June 11, 2025 • 44 mins
In this episode of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast, Dan is joined by Kennedy Merrell to discuss her journey as an athlete and pole vaulting career.Kennedy Merrell is a pole vaulter at Indiana State University. She started vaulting in high school as well as competed in gymnastics for 15 years. Throughout many ups and downs during her senior year, she made it to New Balance Nationals where she placed 5th and received All American status. Kennedy then decided to take a year off from vault and went to Purdue University to study Kinesiology. In her time there she started coaching on the side at a local high school, realizing her time in the sport wasn't over, so after a successful year of coaching she decided it was time to get back at it. She transferred to ISU to continue her degree and compete as a D1 athlete. She assisted in scoring points in 4 conference championships. For more on Kennedy, be sure to follow @krmerrell3262*SEASON 6 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is brought to you by Isophit. For more on Isophit, please check out isophit.com and @isophit -BE SURE to use coupon code BraunPR25% to save 25% on your Isophit order!**Season 6 of the Braun Performance & Rehab Podcast is also brought to you by Firefly Recovery, the official recovery provider for Braun Performance & Rehab. For more on Firefly, please check out https://www.recoveryfirefly.com/ or email jake@recoveryfirefly.com***This episode is also powered by Dr. Ray Gorman, founder of Engage Movement. Learn how to boost your income without relying on sessions. Get a free training on the blended practice model by following @raygormandpt on Instagram. DM my name “Dan” to @raygormandpt on Instagram and receive your free breakdown on the model.Episode Affiliates:MoboBoard: BRAWNBODY10 saves 10% at checkout!AliRx: DBraunRx = 20% off at checkout! https://alirx.health/MedBridge: https://www.medbridgeeducation.com/brawn-body-training or Coupon Code "BRAWN" for 40% off your annual subscription!CTM Band: https://ctm.band/collections/ctm-band coupon code "BRAWN10" = 10% off!Ice shaker affiliate link: https://www.iceshaker.com?sca_ref=1520881.zOJLysQzKeMake sure you SHARE this episode with a friend who could benefit from the information we shared!Check out everything Dan is up to by clicking here: https://linktr.ee/braun_prLiked this episode? Leave a 5-star review on your favorite podcast platform
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to another episode of the Brown Performance and
Rehab Podcast, powered by Isofit and Firefly Recovery. Isofit is
my go to for all things isometric strength training. For
more on Isofit, be sure to check out isofit dot com.
Episodes like this are made possible by Firefly, the official
recovery provider of the Brown Performance and Rehab Podcast. For
(00:22):
more on Firefly, be sure to check out Recovery firefly
dot com. This episode is powered by doctor Ray Gorman,
founder of Engage Movement. Learn how to boost your income
without relying on sessions. Get a free training on the
Blended practice model by following at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram.
Joining me today on the podcast is Kennedy Merrill. Kennedy
(00:44):
and I are going to dive into her journey in
the sport of track and field, in particular for pole vault,
in her role as an athlete, her journey into where
she's currently at in college sport. We're going to discuss
her coaching role as well, and so much more. Really
great episode. I really appreciate Kennedy's time. Enjoy Kennedy. Welcome
to the podcast. I'm super excited to work with you
(01:05):
today for people who aren't familiar with you and all
the incredible stuff you're doing, especially around pole vault, would
you mind film in a little bit about who you
are and all the amazing things you have going on.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi. So I'm Kennedy Merrill and I'm going into my
third year at Indiana State University. It'll be my fourth
year in college, but third year at Indiana State, and
I went there to continue my career in pole vault
and we actually just got back from our outdoor Missouri
Valley Conference championships and we brought home first place as
(01:37):
a team. That would be our back to back indoor
and outdoors. So that's four times for me now. But yeah,
so we're just hitting the off season right now, taking
some time off pole vaulting, but got to get back
into it for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
That's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And you are All American as well on top of
like four time champion and back to back champion.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Correct all American?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That all American status occurred to me in high school. Actually,
I was a high school senior and I pull vaulted
all throughout high school and I was lucky enough to
make it to state. My junior year pulled out a
ninth or eighth place maybe, and then come back my
senior year and pulled out runner up and qualified for
(02:23):
national championships at New Balance and placed fit there, which
got me.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
That all American status in high school.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
That is such a huge flex.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like if people listening don't know how intense the pole
vault world can be, like, that is such a huge flex,
Like seriously, go off, because that's absolutely amazing. And one
of the things I want to point out when you
were talking about your kind of college career that way,
you mentioned four years, but you've been to Indiana State
for three that way, where was that other year that
(02:54):
wasn't in the picture? What all happened during that time?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So ending high school, I it was such a long season,
going through we started early and then going through that
tournament season with sexual Regional State, and then for me
it kept going to go to national. So I was
super burnt out. I'm gonna be honest. It was a
really big mental struggle, and I was looking at colleges
(03:18):
for pole vault, but mainly just decided I really kind
of pushed away a few different schools and I ended
up at Purdue, which is in the family, like a
family school. So I decided to go to Purdue my
freshman year. There was an intent to go there for
pole vault. I ended up just going there for school,
(03:42):
so too ended up taking a year off with that.
During that time, I think it was a great transition
with just having to do school, because everybody mentions that
being a student athlete, it's such a huge transition in college.
