What I Learned From Roland Carter

I bet most of you don't know that name but he's the first American to vault 18' indoors and it happened at Albuquerque. Hmmm. I'm going there soon.

Roland competed for the US Army and was a 16' 6" (5.04m) jumper. He came to train at Rice University with future World Recordholder and my lifelong friend, Dave Roberts. I knew Dave from high school so when he went to Rice we started training out there too.

At Texas Relays the next year Roland made a huge breakthrough and got a 1' (30cm) PR at 17' 6" (5.34m). Afterwards he told me that he found himself on the runway with these big name guys and everyone was gripping a foot higher than him so he just jacked his hand up 9". The first jump at a new PR of 17' he had a lot of height but crashed down badly on the bar. The next jump he fully extended his take off and swing and made it easily. The next vault he made 17' 6". Just like that, one bold move at the right time and suddenly everyone knew who he was, and not just because he trained with Dave.

Fast forward to the next indoor season. I noticed that when Dave jumped during the week that Roland did not. His explanation was that he was comfortable with his vault, and that at his "age", he felt worse in a meet if he had vaulted in practice. So he did lots of strides, drills etc. but did not vault. That very next weekend he vaulted 18'.

I try to learn something from everyone I meet, but it seems that almost 40 years later I'm still living off of Roland's advice. I think I will feel better in the meet if I don't jump first. I'll be more fresh and more focused on what I need to do. It worked for Reno so I'm hoping it works for nationals.

Lat week I got an email from a friend who said he was really impressed with the progress I've made since last year, especially since I haven't been jumping. Huh? I didn't jump in meets last outdoor season in an effort to clean up my technique and to raise my body to the next level. Just because I wasn't competing doesn't mean I'm not grinding away. Again, if you are old and you get behind physically it is VERY hard to make up. Heck, it's hard to stay where you are. There is nothing special about what I do. I just keep showing up to "class" each day.

I bring this up because Nancy asked me what big meets I had planned for next year, 2012, and my answer was NONE!! In 2013 I will turn 60 just before Worlds. I will devote ALL of next year getting ready for that and will jump in very few meets. For someone who loves to vault so much it doesn't seem to make sense. But the reality is that when I jump a lot I can't train a lot because then I'm too beat up to jump well at a high level. Thanks Roland. You have taught me which is more important.

A Word About the Penny
I'm not overly superstitious but if I see a heads up penny I will pick it up for good luck. If it's tails up I leave it. At the 1996 Olympic Games I put a heads up penny that I had found in both of the plant boxes in the Olympic Stadium in Atalanta. A security officer came over to check my credentials and ask me what I was doing. When I told him he said, "That's cool. Go ahead". I think there will be a penny in the box at Albuquerque because I will need all of the luck I can get. Have a great day! Bubba