Apr 11
10
Embracing Challenges.
I want to elaborate on a concept that I have been thinking about. Hopefully I can do a good job illustrating this for you as a mental skills to develop. I believe that embrace challenges with the right mentality is a very crucial skill to becoming high performing. I remember early in my career as a pole vaulter I hated going into a competition where the weather was not perfect. Meaning face winds or cross winds or less then ideal 75 degree weather. I always became frustrated before the competition even started, that would lead to elevated anxiety and or course a poor performance. Later in my career I told myself that I wanted to be a great conditions jumper. I spent my career in Utah, and if you know Utah is can snow in the summer time and be 80 in the winter. It is just unpredictable. So I spent time with a performance enhancement expert developing a mindset of being a great conditions jumper. So we created a plan for what to focus on when the conditions were bad. I told him that you want to scoot your starting step up a little to prevent over striding because of the face wind and always remember to start out relaxed. Often pole vaulters start out too fast because they think they have to work harder in a wind. Well I used this plan then I got excited about the next time I could use this plan in a competition. I began to embrace the challenge of wanting to beat the elements.
Shortly there after I got my chance. We were down at Arizona State University, and it was a night meet, early in the season, it had been raining most of the day, our event was postponed a few hours because of the rain, the temperature was about 50 and we have a very uncharacteristic face wind coming from the east. For those of you that know ASU, there is always a west wind and most of the time a pretty good one. I started to get excited to try my plan in the condition. I wasn’t excited about the conditions, because when the conditions were great that usually means great heights and great pole vaulting. But this was my chance, remember moving my step up making sure that i did not over stride and starting out relaxed. The competition started and there were some great jumpers in the competition, I was not the best one there. I was in the top 6 or 7 maybe but definitely not the best. I did not change anything about my competition plan. I came in at 17 feet, made it on my first attempt. Then went to 17′ 6″ and I was the only one left in the competition. I ended up making 17’6″ and trying some jumps at 18′. I ended up jumping right at my season average even in bad condition. All because my mentality was in the right place. I had a plan and I executed that plan and won the meet. It was a great learning experience that lead to many more successful meets in poor conditions.
We need to embrace challenges. We need to repeat in our minds I can do this, even in bad conditions. I can make this bar, I can train as hard as I need to in order to be great. Whatever the challenge is, we need to embrace it head on and with motivation to overcome that challenge. This mental skill will help us feel in control and help us keep our anxiety low. Pole vaulters and pole vault high in poor conditions with the right mentality.
Posted in Anxiety Confidence by .
I was watching the masters today. The masters is the biggest golf tournament each year. I was watching Tiger Woods, and it was interesting to watch his body language. And my personal opinion is that his mentality is the reason he is not dominating the game like he was a few years ago. I still think that it is interesting that tiger struggling is still a top 10 world ranking and finishing in the top ten in the biggest tournament in the world. That seems like a pretty great accomplishment to me. But again that is the mentality coming out. He spends a great deal of time jumping from the past to the future. His body language often shows of disgust for hitting the ball 15 feet from the hole instead of 5 feet from the hole. He is often disgusted for missing an eagle putt and settling for a nice easy birdie shot. The challenge with this type of behavior of mentality is that it elevates a persons anxiety. When tiger get frustrated with his shot because it was not where he wanted to be, it is hard for his mind not to wonder onto the thought that this would be so much easier if I was ten feet closer of if I had just hit the ball where I wanted it to go. His mind jumps from the past “hitting a bad shot” to the future “I wish the ball had been in a better spot.” This is an avoidance mentality.
In order to be high performing athletes we need to have an approach mentality. We need to embrace the challenges of the next shot with a can do mentality. The same applies to pole vaulting. In the pole vault, often times we our minds jump from ” man I missed that bar” to “what if I no height or miss again.” This can increase our anxiety which directly affects our decision making. No human being can make a good rational decision when their anxiety is high. So it becomes imperative that we focus on staying in the in the present and embrace the next challenge with a can do mentality. This approach will lead to better focus, reduce anxiety and better decision making. Or in tiger case making more putts and winning again. Or in the case for pole vaulters making more bars and jumping consistently high ever time out. An approach mentality is a major element to a successful pole vault career.
Posted in Anxiety Confidence Decision Making Focus Motivation by .
I just want to tell you how effective this mental skill is. Having can do mentality is very powerful and can have immediate impact on reducing anxiety. I recently have heard 3 experiences where taking a moment and to focus our minds on a Can Do mentality has had instant positive results. Developing this skill will have the same effect when training and competing in the pole vault.
Story 1: I gave a presentation for the www.ipromisefoundation.org They are a local substance abuse recovery program. I spoke about the 5 components of high performance and taught one mental skill that they can use to help develop these 5 components of high performance. The one skill was having an approach mentality, or in other words having a Can Do mentality. One of the young men in the audience related an experience a few days later as he was working. This young man was knocking on doors selling aeration lawn care services. He had not been having much success and starting to get down on himself and doubt his abilities. He stopped for a moment and re focused his mentality to a can mentality, and went on to sell three straight doors in route to having a successful work day.