So I am honestly grateful that I only had a
year of school. And while I was there, I was
(04:03):
studying kinesiology, just going through the normal freshman classes things
like that, and I realized I kind of was missing
it a little. I was like, you know, I feel
like I have some unfinished business here. So I ended
up getting into the coaching world there at a high school,
West Sofia High School, and I was specifically the pole
(04:23):
vault coach, but helped around with some workouts and stuff
like that, and I really just gravitated toward that coach aspect.
The kids were awesome, They performed great as best of
I could ask for it being my first year coaching
by myself, and I really just loved that. But then
I realized, like, you know, I felt kind of left
(04:45):
out when they were vaulting still, I was like, man,
I wish I could be the one vaulting out there.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
So then I ended up.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Deciding I would finish the year out with them. Great experiences.
I would not trade it for the world. I'm still
in contact with those coaches, those k I still go
back and help out. And then I entered the transfer portal,
and that's when I reached out to Coach Martin and
we ended up going on a visit there, got to
know him a little bit, talked a while, and realized
(05:13):
that Indiana State was the place that I wanted to
end up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What made you decide that Indiana State is definitely the
spot for me in relation to track and field academics
and beyond.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I'm gonna have to go with at first glance, I
ended up watching a practice through.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Pole Vault with the pole Vault.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Group, and I really just loved the way that Coach
Martin interacted with his athletes.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I think that would go really well, especially.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
With me coming back after a year off, which is
really hard to do, and I feel like for to
avoid me reverting back to the old ways and getting
through that burnout, I feel like that would be he
would work really well with how I learn and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
And then they had great facilities and.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Had my major, so things got to transfer over perfectly,
and even more specifically, I got to add in some
minors that pretty didn't necessarily offer for some things that
I want to get into, So that strength and conditioning,
that coaching, and you need to stay offered more specific
classes to that as well.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Absolutely, that's incredible, And it sounds like you're taking the
concept of trek and field, you're taking the concept of
pole vault and basically saying like, look, I don't want
this to just be like something I do in high
school or college, but it sounds like you want to
make that a big part of what you do in
the future as well, with that kinesiology major, with the
coaching and the strength and conditioning influence and all of
(06:43):
that kind of stuff as well. That way, what's kind
of made you interested in kinesiology? Is it the track
and field in the pole vault or is it other
things that kind of made you like want to go
into this world this space that way?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, So I think the big thing that really influenced
me was it happened in high school, we were lucky
enough to have a strength and conditioning class called Advanced
Physical Conditioning, and it was beneficial for athletes. They just
wanted you in there just to weight lift, get stronger, agility,
things like that. And I had great coaches there and
(07:18):
I really loved what they do. I really gravitated towards them,
and I was like, you know, this is like I
want their job, Like this is what I want to do.
So that kind of really clicked in my brain. And
then I did like this personal study thing where I
answered a bunch of questions. Somebody asked me questions and
(07:39):
then they got to know a little bit about my
personality in like a different way rather than knowing me,
but by the way I answered questions. And then that
also gave me the It solidified that I wanted to
do things with like movement of.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
The body exercise.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I wanted to continue being fit myself as well as
teaching other people how to lift properly or even coach pullball,
teach them correct movements and safety things like that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Absolutely, I love everything about that. And it sounds like
it's just that concept of again giving back. It's like
you know, pull volt sounds like it's had such an
amazing impact on you and really helped shape the person
that you are today that way, And I think that
there's something about that, right, Like sport plays such a
key influence on people their development who they are and
(08:31):
teach them lessons that they're not going to learn anywhere,
And what better way to continue that kind of concept
and that kind of legacy than to turn around and
give it back to kind of the next generation.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
That way, for sure, I completely agree with that, And.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I would say the other piece too, is like for
me anyways, pull Vault is just always so amazing to watch,
Like I'm just like, how in the heck do you
all do that? Like it's one of those things that
I'll watch and I'm like, I like to think I
can do some cool stuff, but like I can't do
anything like that. Like you're literally like sprinting full speed
ahead or like what looks like full speed ahead to me,
(09:05):
and then like sticking a pole in the ground and
flying like ten fourteen fifteen, I don't even know how
I feet through the air and like twisting as you
do it and like somehow not getting hurt when you fall,
and like I've seen some of those like fail kind
of like complications online that way, and I'm like, man,
that must really freaking hurt. But like it's like almost
like an addicting kind of quality to people that do
(09:26):
the pole vault because they love it so much. But
it just looks so incredibly challenging from a physical standpoint,
a coordination standpoint, and obviously the mental side as well
when you do fall and get hurt and come up
short that way. I mean, it just seems so incredible
to me. How do you how do you do it?
