The Apex Vaulting Podcast

In this episode Head Coach Jessi Juarez joins the podcast to discuss the realities of coaching Track and Field. Often in Track a Field coaches get thrust into the role of coaching events they didn't compete in. This is just the reality of what happens in the real world of high school and college track. What are the resources and what approach should you take? Jessi and I go over the perspective you need and advice on how to approach what seems like an impossible task. If you don't come from a vault background it can seem very intimidating to work with vaulters, but if you search out for people willing to help and learn to sift through all the minutia you too can help the vaulters on your team!

Please share this podcast with someone who can find it helpful and subscribe, review, and comment! And as always if you need help or would like to comment or ask a questions directly, email us at [email protected]

We have the great honor of hosting Scott Kendricks, coach and father, of Olympic Silver medalist Sam Kedricks on the podcast today! I made a recent post about Sam's exceptional push off, how high above your grip you jump, and Scott joined us to discuss their philosophy of jumping and how Sam continues to produce 19' plus jumps on only a 16' pole. Technique and tracking date are definitely important, and this is definitely a must listen! Thanks for joining us Scott!

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In this episode two high school athletes at the club, Bella and Alex, join the podcast and discuss how the strength app helped add the speed and strength they needed to get higher grips, bigger poles, further out mids, and new personal records! Can the strength app help you?

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In this episode Branko is joined by Lilly Brown and Calvin Gould. They discuss what it is like to jump as adults. Lilly is currently in law school and Calvin is an Engineer. They discuss the shift in perspective from being highly driven and competitive athletes at the high school and collegiate level to now using the vault as an outlet and way of staying in shape. They share their insights and of course the importance of community and culture of positivity and growth being one of the major reasons for continuing to vault.

As always if you enjoy the podcast please subscribe and leave a comment!

And if you have any questions please feel free to email us at [email protected]

In this episode Branko covers recent videos posted on the invert and getting "stuck in the bucket." As explained in those videos working on developing the needed strength and speed for each skill in the vault is needed, and doing the drills required to work on aspects of the vault has to be done to master skill. Doing full jumps from longer approaches and trying hard will get you no where fast.

On that note Branko also discusses what really causes run throughs and what to expect if you want to solve your run through issues.

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If you have never pole vaulted before going to your first practice session might seem intimidating, but it doesn't have to be! In today's podcast episode we go over what beginners should expect at their first practice. And if you are a coach or club owner and don't have a pole vault structured warm up, make sure to take notes and email us if you need help designing your warm up structure to not only help onboard new athletes but help current ones continue to refine the foundational skills of the vault at every practice session!

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I think if you're anything like me you want to know that you are doing your absolute best. And maybe that's what draws us to the vault. With all the technique there is to master, physical improvements we can make through training, there really are so many different variables we can continually work on to improve. The journey never really ends. On a scale of 1 to 10, 1 you're only scratching the surface, 10 you are squeezing every inch out of your jump, how do you rate your jump? Are you really trying your best?

What are the metrics you use to rate yourself. Check out this episode for more context and perspective on this question, and discover what you should be considering when you try and rate your jump!

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Strength and Conditioning coach at Defranco’s Gym Calvin Hartman, former Apex Vauliting athlete and coach, joins the podcast to share an amazing new service we are providing at Apex Vaulting. As a former athlete and coach at the club he has experienced first hand what a strength and conditioning program can do for a pole vaulter. In college he went from being a 14’ HS jumper to hitting 15’9” in college! At Defranco’s Calvin has expanded his knowledge and experience by working with NFL athletes, adult clients, and high school athletes of all sports. He is now bringing this knowdge and experience to Apex by offering Virtual Training options through the Bridge App. And the best part, even if you aren’t an Apex member you can now virtually do our strength and conditioning programs. Hope you enjoy this episode! Please subscribe and share it with a friend! And if you want to take you pole vaulting to the next level you need to sign up for our Programming. Get all your workouts, an exercise library of videos and cues and even virtual feedback from a coach all on your phone!

Email us at [email protected] for more information.

Did you just have an awesome practice? Did you finally get the grip up, master one of the skills of the vault and it felt like everything just clicked? What should you expect for your next practice? What comes next may be suprising. Often athletes and even young coaches expect a never ending string of excellent practices and meets, but that's just not reality. In fact we must learn and expect that often those excellent practices and performances at meets are a product of many average, some may even call them boring practices. If you expect this it will be easier to get through the grind!

As always if you value the podcast please subscribe, review, leave a comment and share with a friend! If you have any comments, questions, or you need help with your pole vault training email us at [email protected].

Have you ever plateaued three quarters of the way through a season? Are you sick of the same practice routine season after season? Maybe what you need is drill variation! In this episode Branko discusses how you can use drill variation to avoid practices getting stale and keep improving your technique and keep pr'ing!

As always if you enjoyed this podcast episode please subscribe and share this episode with a friend! If you have any comments or questions or would like us to help you with your pole vault training email us at [email protected]