Story 2: This one is more of a fun one. I like to play basketball on Tuesdays with some friends. I usually go out and shoot a bunch of shots to try and find my shot or get my shot on. This particular evening I wanted to try and apply my own mental skill. I sat on the sideline waiting for my chance to play and I repeated in my mind, “I can do this, I have confidence in my shot being on.” I went onto the floor missed my first shot, I repeated in my mind the same phrase, then ran off a string of 7 straight 3 pointers. It was fun to see how powerful this mental skill can be even in a fun jovial setting.
Story 3. I friend of mine relayed this story to me. He was interviewing for a job. While he was waiting for his appointment he felt his anxiety begin to rise, he was a little nervous. He had thoughts in his mind what if I don’t get the job or what if I don’t interview well. The “what ifs” are dangerous. He remembered some of the things that we had talked about and he started to repeat in his mind, “I can do this, I am good talking with people, I can interview great.” My friend said he immediately felt his heart rate slow and his anxiety go down. He had a great interview and was offered the position.
Often times we get in situations were we let our minds wonder to the “what ifs” and we feel our anxiety rise. Remembering these skills and having a can do mentality can really help us become better pole vaulters. We will pole vault high and compete better and have great pole vaulting careers as we apply these mental skills.
Posted in Confidence by .
Mar 11
28
Goal Setting: Motivation, Confidence
I love pole vaulting because it makes goal setting very simple and easy. In the pole vault each increment is a goal. 10′ – 11′ all the way to 17′ – 18′. As a pole vaulter we should set goals slightly beyond our reach. So if we have vaulted 12′ then our next goal should be 12′ 6″ or 12’4″, that would be the next height that is slightly beyond ones reach. Setting the right goals in the pole vault can be very motivating. Setting the wrong goals can lead to frustration and increased anxiety which will lead to quitting or giving up. We also need to set goals to improve on certain skills that will help us improve in our vaulting. For instance we know that running fast on the runway with a pole with help us jump higher, so a good goal would be to increase your speed on the runway at take off. If we set goals that are too far out of our reach it will be tough to get motivated because it will be hard to see the improvements. We know that it take a great deal of work just to improve 6″ in the pole vault. So if we are a 10′ vaulter and set a goal to jump 18′ it will be hard to see the progress, that in turn will lead to discouragement and doubt. But if we just move 6 inches at a time then we will be able to celebrate achieving our goals much sooner and more often. When we vault higher and achieve our goals we build confidence. Confidence is a key component to pole vaulting. If we are not achieving our goals because we set them to far out of our reach, we being to doubt our abilities and when we doubt we cannot building confidence, because confidence is believing and knowing that our abilities are good and that we can improve. Pole vaulting is a great sport and can be fun if we set the right goals and we achieve those goals often.
Posted in Confidence Motivation by .
Mar 11
25
Jimmer Fredette, High Performing.
I know that this is not related to pole vaulting. But I would like to say that everybody has it backwards, I have read a number of articles that have come out just a few days after Jimmer Fredettes last game. All the news has said that he will not make it at the next level. Well truth is he will and he will have a great career, will he be the next Lebron or Kobe probably not but you have to understand the power behind motivation. This kid his whole life has been told he is not good enough, or tall enough, or not athletic enough. He has been told he can’t play defense. The fact is that every time someone told him he could not do something he went and did it. He is a very high performing individual, he has loads of confidence, he is very motivated, he gets focused. And if the media is right and he will be hurt by his defensive abilities, then my guess is the only thing Jimmer will be working on this summer is getting really good at defense. Because that is what a high performing athlete will do. They will continue to work on their strengths while improving their weaknesses. My prediction is that Jimmer will ave a great career at the next level. So come on people lay off the doubts and criticisms.
Posted in Confidence Motivation by .
Joel is an australian Pole vaulter. I always knew that pole vaulting brought out all of the crazy athletes. Most people say that in order to pole vault you have to be crazy. When I first saw this video I thought to myself. This kid is really crazy. But the reality of it is he may have some lose bolts in is head but he also exhibits some high performance skills. First I would say for anyone to stand on top of a 100 foot cliff and jump must have a load of confidence. Believing that he can accomplish anything. Then to stand on the cliff and throw triple flips and twists as you fall to the water takes an even greater amount of confidence. I this and compared it to high level diving. Those guys are very confident that they can do any flip or trick while executing a perfect dive into the water. The second aspect I would like to point out here is that this kid has tremendous focus. To be able to stay in the present while falling and moving your body in a specific manner to execute the trick takes a great ability to stay focused, in the present.
I know that if I was on a cliff ready to jump I would be focused on the future, “what if I land on my back or hurt myself.” those thoughts would scare me right out of jumping. Needless to say I was thoroughly impressed with this kids talents. Plus I thought it was s pretty sweet video.
Posted in Confidence Focus by .