I mean, what's the secret to the pole vault? And
like just all those other qualities that I just outlined
(09:48):
that way.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Man, I'm still trying to put all the pieces together
as well.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
I'm gonna be honest, Believe me.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
The falls do happen, but it's you gotta get right
back up and try to get and you can't really
like dwell on it at all. I mean, I mean,
I broke I've broken two poles in my life, like
when they snap. One was a drill, it was a
fluke accident, and then one I was actually vaulting and
I was not I'm gonna be honest, I was not
(10:17):
good at the time. So I didn't fall from quite
so high, but got right back up, found a different pole,
got right back in line, ended up fine. But yeah,
I mean, I think it's just the confidence and the
trust in knowing that I've done this before, like I
can do it again. So like getting to the back
(10:38):
of the runway and then you know you are running
full speed towards the pit and I feel like it's
a bigger target than what you think where you're supposed
to put the pole in the ground. So that adds
some comfort to that, I guess, And you know, the
idea of your landing on a big fluffy mat, like
you know, there's like you you can see these things
(10:59):
and you think that you're gonna be okay, but sometimes
there are those voices in the back of your head,
and I feel like this past year I was really
struggling on the mental side of the pole vault of
knowing that I am gonna be okay. So I had
a bunch of run throughs, there were practices where I
could not get.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Off the ground, and.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
But nearing the end of the season, I feel like
I started pulling it together and really getting back into
that comfort space.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It sucks that happened nearing the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
But you know, some things like that happen and you
just have to roll with the punches kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And yeah, absolutely what goes into breaking those mental barriers
that pop up in the sport of pull vaulting that way,
Like is there something that you do, Like do we
just got to like crank the t swift and power
through it, or like what do we do to kind
of break through those mental obstacles that form?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So I think a big thing is just cutting it
back down to the basics. So I would go back
and just get upside down on our normal three step drills,
or we would go to a like a pull up
bar and do swing ups, like just knowing that like
you can get upside down still, like you still have
that movement whether you can get to it or not
in the pole vault at that point in time. And
(12:14):
then also just going back to a shorter step run.
You don't have to run all the way back at
your we call it seven or eight steps. You can
go down to your four or your five and get
on a smaller pole, which was what I did. I
got on super small poles, which in the moment I
was like, Kennedy, what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
This is embarrassing. You were on bigger poles in high school.
What is going on here?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
But then it's also like you just need to like
rebuild those muscle memory type things and also just rebuilding
up that confidence step by step. And then also like
another thing is I gripped down, Like you don't need
to grip at the end of the pole. There's like
when you're building things up, you can grip down. So
just working through things like that slowly and then building
(13:02):
on steps where I could just be like, hey, I
didn't run through every single jump today, I took up three,
which there was a point this season where that was
something positive.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So it sounds like it's such a technical game for
pole vault right, Like it's just so many different things,
like you mentioned the steps to where you grip on
the pole, to decize the pole and so on. It
sounds like there's a lot of like attention that like
attention to detail that goes into this whole incredible process
that we see of someone sprinting and sticking a pole
in the ground and then flying through the air in
(13:33):
some like almost like artistic way, Like it just looks
so effortless for you all, And I mean if I
attempted to do it, it would.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Not be effortless whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Like I'm not even sure I could make it over
like a little three foot kind of thing that way,
Like it's incredible to watch what you do and then
make it look so seamless. But as you were talking,
I was just like, oh my gosh, Like there's a
lot more that goes into this than I think we
give it credit for.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I feel like even when I started coaching and having
to like explain those steps to the athletes, because I'm
very big on like there's another thing like standards, which
is where the bar is placed. Most athletes in high school,
their coach does it completely for them. If I'm there perfect,
I'll do it for you. But there's times where I
was like, I want you to understand and take control
(14:20):
of things like this. So there's just lots of little
tiny details that when I was coaching, I was like,
we need to take this step by step with teaching
these athletes how to do things like this. I feel
like with being in the sport so long, I can understand, like, oh,
I'm I can grip here, I can run from here.
(14:41):
It just comes naturally. But there are so many technical things.
There's weight labels, length of polls, flex ratings, standards, grip
where you're running from. There's a bunch of things that
go into the pole vault that just when all pieced together,
is really when the magic happens.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
And i'd imagine initially, like when you were first getting
into pole vault, probably back in middle school, if I
had guess like that wasn't something that like we sweated
every little detail, but like as you progressed, it's like,
oh my gosh, all these things play such a key
role in it.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And when I first started vault, they gave me the
smallest pole that they had, which was I was lucky
enough that there was a pole like that, like when
you're first learning, you know, in high school there you're
not always lucky to have a good progression of polls.
But they gave me the smallest one in my eyes.
(15:33):
They told me where to hold the weight label, the
length didn't matter, and I just ran towards the pit.
