Practices

Our Practice Philosophy

Patriot Pole Vault Club requires athletes to keep their own journal/playbook/log of their practices. It is expected for each vaulter to bring some sort of notebook and writing tool to each practice to record important information such as poles, hand grip locations, runway marks, effective coaching techniques, and their own physical condition. With that said, please continue reading.

Our philosophy is that vaulters must learn the simple skills before attempting to combine them into more complicated skills. With that in mind, most of our vaulting is done on shorter poles, shorter grips and shorter runs to decrease the margin of error for learning the skill and to increase the number of successful attempts per workout. Only after the basic skills are learned through numerous repetitions do we progress to the more advanced skills.

Workouts include many of the following :

• Improving running form, working on the approach and acceleration patterns and speed work
• Gymnastics including basic balance and body awareness exercises up to ring workouts that closely mimic the movements in the vault
• Strength training and plyometric workouts
• Dozens of supplemental technique drills and cross-training exercises
• Video analysis of elite athletes

The general format for our practices includes a warmup of essential sprinting drills followed by shorter drill work on the runway. Depending on the athlete and their goals, vaulters may progress to longer 5 or 6-step or longer runs or continue working from a shorter 3 or 4-step approach. Coaches encourage ring drill work as well as other supplemental off the runway work followed by an appropriate warm-down and/or conditioning.

What to Bring to Practice

• Proof of a USATF membership, registered with Patriot Pole Vault Club (our club # is 0232)
• Download, print and fill out the Patriot Pole Vault Club Membership Packet
• Payment for either Pay-As-You-Go or a Practice Package
• Make all checks out to the “Patriot Pole Vault Club”
• Bring with a journal/log/playbook to write down important information such as steps, poles, and hand grips

Always bring enough fluids and snacks for the entire time you will be practices, especially at our outdoor practices as there aren’t any easily-accessible water fountains or vending machines near the track.

If you have your own poles we encourage you to bring them. We do have an extensive collection of poles available for use. If you do choose to use our poles, it is your responsibility to make sure that they are returned in the same condition in which they are borrowed. Poles are expensive and any athlete who abuses any of our poles will no longer be allowed to use them.

Indoor Practices

Scheduling

Currently our indoor practices, held Sundays from 4-7pm at 360 Gymnastics, require online pre-registration. Click on any of the 360 Gymnastics practices on our calendars for a link to registration. Make sure you are subscribed to our email newsletter to receive reminders about indoor practices.

Practice Format & Expectations

Indoor practices are structured with drills, off-runway skill building, and time on the runway. We also try and take advantage of equipment and space during indoor practices, without having to worry about the weather.

Outdoor Practices

Scheduling