American champion in rope-climbing. The pole– vaulter, however, should learn to climb the rope with his hands alone. Webster can climb 40 or 50 ft. using his hands only, and Hoff used to go seven times up and down a gym rope without stopping. One important matter which must not be forgotten is the positioning of the standards, upon which the crossbar is supported by 3 ins. pegs extending from the face of the uprights. The rule for competition allows the competitor, at any time, to have the standards moved not more than 2 ft. in any direction. Obviously he will need only to push them out, so that the crossbar is farther away from the slideway, or to pull the!ll in, so that the bar is above it. It is best to teach the athlete to vault with the standards pushed out a foot beyond the edge of the pit, in the centre of which line the slideway terminates in its stop-board. In practice, and, per– haps, theoretically, the standards should be so adjusted by the vaulter that the crossbar is positioned at the point where he attains his greatest height in the vault he is attempting. This necessitates the help of a keen-eyed coach or brother athlete to determine just where the high point is reached. Some coaches teach their athletes to bring the standards progressively nearer to the slideway, until the bar is actually above it, as the height of the bar increases. I prefer to train my vaulters to aim at getting their high point at all heights to come above the bar when the standards are pushed a foot out from the edge of the pit. Common faults that the coach must watch for are many, on account of the highly technical nature of this most difficult of all athletic events. · If the hand-hold is too high the athlete will not be able to control the pole in the approach run, as he will be working against too much leverage. Much the same applies if the hands are not far 334