And then as you got more comfortable, they would explain
to you like now is when you need to go
up a pole or up a hand grip and it
was just that slow and steady type learning environment.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
And obviously, as you mentioned, you've had cases where the
pole has broken on you in the past, and just
going back to that mental side form me, like, I'd
imagine that would be a quite scary moment.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Again, I've never had it happen with myself that way,
but I've also never pull vaulted before. But I'm just
trying to picture myself in your shoes, and I'd imagine
if I'm trying to like go full full speed into
something stick the pole and then fly ten twelve foot
up in the air and the pole snaps or breaks
on me like that, You're not in a great position
when that happens, and I'd imagine that it's scary in
(16:26):
the moment, but it's also like scary afterwards because it's like,
oh shoot, what if that happens again? And like there's
this like cycle of thoughts that I feel like could
develop from that. So I'm interested here, what was like
going through your mind when you've had pulls break on
you while you're doing the pull vault that way, and
then how do you kind of overcome again those mental
obstacles that might kind of you know, show themselves in
(16:50):
relation to the pole vault afterwards.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, So when my first pull broke on me, it
was small. I was, I want to say, gonna be
a sophomore in high school. This was in the summer
going into that, so I was still pretty new to
pull vault itself, and I feel like that helped foreshadowing
with the mental aspect. So when it did break, I
(17:15):
was at my summer club, DC Athletics, just getting in
that summer training and I was waiting in line.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
It was my turn. I ran up, planted the poll.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Next thing I know, I'm flipped backwards really quickly. I
land on the mat luckily, and I was just when
it first happened, I remember being like confused.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I was like, what happened? And then someone got on video,
so that's always a plus.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And my coaches looked back at the video and they
were like, you know, that only happened. They were quick
to like respond and be like you're fine, like make sure,
making sure I was fine, which I was, And they
were quick to like jump in the fact. They're like,
you're gonna be fine, like get back in line. Things
like that. They looked at the video and they told me.
(18:02):
They were like, you know, that happened because you did
this right and things like that. So I did, like
pieces were put together. I was still a new BIDEO
was still learning. They were like, you did these things right,
that is why this happened, things like that, And I
think it really helped on the mental side, Like with
that happening, like I was still young, like that was
(18:23):
the first big fall or major thing that happened to
me in pole vault, so like I did not think
anything of it. I'm gonna be honest, and just.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Kept jumping from there.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
And the only other pole I broke it was doing
a drill, which.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
It shouldn't have broke.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It was just like one of those really weird freak accidents.
And I was totally fine.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But yes, haven't broken a pole since, I guess not
con Wood.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Oh my goodness, hopefully it stays that way. But one
of the things that you pointed out there is just
when bad things happened, like unexpected things happened, like a
pole breaking on you, the language that was used afterwards
was very like careful, Like it sounds like not everyone
freaked out.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Not everyone was like, oh, my gosh, that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Like it broke, like it sounds like it was very like,
you know, strategically worded in the sense that it's like, hey,
we don't want to freak out about this, Like it
can happen. It's part of the sport, like the poll
can break or maybe landing you missed the mat once
or twice, like it can happen. So it's like, you know,
we I think it makes things worse when we actually
(19:28):
downhill spiral in response to them, as opposed to actually
just kind of like pausing, assessing for a second and
then kind of like choosing our words carefully from there.
And maybe you've seen this in relation to your own
coaching of athletes that way. But it's like the words
that we say and using conversations and in coaching and
so on that way carries so much weight in meaning
to them that if I use the wrong one in
(19:49):
the wrong situation, like I could actually be you know,
trending the wrong direction. So I think that, you know,
choosing your words carefully as a coach is obviously super essential,
especially in moments like that things might not necessarily go
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(20:48):
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Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I feel like when I'm coaching as well, I feel
like I notice myself doing that like naturally, which is
really awesome where I don't want to like freak them
out about this or like have an imprint and they
think forever on this, Like I want athletes to know
that like they are safe and in these progressions they
(21:14):
are going to be fine. Things like that, and I
want them to have that confidence as well.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Absolutely, having the athletes develop their own confidence, having good communication,
and building good relations with them obviously all great hallmarks
of a successful coach in any space. I don't care
if it's a pole vault or a different track and
field discipline or again kinesiology, strength coach, whatever. What other
things have you seen based on your own experience in
sports and so on that way that make coaches? Again,
(21:41):
any kind of coach that you've had that way successful
and good and what kind of things have you seen
and experience to m maybe it could be better.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I'm gonna have to go with a big thing that
I've seen coaches is just like being personable, being real
with the athlete to a certain extent, of course, and
just knowing that like you are also human, they are human.
It's like we can bond over certain things. Like when
I was coaching at West Lafayette, I was a year
(22:11):
older than the seniors, so there's that really close age
gap where it's like, is this legit type.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Vibe where it was fun?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I will say they kept me young, even though I
already was. But you know, we could talk about Taylor
Swift's new album that came out, and we can talk
about the Purdue football and basketball game, like like, we're
all humans.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
We all have.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Things in life that we enjoy and that we can
bond over and things like that. So definitely just being
real with the athletes, like hey, hey, how is your
exam that you had the other day, And just understanding
that they have things in life that they're going through
as well. They're not just a robot going through the
(22:58):
motions that you're telling them what to do over and
over again, things like that, And definitely.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Just realizing how each.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Athlete learns where in that I can notice from being
a college athlete, like I can tell that my coach
talks to person A different than person B, and then
he has a different way that he explains things to me,
and just because he knows that's how I like to
learn and what I like where I definitely respond better.
(23:28):
I think it's how I learn and pull vault more
like stern tone, like like not so beat around the bush,
nice type person like I don't really respond great to that.