There are five components to high level pole vaulting or high level athletics for that matter. Pole vaulters can develop these five components so that they can achieve their dreams in the pole vault. These five components have been scientifically proven to be the characteristics of all high performing athletes. The first is developing the right kind of confidence. There are ways to continually develop your confidence, there are also negative forms of confidence such as arrogance. The second characteristic is having the right motivation. The third aspect is developing precise focus and concentration. Fourth being able to control or manage your anxiety will help each athlete compete and train well. And finally all of these components lead to the process of making great decisions. We all need to be great decision makers in or to be great pole vaulters. The pole vault is a tough sport mentally. But if we develop the mental side of the sport we can do anything.
Posted in Anxiety Confidence Decision Making Focus Motivation by .
Mar 11
18
Anxiety
Anxiety is the single term the all negative emotions or feelings is define as. When anxiety is high most athletes will struggle. Control or managing your anxiety levels is a important key to becoming a great pole vaulter. Pole vaulting is an easy sport for athletes to lose control over their anxiety levels. All of us have experienced frustrated days both in practice and competition. Our coaches keep telling us what we are doing wrong and we are trying to fix but it seems like that day nothing is working right and the whole practices usually ends with us leaving practice upset, frustrated, demotivated, and doubting our ability as a pole vaulter. This happens to everybody. The key is to recognize when we are focusing on the wrong things and when our anxiety levels begin to rise, if we can recognize when this is happening we can still recover and have a good practice or competition by focusing on the right things.
Anxiety is also referred to as interference. Interference can come into our pole vaulting lives from all different directions. It can come from our school, family, peers, church, or any number of things that we do outside of pole vaulting. Being able to compartmentalize our lives and avoid blending all these aspects of our lives will great increase our ability to manage our anxiety levels which in turn will result in high level pole vaulting.
Posted in Anxiety by .
Mar 11
16
Decision Making
I love the Pole vault. I once heard that Serga Bubka loves the pole vault because it is a “Professors Sports.” I agree with this statement. The pole vault is a professors sport. The pole vault requires a great deal of thinking, planning and strategy. I remember many times as an athlete when I would plan what I wanted to do for the next competition and then have to adjust that plan because of how my body was feeling or how the weather was outside. I love that aspect of pole vaulting. It made it fun and challenging.
It is important to develop great decision making skills when training to be a high level athlete. Focus plays a big part in decision making as well. I was working with an athlete and they were attending the NCAA championships. This athlete was projected to do really well in the competition. I saw the results after the competition and he had not finished where he wanted to finish. So we began talking about the competition and his performance. He began telling me about what pole he started on and what pole he took is warm ups on and what poles he took his competition jumps on. He said that he started on a 16.6 flex pole and cleared the first bar, then moved up to the 15.8 flex pole, and did not make the pit for his next two jumps at the second bar. Then he moved back down to the 16.6 and it was too small again. I asked him why did you skip a pole, why did you skip over the 16.2 which was sitting in your bag. This athlete gasped in his realization of a missed opportunity because he was not focused and made a poor decision. It is very important to make great decisions when competing. Making good decisions is a result of having high confidence, motivation, precise focus and being able to lower your anxiety levels.
The pole vault is a very precise sport it requires a number of decisions before each jump. You have to select your start mark, and where you want your standards set, and which pole vault pole you want to use. You should also select a particular skill you want to focus on while you make the attempt. All these decisions play a role in whether or not you will have a successful jump. I love to see athletes pick the perfect placement of there standards and clear a new life time best, or select a pole that really launches them in the air and the clear the bar by a large portion. Developing great decision making skills will lead you to a high level of pole vaulting.
Posted in Decision Making by .
Mar 11
15
Focus
Focus can really help athletes perform at a high level. But it has to be the right kind of focus. I come across a number of athletes and coaches who are focusing on the wrong things. Often times athletes will focus on things that they don’t have direct control over and the things that they are doing wrong. I was at the USA junior national championship several years ago watching the pole vault and one athlete just cleared the bar and won the meet in the same jump, this athlete got off the pit and said to the coach, “what did I do wrong and don’t tell me nothing.” I was blown away at where the attentional focus was being directed. I instantly thought to myself “you just cleared the bar and won the meet who cares what you did wrong.” My point in this is that we should never focus on the things that we do wrong, we can spend time developing and improving skills that will help us avoid doing things wrong. But we should always focus on the things that we do well, and try to improve on certain skills that we think we can get better at. I also see athletes direct their attentional focus on things that they don’t have control over. These types of things can include how high the bar is or wanting to win or what the weather conditions are. Often times when our mind is focused on the things we don’t have control over then that means our might is not focused on executing the right skills to jump high. If our focus is not in the right place it usually means a poor performance. When ever I talk to high level pole vaulters after they have won the pole vault in a major championship. They often times will say something like, “I was trying the best I can to do the things that allow me to jump high.” Their focus was on the things that they can control. Pole vaulting is very fun but it can also very very frustrating if our attentional focus is not channeled in the right direction.
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