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 shoul…

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. T…

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?Make sure to subscribe to the podcast and share the episode with a friend! …

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 s…

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 approac…

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 ne…

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…

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…

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 …

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 p…

You can't wait for indoor track and want to have a big year! So what should you be doing right now to give yourself the best shot at having a great season? And what happens if you wait until December to start training? You might be surprised to find out it may be too late to make some of those technical and physical improvements you were hoping to …

Chris Chappell of UCS joins the podcast to discuss the recent World Championships and Mondo's new World Record! I ask Chris How it feels to be the company that provides the poles for so many record breaking performances.As always if you enjoy the podcast please subscribe and share! Also if you have any comments or questions please email us at apexv…

Have you ever had issues with run throughs? How do you fix the run through problem? In Episode 113 with Robert Plumb we discuss some strategies on how to fix run throughs and how long it will take to fix the issue. As always if you enjoy the podcast please subscribe and share! Also if you have any comments or questions please email us at apexvaulti…

Noah Kaminsky joins the podcast again! Noah discusses his experience coaching large groups at pole vault clinics for the Public School Athletic League in NYC. At times Noah would coach up to 40 plus athletes at a time. How do approach large group training differently? What should the goals be for coaching clinics and camps? Find out in this episode…

Ellie Fitzgerald joins the podcast and discusses her last two years of vaulting, including dealing with a stress fracture in her foot during this past indoor season and how she persevered to a PR this outdoor season! Have you ever had to deal with a setback from injury? Did you just sit back and wait for to it heal? Is that the best way to deal wit…

You have one practice left before your big meet, (States, Conference, Nationals etc.)what do you do? Well Branko discusses how people answered that question on twitter and how he would approach that final practice. He also discusses some mistakes he made in the past. As always if you enjoy the podcast please subscribe and share with a friend! And i…

Vaulting for Life! Why would adults pole vault? Calvin Gould one of the adults that train at Apex goes over his reasons why he trains. Calvin has jumped at Apex for over 10 years, through high school, college, and now as an adult, and he goes over his shift in mindset as a vaulter how that has made all the difference for him. His mindset of skill m…

Vaulting for Life! Why would adults pole vault? Joe Lesky one of the adults that train at Apex goes over his reasons why he trains. Physical fitness, chasing goals, and finding a home away from home are just a few reasons why. Too often in the vault community it seems the only reason someone should vault as an adult is to train for the Olympics. Bu…

Branko discusses his recent article, How do you program drills into your practices. Branko breaks down three different types of practice, small, medium, and big days. How to structure the practice and how many drills should be done on each type of practice. He also discusses how to choose drills for your athletes depending on deficiencies in their …

This episode Branko discusses how paying attention to small details as a coach helps your athletes have more attention to detail and the dangers of overreaching at meets. Sometimes as coaches we feel that we need to make adjustments after every jump, but do we? As always if you enjoy this episode please subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcasts or…

Robert Plumb, college junior at NCAA Division 2 East Stroudsburg, joins the podcast to discuss how he chose the school he's at and how he has become an important member of his track team. We discuss what athlete's should be looking for in a school if they intend to compete at the collegiate level. He also discusses what it takes to be a successful …

Brad Lawrence, owner and operator, of Apex Long Island joins the podcast to discuss the Twitter debate Branko got into with Scott Simpson about specializing in the pole vault. Should people specialize in the pole vault at a young age? Will it cause injury? Should you do multiple sports instead?Par Branko Miric

Calvin Hatman joins the podcast again, and he never disappoints. We discuss how you can grow your club and provide service that will attract more athletes. We discuss short term and long term goals you should have with your club/business. What actually works when trying to grow? How important is social media? What can you do make your athletes happ…

Ethan Senecal, coordinator of Cross Country and Track and Field at Susquehanna University, joins the podcast! Ethan has a wealth of experience from being a decathlete, and coaching at many programs and shares his knowledge with us. Ethan discusses training, recruiting, and even shares his knowledge in hosting successful event. An amazing episode! I…

Baseball has spring training, Football has training camp in the summer, and The Pole Vault has fall training! Fall is the perfect time of year to get back to basics and work on all those drills, skills, and weaknesses you have. It's time to sharpen the blade that has gotten dull from the past year. It's also a great time to focus on strength and co…

Eric Bennett long time NCAA Division 3 coach joins the podcast to discuss a belt system for pole vaulting and what that would look like. How would a belt system help athletes and more so coaches? Check out the episode and if you enjoy the episode please share it with a friend and subscribe!Par Branko Miric

Brad and Tobie, owners of the Apex Vaulting Long Island location, join the podcast and discuss their journey from being pole vaulters, to coaches and now club owners. They discuss what motivated them to coach and why they chose to open an Apex franchise instead of starting from scratch. If you enjoy the podcast please make sure to like, share, subs…

Esther Fleigle of the Fleigle Flyers joins the podcast to discuss the stress of practice versus the stress of competing and how coaches can help alleviate some fo the stresses of competition, as well as a slew of other pole vault coaching topics. If you enjoy the podcast make sure to subscribe, like, and share this episode! Thanks!…

Branko does a solo episodes and covers a few topics. Who actually needs to buy poles? Should a novice jumper buy? How do you coach athletes to be tough, and what athletes actually need toughness the most? And as always if you need help contact us at apexvaulting@gmail.com. Don't be do proud as a coach to ask for help!…