So if he's more more stern towards me with his
tone and like, hey, you need to do this if
you want to clear this bar. I'll be like all right,
(23:51):
you know, like for sure like one thousand percent. And
then like I take that into a coaching standpoint, like
this person like they do not take criticism great or
this person you know needs needs that major.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Encouragement to keep going. Things like that.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So just understanding how different athletes learn best and respond
best to.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
You, absolutely, how you can best interact with them, what
the best framework is for that athlete, because your own
kind of standard operational framework might not be what's best
for them, and you have to kind of evolve your
approach to best provide for that athlete. And I cannot,
I cannot emphasize your point enough about the importance of
(24:34):
having like legit good relations with the people that you
work with. And again, this is any profession. I don't
care if you're a head coach, assistant coach, strength coach,
ATPT whatever it fricking is like, you have to put
people first.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
You have to get to know them, you have to
develop a relation with them, and you have to understand like, hey,
we have to be a team together working towards this
common goal.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
In this case, it's a common goal of pull vault. Right,
Kennedy here pull volt's about twelve foot, sometimes a little,
but more than twelve foot, Like that's wicked good. But
homegirl Kennedy here wants to go even higher. Kennedy wants
to hit fourteen feet. How do we get her there?
How do we work together to help make sure she
gets there? And I think the more you go at
it with that team based mindset and to your point,
sometimes the best way to develop that is literally talking
(25:17):
about things that have nothing to do with the sport.
Like we keep coming back to Taylor Swift. It's like
I freaking prd my deadlift in my squad to Taylor
Swift songs like blank Space all the way.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Baby. It works for me. I don't question it. It
just freaking works.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So it's like, you know, we can talk about all
that kind of stuff and all kinds of like random
silly stuff and all that sort of thing and just
develop this kind of like relation with each other that
again helps us with our main goal, but also just
humanizes the whole approach, like we're all people at the
end of the day, doesn't matter what your title is,
whether you're the athlete or the coach. Like, at the
(25:51):
end of the day, there's life outside of sport that
I think we often forget about for a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Yeah, for sure, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And I would say the other piece to that as
well is, you know, obviously we can talk about advice
to coaches all day long, but I think another element
of that is the athlete themselves that way, and obviously
you have this unique spot where you're both an athlete
and a coach at the same time. What kind of
advice do you have for other athletes or maybe the
(26:20):
next generation of athletes that way that you know, in
five years when you know you're done in college that way,
but there's a new generation of poll vaulters coming in
that way and they're kind of taking the spotlight that way.
What kind of advice do you have for them based
on your experience as an athlete, you know, whether that
be in relation to pole vault or just relation to
(26:40):
athletics in general that way, what kind of things have
you learned through your own experience that you really want
them to like take away.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would have to say a big one would be
just trusting the process. That's been sort of my mantra
is through high school through my first year at Purdue
is trust the process as like there is a reason
that I'm here, and with that more opportunities.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Could open up to you.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It may not be a straight line in athletics, trusting
your training, Trusting what your coaches are doing for you,
creating the workouts, the strength conditioning programs, your athletic trainers pts,
whoever it is, Trusting what they have for you, that
(27:31):
they are professionals, they know what they're doing. It may
not seem like something that you want to do in
the moment, but it will benefit you in the end.
So trusting that process and then also just going along
with that, trusting yourself if in athletics your body has
done this before, especially college, like you are at this
college level for a reason. People want you here, You
(27:54):
belong specifically, so trust that you are allowed to take
up space, you are allowed to be there.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And then I guess just a big one would be
just have fun, enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Like I can't believe I'm going into my third year athletically.
It feels like just yesterday I was just it was
my first day. I was a scared little freshman, I
was new, I was a transfer, I hadn't made friends yet.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
But have fun with it.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Enjoy the hard training days. Definitely gonna take that into
this next season.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Enjoy it. Take each day.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Like for what it is, like one at a time,
Like if you're going into for pole vault, like our
jump day, I'm gonna think about the jump day. I'm
not gonna think about the meat at the end of
the week. I'm gonna think about our swing ups we're
doing on the swing up rock today. I'm not gonna
worry about what I'm gonna clear that hasn't even happened yet.
(28:50):
So just staying in the moment, having fun, Enjoy your
time with your friends, your teammates, your coaches.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
We all want to have fun too.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
It sounds like you keep the main thing the main
thing at the end of the day, for lack of
a better way to put it. And as you're talking,
I know you mentioned about trusting the process and also
trusting yourself that way. Have you ever been in a
situation where the two don't align, where you know your
own self is kind of telling you like something needs
to change or you know, whatever it is that way,
(29:22):
and yet the process is telling you to stay consistent,
and what do you do when there's a misalignment between
what you've been doing and what you feel you need.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I feel like this is very I see this in
pole Vault with myself a lot of times. Not I
haven't seen it as much in college with myself, but
just where there is a miscommunication or a misalignment between
(29:52):
coach an athlete where the coach thinks you may need this,
but then an athlete thinks they need something else. I
think this is especially big in like the injury thing
where in high school I was having major back pain,
and I will be honest, I wasn't very verbal about
it at first, So there's that. But there's that difference
(30:14):
between trust the process and trust yourself. Like I was like, no,
the process needs me to compete in sectionals, like the
team they need me to compete in sectionals, and my
body like I was like, man, I don't know if
I'm really feeling up to this, which at the end
of the day, I did compete. It was an important meet.
But when we got to that tournament season, I was
(30:38):
in severe pain, and I feel like what I wanted
was different than what the process was. So I feel
like that's a big one in the injury where the
injury realm, where trusting the process is different than trusting yourself,
and those don't really align together perfectly.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I've seen a lot of situations like that pop up
for athletes before, and it's one of those things like
I'm always amazed by what athletes are able to play through.
