MAKES & MISSES By Adele San Miguel
THE SPEED OF ENCOURAGEMENT There is a confidence zone in the pole vault that starts four feet out from the planting box. It is where young vaulters slow down and over think as they count backwards to takeoff. Those jumps stall out because the athlete did not create enough momentum to get themselves off the ground. Becoming overly cerebral about aspects of the jump (and stresses in your life), cripples the pace of improvement. Pole vault takes time to figure out. Some of you handle the adversity of long learning curves with confidence. You do not lose your sense of self, or judge yourselves too harshly. Others critically dwell on every step and each inch of the swing. You become self-conscious, a recipe for reverse progress. We are talking to you.
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Young vaulters will face mental blocks, plateaus, injury. As coaches our job is to encourage you and more sustainably, teach you how to gain autonomy from self-criticism. The piece of the jump you are working on is a solveable problem. It’s not personal, it’s technical. There will be U-turns in your vault-
ing. Expect them and Keep Moving Forward, or KMF, when you face them. Don’t hesitate at the takeoff, attack it. You may execute the jump well, or you may end up on the runway but don’t back down. Focus on the process, not the product. The process is the learning. Are you doing the right drills to increase your speed on the runway and therefore your rate of improvement? Are you wallowing in selfdoubt or, are you conquering fear with a bit of self-compassion? The product is, did you improve? If you go for it, instead of being defeated by it, you will feel better. All that this requires is a willingness to change. Every elite athlete we have interviewed over the years has said that the way to get through the tough times is to break things down and get back to basics. Run it back. Work on the pole carry. Faithfully do your drill and speed work and in time, you will begin to trust your jump. Parents, there is something here for you too. Without encouragement, we are malnourished. Berating your child for a poor performance will not result in them competing better at the next event. They know that they let the stress get to them, that fear talked them
out of going up a pole when they really needed to clear the next bar. In most cases, parents do not know more about pole vault than the athlete. At Pole Vault Carolina we ask the parents to be a source of support and to stop there. An athlete’s poor performance is on us. We have to look the parents in the eye and say that we prepared them – physically, mentally, emotionally – for competition or we did not. (If a parent is too wrapped up in validating themselves through their child’s athletic performance, we invite them to participate in a Beginner’s Clinic and put a pole in their hands. First-hand experience creates empathy.) Four feet out from takeoff of any endeavor exists in life too. We self-sabotage just as we are about to launch a project because we want to be assured of the outcome. We hesitate to act on inspiration fearing risk, and forgetting that with a swift approach, obstacles are easier to surmount. Athletes, the next time you are running toward the planting box or dealing with a challenge, run faster, with your arms high and strong and your confidence firmly in place. On boldness alone you will make progress.
