Up, Up, and Over: Learning to Pole Vault

Pole vaulting is one of track and field’s least understood events. To someone watching for the first time, it can look chaotic or even reckless. In reality, it is a technical and disciplined sport that demands patience, athleticism, and trust. According to Lawrenceville’s pole vault coach Carlton Huff, success in the event starts with being well rounded.

“It takes a fairly well rounded athletic person,” Huff explained. “You have to have good speed. You have to have good body control.” He added that while strength matters, it is relative strength rather than raw. “You don’t have to be Superman,” he said. “But you have to be able to do a few pull-ups, some leg raises, and run fairly fast with the pole.”

For beginners, the learning curve can feel steep. Huff focuses on building confidence early by simplifying the event. “I try to get them to bend the pole on the first day,” he said. Teaching the pole plant and learning how to hang and swing come before anything else. “Most of what you learn in the pole vault is counterintuitive,” Huff noted. “The body wants to hug the pole and pull, but they really need to learn to hang on the pole and swing.”

What separates strong vaulters from average ones is not talent alone, but time. “Mostly years of training,” Huff said. “Someone that has done this for two or three years is going to be much better than someone that’s just learning.” With experience comes efficiency. “You want to be as fast as you can be at takeoff and as tall as you can be,” he emphasized. Huff often compares improvement in pole vaulting to the 10,000 hour rule, stressing repetition and patience.

Fear is often the biggest obstacle for new vaulters. Huff addresses it directly by slowing everything down. “We start slow. We start close,” he said. “As soon as I see any fear, we backpedal and go back to something they can do.”

Not every athlete experiences that fear in the same way. Lawrenceville vaulter Vivian Blessing ’27 said that the event suited her personality from the start. “I was not really scared to begin with. Pole vaulting became an outlet for my lack of fear and my tendency to take risks, and that mindset helped me grow more confident over time.

Over his 11 years at Lawrenceville, Huff has seen the program grow significantly. “We’ve come a great distance,” he said, pointing to how one-time beginners now clear heights that once took a full session to reach. His goals remain simple. “I want them to get comfortable, improve, and have fun,” Huff said. “I want this to be a rewarding part of their Lawrenceville experience.”

For Huff, coaching goes beyond technique. “They don’t care how much I know until they know how much I care,” he said. In pole vaulting, progress is measured not just in inches cleared, but in confidence built, lessons learned, and relationships formed along the runway.

For more information, contact Lisa M. Gillard H'17, director of public relations, at lgillard@lawrenceville.org.