And I do not endorse this by any means, but
there's been athletes I've worked with that they end up
playing through stress fractures and ACL tears and stuff like that,
and again, it's beyond me how they do it, because
I just think about the risk, I think about the
(31:22):
injury that's already occurred, and yet they somehow find a
way to push through it and persevere, whether or not
it's in the best judgment or not. And I think
that there's something that like, unless you're an athlete yourself,
unless you've been in that situation before, like you just
don't get it. And I can't think of a different
way to say it. It's just like, you know, regardless
(31:43):
of what the advice is, like, there's something extremely powerful
about the athlete mindset that like will literally shut everything
else down and just get you laser focused on the
task at hand, the goal at hand, And I've just
not seen it in like any other aspect of life
that way.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, I can agree to that first with firsthand experience,
like they're at the end of the day, it's just like, yeah,
I'm hurting, but I also have this meat that I
want to compete and that's important. So it's almost like
something just turns off and that like adrenaline turns on
just to kind of hide that in the moment struggle
(32:25):
and like pain with that.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
So I agree for sure, absolutely, And I realize, you know,
we've talked about a lot of different things from kind
of trusting yourself to pull vaulting to coaching, kinesiology and
beyond that way, but I also mentioned about the importance
of just getting to know people as people that way
a number of times, and again we've referenced Taylor Swift
a number of times that way. I have a feeling
(32:48):
I could be wrong about this, but I have a
feeling we're a big t Swift fan here, correct.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
Yeah, you would, you would get that one.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Right, So tell me more about kind of like the
life outside of sport for you that way, whether that's
Taylor's Swift concerts or other things that you like to
do outside of pole vault and kinesiology classes, because again
I'm assuming we have a life outside of those two things.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yes, it's very important to have a life outside of
school and sport as well.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
But I guess the big thing. I love music.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
I love going to concerts, Taylor Swift, favorite artists, but
also big country fan Luke Bryan, Megan Marony, people like that.
And then I love just hanging out with friends. So
when I'm at school, we're constantly doing something. Nearing the
end of the months where it got warmer, we started
(33:39):
playing pickleball. I had never played. I'm not good, but
it's still something fun to do. So we'll bring our speaker,
go out to the courts play pickleball, or we'll go
there's a bunch of trails around, we'll go walking on trails,
just hanging out with my friends, trying to you. I
made great friends with my teammates, just separating the friend
(34:01):
with the sport, so getting closer in that aspect. And yeah,
other than that, I just spend my time trying to
just coaching. Unfortunately, as much as I want to step
away from it, it's just.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
What I love.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
So we are a certified pickleballer. Is that going to
take the place a pole vault after college?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Or man if if I pull it together and get good,
that would be awesome. It's it's tiring, it's hard, but
I'm I'm oh, man, I want to say that would
be awesome, But I sure hope.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Not with how I play.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Hey, you never know. I mean it's like it's crazy
to me because I think the pole vault would be
so much more challenging than pickleball, and again the way
you do it, making it look so effortless and like
you're twelve feet up in the air, like like to me,
I'm like, oh my gosh, Like that's insane. And then
like it's crazy that like you make that look so
(35:03):
easy and get pick a ball can be a little
bit of a challenge for you. Like I feel like
I feel like if we just got a ball out
on the pickle ball court, you can catch up to
the pole vall abilities quite easily.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, I mean, people say it's like, what do you
mean you can't, Like you swing and you miss in
the pickleball and you pull ball.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
You take this.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Stick and you run and fling yourself up, but you
like swing and a miss with the pickleball, Like I don't.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
I don't know, I don't understand it, but I.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Was gonna say I'm also saying those things as a
complete and narp at this point in my life as well.
So like I would suck on the pickleball court as well,
I would suck at tennis. There's a lot of sports
that I'm just I like to say I'm not made
for that. I'm not built for that, but it still
makes a good story regardless.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You actually bring up an interesting point I want to
hit on real quick. You mentioned about comments people that way.
I'm imagining that regardless of how a meat goes for you,
there's always people that are right by your side, supportive,
and there's also some people that are like, oh my gosh,
that was awful. That was terrible. Like there's always people
that just say stuff that they shouldn't, And I always
call them the armchair quarterbacks. It's like they're gonna lean
(36:17):
back and throw stuff out there that like they really
have no business throwing out there. Has that ever been
something that's come up for you in relation to pull
vault before and if so, what's your kind of response
and reaction to them? Because I feel like this online
world is just as empowering and as great as it
can be at times, it's also a bit frustrating for
(36:38):
some athletes getting bombarded with just stuff like that from
you know, faceless Instagram, TikTok accounts from someone who you
know has never played any organized sport in their life
that way, Like, I just I hate this concept of
people feeling like they need to tear other people down
that way. But has that ever happened to you, and
if so, what's your response to it.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I haven't gotten any like big hate with like Instagram
or TikTok things like that. I've been pretty lucky with that.
But I feel like just knowing that well if like, yeah,
I may have had a.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Not so great meat like I didn't.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Do great, but I still cleared twelve feet like this
person if they picked up a pole, like they probably
wouldn't know how to hold it right. So just knowing,
like just protecting my peace in that way where it's
like are they certified in knowing what they're talking about?