Alex Curran, head coach and business owner of Next Step Pole Vault Club, joins the podcast to tell us about signing for his first indoor facility! Alex discusses his inspiration and journey from becoming a pole vaulter, coach, and now proud club coach and small business owner! He discusses some of the concerns, struggles, and fears of getting an in…

This is part 2 of Branko's solo episode answering listener questions that addresses the college track situation, how to coach sessions safely during this time, how masters pole vaulters should train and eat, as well as some other technical questions. This episode had to be divided into two parts due to technical difficulties. Thank you for the ques…

Branko does a solo episode and answers listener questions that address the college track situation, how to coach sessions safely, how masters pole vaulters should train and eat, as well as some other technical questions. This episode had to be divided into two parts due to technical difficulties. Thank you for the questions and keep them coming! If…

The great Shawn Francis and Colin Waitzman join the podcast to discuss the state of Pole Vault today! Are the Olympics or Track and Field holding back our sport? Also we answer some listener questions on this episode! Keep those questions coming and have your questions answered on the podcast! Email us at apexvaulting@gmail.com…

Calvin Hartman joins the podcast to discuss what it takes to become a coach, and work towards making a living with it. Calvin discusses the ups and downs of being a young coach and some important lessons he learned along the way. We also go over what gpp and spp are and how coaches can incorperate both to take their athletes' training to the next l…

In this episode Branko announces he will be doing weekly episodes so make sure to email him any questions you would like him to answer on the podcast(apexvaulting@gmail.com. This week's episode covers the amazing results that are heating up this Winter Track season! He also discusses how you can grow your club and help more athletes!…

Podcast host of Innovators Anonymous and Track World News Colin Waitzman joins the podcast to discuss some of the decisions made recently about high school and college track during this wild year of 2020. Does track leadership have a distance bias? Is a DISTANCE BIAS what prevents the sport of track from growing?…

Robert Plumb joins the podcast to discuss a recent video posted on Apex Social Media. The video is an analysis of straight pole era jumping and elements of straight pole technique that can be applied today. We also discuss what we mean at Apex when we say pull. Hopefully this sheds some light on what we try and teach at Apex.…

Branko does a solo episode and discusses how to help athletes develop as pole vaulters by identifying what stage of competence they are in. It is a must listen for all coaches.Par Branko Miric

Coach Tim Reilly of the North West Pole Vault Club joins the podcast to discuss the importance of a coaching system to the development of athletes. Coach Reilly is one of the most successful high school club coaches in recent years. Enjoy the podcast!Par Branko Miric

Jack Rhea joins the podcast to discuss his pole vault journey through college. Jack would join the Tennessee Volunteers program with a 15'7" pr and end up jumping 17'3". Jack has a maturity and insight that is rare for a 21 year old man. Great episode!Par Branko Miric

Matt Barry of Pole Vault Atlanta joins the podcast. We discuss what reopening a pole vault club might look like depending on your region and situation. We also discuss the importance of viewing coaching through an education lens. Awesome episode! Enjoy!Par Branko Miric

Jeff Coover joins the podcast to discuss The Ultimate Garden Clash, where Renaud Lavillenie, Mondo Duplantis, and Sam Kendricks competed to see who could clear 16'4" the most times. We discuss the tie, what was good, and what could be better. We also go off on many tangents and discuss a slew of topics. Great conversation, enjoy!…

Sondre Guttormsen of Norway and UCLA joins the podcast. Sondre has jumped 5.80 (19'1/4") t the age of 20! Sondre introduces us to how he began pole vaulting in Norway and how the sports system in Norway differs from America. Sondre also walks us through an injury he dealt with his freshman year at UCLA and how he feels his strength and conditioning…

Livio and Rosario join the Apex Vaulting Podcast and discuss how they stated their club and how it grew to a 60 plus athlete club. Their perspectives on culture, maturity, and respect as it relates to pole vault clubs and coaching are to be admired. The positivity and joy they bring to the table is amazing! Enjoy!…

My friend and 17'9" vaulter Nick Homan joins the podcast and opens up about his medical battles the last few months. Just as Covid-19 was shutting down the world Nick started feeling numbness in his back and abdomen and losing strength in his legs. He went from one hospital to the next and had countless tests done. I hope listening to Nick and his …

Jake Winder of Rise Athletics joins the podcast again. This time we discuss how to talk to athletes about missing their spring seasons and what they should do about training at this time. We also go over what club owners can do during this time and facing some of the unfortunate realities of the current situation. Also Jake announces the his brothe…

Eric Bennett joins the podcast and discusses how he started out coaching at the collegiate level and what it takes to become a head coach and get a full time position. We also discuss Eric's approach when recruiting and working with athletes that have jumped at pole vault club or a pole vault coach in high school. Great tips!…

Joe Oliveri joins the podcast again for a pole vault companion episode! We go back to the 2015 IAAF World Championships. Yelena Isinbaeva is no longer competing and we see who will be the next generation of women to compete at the world stage! Enjoy!Par Branko Miric

Ed Luthy of DC Vault joins the podcast and discusses his journey through pole vault how he ended up starting DC Vault. His club is home to an amazing 3 pit outdoor facility that is also has all the training equipment an athlete would want or need. Ed discusses how the DC Vault coaching staff manage to train 5 year olds all the way through adults wh…

Joe Oliveri joins the podcast for a pole vault companion episode! Joe and I give you some commentary for the 1997 Mens Pole Vault Final. Go to YouTube and search "1997 Men's Pole Vault Final" and watch the 39 minute 53 second video with us. We break down the jumps and the comp. This is Bubka's 6th and final world chmapionship! We had an awesome tim…