For Athletes Mental Edge (FAME) is a membership site geared to help athletes overcome obstacles of self-doubt, nervousness, lapses of concentration and anxiety during competition. What For FAME does do is help athletes develop the mental edge to focus, concentrate, break bad habits, trust themselves, develop gamesmanship and awareness of the moment they are in. Many times just watching sports, you hear a commentator say, ‘He/She is so mentally tough.’ Believe me this does not just happen overnight for an athlete. It is something that is built over time. An athlete that displays this ‘Mental Toughness’ has at some point decided to prepare their mind just as hard and vigorous as they have prepared their body for competition. They have learned that being unprepared mentally will only lead to a breakdown physically.

FAME has noticed there is something missing in today’s athletes. They have technological advantages like never before. They include year-round training programs. Gyms that offer speed, agility and quickness programs to improve athleticism. Personal coaches/skill trainers are populating virtually every sport. Awesome medical advances to recover from injury faster. Yet, there still seems to be a missing link in peak performance. We look to fill this void by assisting accomplished, elite, professional, recreational and youth athletes in the development of the mental edge of mastering the moment they are in and performing at their peak

So, you must be asking, ‘How is this mental toughness/edge going to be developed?’ Simply, we focus on concepts like goal setting, relaxation, mental imagery and motivational phrases. We feel these concepts are the basis for strong mental preparation. We subscribe to the 75/25 rule. Winning is 75% mental and 25% physical. Others have this rule even more disproportionate for the mental side. If that is the case, why do we concentrate so much time training the body with little regard to mental training.

Of all of the track and field events that you may be able to get involved with, the pole vault is certainly one on the fringe. One of the reasons for this is simply down to the fact that it is so technically difficult, and potentially dangerous if you get your technique wrong. Having proper pole vault technique is crucial to any success that you might achieve, and there are many important parts and faces to any successful pole vault that you need to understand. In order to understand the different faces and the different factors that are involved with any successful pole vault it is crucial that you receive proper training. An experienced coach will be required to guide you through the process and without this you will never get anywhere.

As mentioned, pole vaulting is a potentially dangerous discipline unless you have experience in it and you are trained properly to get yourself over the bar and safely onto the mat. Injury can occur on a frequent basis unless you take the entire thing seriously and gain the proper training and technical know-how. There are many different phases to the pole vault, as mentioned. The first phase will be to select the proper pole and grip. Where you take off from is crucial as well and your run and how you hold the pole, leading to the take off, will also be very important.

Once you make it into the air there are still several phases to complete in order to get over the bar and onto the mat. You will also need to push yourself off your pole and hang in the air in addition to being able to swing and extend, turn and then clear yourself over the bar. All of these phases require a great deal of technical experience, training, and proficiency. All in all, without training there is no doubt that you can ever hope to succeed, or even get yourself off the ground, when trying to pole vault.