Things like that, Just knowing things like keeping things like
(37:41):
that in my brain. But I feel like for the
most part, it's mainly positive with like friends, coaches, family,
because most people like I am very open about my
Polevard experience and like what I'm working on right now
and things like that. I did go through a rough
part of the season where I know how like three
or four times in a row, and that just means
(38:03):
like you did not clear a bar at all, Like
you started low and you did not clear anything. So
that happens, and I feel like the responses that I've
gone to that are just like, like it happens, like
for sure, Like you know if someone says, oh, it happens,
you know the first one two times, but you know
when it keeps happening, you're like, well, when.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Is it gonna stop?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You just need to keep those positive thoughts rolling in
your brain and then other people kind of catch on
to that and be like, hey, well you got on
a bigger poll, you ran faster. I noticed, like you
did this part right, It just the standards were too
far back or things like that. So it's just finding
those positives yourself and then just working through through those
(38:47):
and if there.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Are haters, they're just probably just jealous, if.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Anything, absolutely they are. It's funny.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
I was literally just talking about this with someone earlier
today in the sense that I've never been critique by
someone doing more than me. I've never been, you know,
having someone doing more that's ahead of me in life
trying to pull me down. If anything, they're trying to
do the opposite and pull me up. It's always someone
who again I use that armchair quarterback analogy, it's someone
(39:14):
who's doing less. And I feel like a lot of
times athletes are just highly successful in things and it
doesn't matter whether it's sport or life, whatever it is,
Like you all have this knack and competitive edge that
just makes you highly successful at like whatever you do,
whatever your pursuit is. And I feel like for a
lot of people, other successes can make them recognize their
(39:35):
own missed opportunities. And it's like, you know, there's nothing
wrong with being insecure about those things, but when you
take it to the point of trying to derail other people,
that's where I draw the line, and it's just not
it for me. So it's like recognizing that, like other
people have great opportunities, other people are making the most
of them, but you yourself are also going to get
a ton of opportunities like that. You know, just don't
(39:57):
miss them because they might be dressed in overalls and
look like we're yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
If someone has something to say that's they shouldn't say
it if it's mean, first of all, but use that
as motivation and if anything, Like you are your biggest
hype person, so just went through that yourself.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
What's your best way that you hype yourself up?
Speaker 4 (40:20):
I guess like pre meat routine.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Definitely turn on, turning on some bangers, like some music,
obviously throwing some Taylor Swift in there, like her big
like hype songs, ones with like a big bass, or
like we love listening to like two thousands twenty ten,
so we love like Essha Britney stears like bringing them
(40:43):
into it, just really just hyping yourself up, getting that
adrenaline pumping and then just walking in there with your
head held high and like you're like I can do
this and just all.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
That positive self talk.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
You're like, I've worked so hard for this practice. It's
time to show people what we've been working on here.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
You know, it's so crazy that you say things like
Kashia Britney Spears that sort of thing, because like, I
can always tell generations of people based on the music
that they listen to. Because like, there's people that I
work with now that have never heard of Britney Spears.
There's one girl that never heard of like Tupac and Biggie,
and like I we literally had to like pause the
PT session for a quick like history lesson on like Tupac,
(41:21):
Biggie and the whole kind of nine.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Yards that way. So it's always amazing to me to
hear like what.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Their hype, what people's hype music is what gets them going,
and like it's it's very much a generational thing. Like
a lot of the high school kids I work with
right now, they're like hype playlists that they like asked
to be like thrown on in the middle of their
PT session. They're all like Megan d. Stallion and Cardi
B and that sort of thing. And I'm not saying
that there's anything wrong with that, but it's certainly different
(41:49):
than what I see from you know, people like three
years older than them. So it's always funny to me
to see that like generational influence on the hype playlist
that way.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
Yeah, I notice that as well, for.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Sure, Kennedy.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
I feel like we could probably talk all day long
about so many different things that way, whether that be
in relation to you know, pull vault or sport, or
life or kinesiology or any of the many things that
we talked about today that way. Is there anything that
we missed or anything else you want to share with
the people listening, Man.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
I could probably also talk about it all day. All
those topics.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Get me in a conversation, I'll talk to your ear
off for hours, But I guess I'll be touched on this.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
But have fun, enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Not to put you in your place or anything, but
you're not going to be an athlete forever, so enjoy
this time, make the memories, look back on it. And
I guess that's yeah. I need to take my own advice.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Time to live it up and have a little bit
of fun this summer that way. And I hope you
get to all the Taylor Swift concerts in Kesha and
record all the tiktoks and just do all the things
that way. That would be amazing for people who want
to find out more about you, and just keep up
to date with all the amazing things that you do.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Kennedy. Where can they find you at?
Speaker 2 (43:12):
My TikTok and Instagram should be the same there k
R Meryrill three two six two or probably if you
just search up Kennedy Merrill, it should come up.
Speaker 4 (43:21):
And my TikTok.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
Man, Guys, it's just being funny music videos and Instagram.
