Random Thoughts

Looking at my post today it reminded me of the first time I met and spoke with Vitaly Petrov, the great Sergey Bubka's coach. When asked about his 2, 4, 6 step drills he said that not only does it teach the mechanics for a dynamic take off, but that "ALL pole vaulters are strong and fast so I must take that away from them". That's why I jump so much from a shorter run.

His observation of US vaulters was that we had a lot of energy and enthusiasm but regularly disobey the laws of physics. He noted that the Russian athletes were much more workman like but never disobeyed the laws of physics. He felt that many of our athletes were superior to the other athletes he saw but were being held back by poor mechanics - i.e. disobeying the laws of physics.

My favorite quote from that first meeting was his answer to the question, "How high can Sergey vault?" He said, "For money or sport? For money he does what he needs to make the most money but for sport, I have seen him clear 6.40m (21') many times." At a practice at the 1996 Olympics I saw him make several nice attempts at 6.30m (20' 8") with a bungee. Here's what it looks like to put the bar up for him. Have a great night. Sorry for the small photo but there's a little guy on the shoulders of a 6' 6" (2m) guy so they can set the bar high enough for Sergey. Bubba
I booked a hotel room for the meet next weekend because we vault at 8 AM. The last time we went to this meet we left at 2:30 in the morning for the 4.5 hour drive. I'll go in the night before this time and get some rest. Bubba