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A vaulter’s views

PHOTOS: S. THANTHONI

NOW, A COACH Mike Cotton

Mike Cotton is on the toes of his left foot, holding a bent pole above his head. “Haven’t done this in a while,” he grimaces, hopping around, trying to hold the pose for the photographer.

It’s been thirty years since he last pole vaulted, quitting at 27 after injuring his knee on a trip to East Europe. His career hit its peak in 1973, when he achieved a U.S. ranking of two and a world ranking of five. “I also got married that year,” he grins, “and graduated from the University of Florida with a business degree. I’d sell insurance during the night, vault during the day.”

Mike was in Coimbatore, on a coaching assignment. Before heading back, he was to spend some time in Chennai. The SDAT learnt of his presence in the city, and as a result he was at the Nehru Stadium, giving the trainees at the SDAT academy pointers on technique.

“Pole vaulting is like golf,” he says. “If you learn the wrong way, it’s difficult to change later.”

According to him, the USSR had the best coaches, and he attributes the dominance of Sergei Bubka and Yelena Isinbayeva to this. “The Soviets screened their best athletes at a young age. Bubka and Isinbayeva are top athletes with sound (bio)mechanics.

“Bubka and his coach, (Vitali) Petrov, changed how you plant the pole tip, and where you take off. We took off probably 3.8 to 4 meters from the box. Today, top jumpers take-off from about 4.3 to 4.6 metres away. It’s almost long jumping with a pole in your hand.”

In the U.S., and from what he’s seen so far in India, he says vaulters haven’t completely embraced the Petrov/Bubka technique. “Among American jumpers, Brad Walker is very close (to the Bubka technique). Most still take off too close, and rely more on speed and power, and not technique.

“Here, I saw one jumper planting correctly, and I asked him who taught him. He said he’d learnt by watching videos. But I’m not being negative about the coaches. Most of them are volunteers, doing their best with the knowledge they have. They’re very enthusiastic, and we’re working as a team on this.”

Mike Cotton’s voice goes up a few octaves when he speaks about how he began pole vaulting. Catching the bug after looking at pictures in magazines, he persuaded his father to set up a vault in their backyard.

A ten-year-old Mike Cotton would run across his backyard, clutching a bamboo pole, plant one end in a hole dug in the earth, and take off, flying feet-first over a fishing pole balanced between two trees. “We didn’t have a landing mat,” he chuckles.

“The exhilaration of clearing the bar is hard to describe. It’s uplifting,” he says, when asked how it feels to be up there, soaring over the bar.

Isn’t there a bit of relief thrown in as well?

“When your only emotion is relief, you don’t jump high. The best performances come when you’re enjoying it,” he replies, but admits it’s easier for amateur athletes. “I guess if you’re professional, and get paid for vaulting, there’s a lot more pressure.”

He leans forward, resting his elbows on the table. His brow crinkles as he casts his eyes upwards. “I think if I had not injured my leg, I’d still be jumping. Joe Johnston, a friend of mine, broke the over-60s record recently. He’s 64 now. The key is — he loves the sport.”

His other great passion is weightlifting. “I was small and skinny; I was born asthmatic; The bigger kids picked on me. I started lifting after I saw a magazine with Charles Atlas saying ‘no one will kick sand in your face anymore.’ ”

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