WMG
Winning the World Masters Games - 10/13/2009 - Sydney, Australia - Age 56
28,000 Athletes, 28 Sports From 91 Countries - Ages 30+

"Thinkers think and doers do. But until the thinkers do and the doers think, progress will be just another word in the already overburdened vocabulary of the talkers who talk." - Submitted by my friend Phillip Carrero of Sydney
cb NEW Indoor PR - 4.10m (13' 5 1/4") @ 2011 Reno Pole Vault Summit - Click for Video cb
Screen grabs from the 4.10m/13' 5 1/4" jump in Reno - 1/28/2011

d Bubba Wins M55 PV @ World Masters Games - Sydney, Australia - New Meet Record of 4m (13' 1 1/2") - Video Here - Blog Here - Article Here t
*** All Videos From Sydney - Warmup - 11' 9 3/4" (3.60m) - 12' 1 1/2" (3.70m) - 12' 5 1/2" (3.80m) - 12' 9 1/2" (3.90) - 13' 1 1/2" (4m) ***
Article on Bubba in The Woodlands Paper #1 - #2
My Current Training - 2011 PR - 4.10m - 13' 5 1/4" - Age 57
Blog - A Day in the Life of a Masters Pole Vaulter
Quintana Beach Vault Videos - USATF Outdoors -> 12' - 12' 6" - 13'
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Bubba's Drake Videos - 57' Run

ABOVE - Bubba with Steve Gorman after winning Indoor Nationals in DC.

BELOW - Dropping off poles at Drake with John Altendorf, & during introductions at Drake with Jeff Hartwig and Gary Hunter.

TOP RIGHT - Bubba on the Awards Stand in Sydney, Australia @ the World Masters Games
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Below & Right - USATF - Oshkosh by Ken Stone
Words of Wisdom - I got an email from a friend recently who said something so simple and profound, "pole vaulting is about having a good place to jump, feeling good when you jump, and working hard and continuous enough without getting hurt, that you can continue to experience periodic breakthroughs". Along those same lines, my orthopedic surgeon told me that training at the elite level is like walking on a balance beam - if you fall off one side you get hurt, and if you fall off the other you're not progressing. The older you get, the more narrow that beam becomes. At dinner after Drake Toby Stevenson said, "Yeah, and it's a longer fall and climb back up too!" AMEN!!

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Southwest Texas in 1976 - I remember having hair back then!

The people sure dressed funny. I think it was disco!

The equipment was 1st class, but we had NONE!!

I'm age 46 here @ Reno

SURPRISE - I am here too!!

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1996 Olympic Games - Atlanta

At practice in Atlanta with Sergey Bubka & Simon Arkell (WR for Leftys) from Australia.

So You Want to Be a Pole Vaulter?

ME TOO!!

Jeff Hartwing & Scott Huffman before final.

Me & LoJo just before he gets on the bus for the Olympic Final. What a great experience that month was!!

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Me with Simon & his Australian coach, the great Alan Launder. Oh yeah, & Pete Kovacs.

Watching the Olympic Final with Simon, Greg Duplantis, Edgar Diaz & Doug Fraley.

The MAN, Earl Bell!!

Awards girl in South Africa at 1997 Masters World Champs - 3rd

Me with Jay Thorson at Halloween as Svetlana Sparkova.

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Co-written by the famed Australian coach, Alan Launder (photo above left @ the 1996 Olympics), this is the absolute best book I have ever read on the sport we love. Videos & DVDs are great entertainment (I have them all) but we grew up on books by Dick Ganslen (Mechanics of the Pole Vault) & Bruce Caldwell (The Elusive Bar). I'm on my 2nd time reading Alan's book & I'm blown away at the simplicity, logic & practical direction this books offers. For $30 you can't afford not to have this insight and understanding! You won't regret it!! Bubba
Bubba on Essx Carbon - Age 54 - 5/17/08

Let's start with the basics; I am not an expert! In fact, the more I learn about this event, the less I think I know. What I love about the sport I first tried at the age of 12, and continue today at 53 years old, is that every year you have to come out and pretend you know nothing. An old Wall Street Investment Banker once gave me a great definition of insanity. Insanity, he says, is expecting a different result by applying the same approach. THAT is what drives me in life, and to always try and reinvent my view of the pole vault. Besides, the mind is much like a parachute - it works best when it's open. Above all - HAVE FUN!!!

“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return.”
Leonardo Da Vinci

Special THANKS to everyone who has EVER pole vaulted &/or helped a pole vaulter at ANY level!!

My Buddy, Rick Foster has it ALL!!
Track Coach Magazine is Only $20 per Year Through Track & Filed News - Click here for their link