Speaker 4 (43:28):
We're just trying to keep it casual.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
So dude, that is what I'm here for. I freaking
love that vibe. At the end of the day, it's
just got to be good for the plot, and as
long as the plot line is good, everything else falls
into place.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
Yep, do it for the plot.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
Do it for the plot.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm going to link to all that stuff you mentioned Instagram, TikTok,
all that in the description below. That way, if you
didn't quite catch it, you can just click there. Keep
up to date with everything Kennedy is up to. This
is amazing. Really appreciate your time and the conversation today, Kennedy.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
Yes, thank you so much for having me
Welcome back to another episode of the Brown Performance and
Rehab Podcast, powered by Isofit and Firefly Recovery. Isofit is
my go to for all things isometric strength training. For
more on Isofit, be sure to check out isofit dot com.
Episodes like this are made possible by Firefly, the official
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(00:22):
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dot com. This episode is powered by doctor Ray Gorman,
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Blended practice model by following at Ray Gorman DPT on Instagram.
Joining me today on the podcast is Kennedy Merrill. Kennedy
(00:44):
and I are going to dive into her journey in
the sport of track and field, in particular for pole vault,
in her role as an athlete, her journey into where
she's currently at in college sport. We're going to discuss
her coaching role as well, and so much more. Really
great episode. I really appreciate Kennedy's time. Enjoy Kennedy. Welcome
to the podcast. I'm super excited to work with you
(01:05):
today for people who aren't familiar with you and all
the incredible stuff you're doing, especially around pole vault, would
you mind film in a little bit about who you
are and all the amazing things you have going on.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Hi. So I'm Kennedy Merrill and I'm going into my
third year at Indiana State University. It'll be my fourth
year in college, but third year at Indiana State, and
I went there to continue my career in pole vault
and we actually just got back from our outdoor Missouri
Valley Conference championships and we brought home first place as
(01:37):
a team. That would be our back to back indoor
and outdoors. So that's four times for me now. But yeah,
so we're just hitting the off season right now, taking
some time off pole vaulting, but got to get back
into it for sure.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
That's absolutely incredible.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
I love that.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
And you are All American as well on top of
like four time champion and back to back champion.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Correct all American?
Speaker 2 (02:01):
That all American status occurred to me in high school. Actually,
I was a high school senior and I pull vaulted
all throughout high school and I was lucky enough to
make it to state. My junior year pulled out a
ninth or eighth place maybe, and then come back my
senior year and pulled out runner up and qualified for
(02:23):
national championships at New Balance and placed fit there, which
got me.
Speaker 4 (02:28):
That all American status in high school.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
That is such a huge flex.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Like if people listening don't know how intense the pole
vault world can be, like, that is such a huge flex,
Like seriously, go off, because that's absolutely amazing. And one
of the things I want to point out when you
were talking about your kind of college career that way,
you mentioned four years, but you've been to Indiana State
for three that way, where was that other year that
(02:54):
wasn't in the picture? What all happened during that time?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So ending high school, I it was such a long season,
going through we started early and then going through that
tournament season with sexual Regional State, and then for me
it kept going to go to national. So I was
super burnt out. I'm gonna be honest. It was a
really big mental struggle, and I was looking at colleges
(03:18):
for pole vault, but mainly just decided I really kind
of pushed away a few different schools and I ended
up at Purdue, which is in the family, like a
family school. So I decided to go to Purdue my
freshman year. There was an intent to go there for
pole vault. I ended up just going there for school,
(03:42):
so too ended up taking a year off with that.
During that time, I think it was a great transition
with just having to do school, because everybody mentions that
being a student athlete, it's such a huge transition in college.
So I am honestly grateful that I only had a
year of school. And while I was there, I was
(04:03):
studying kinesiology, just going through the normal freshman classes things
like that, and I realized I kind of was missing
it a little. I was like, you know, I feel
like I have some unfinished business here. So I ended
up getting into the coaching world there at a high school,
West Sofia High School, and I was specifically the pole
(04:23):
vault coach, but helped around with some workouts and stuff
like that, and I really just gravitated toward that coach aspect.
The kids were awesome, They performed great as best of
I could ask for it being my first year coaching
by myself, and I really just loved that. But then
I realized, like, you know, I felt kind of left
(04:45):
out when they were vaulting still, I was like, man,
I wish I could be the one vaulting out there.
Speaker 4 (04:50):
So then I ended up.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
Deciding I would finish the year out with them. Great experiences.
I would not trade it for the world. I'm still
in contact with those coaches, those k I still go
back and help out. And then I entered the transfer portal,
and that's when I reached out to Coach Martin and
we ended up going on a visit there, got to
know him a little bit, talked a while, and realized
(05:13):
that Indiana State was the place that I wanted to
end up.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
What made you decide that Indiana State is definitely the
spot for me in relation to track and field academics
and beyond.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I'm gonna have to go with at first glance, I
ended up watching a practice through.
Speaker 4 (05:30):
Pole Vault with the pole Vault.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Group, and I really just loved the way that Coach
Martin interacted with his athletes.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
I think that would go really well, especially.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
With me coming back after a year off, which is
really hard to do, and I feel like for to
avoid me reverting back to the old ways and getting
through that burnout, I feel like that would be he
would work really well with how I learn and things
like that.
Speaker 4 (05:59):
And then they had great facilities and.
Speaker 2 (06:04):
Had my major, so things got to transfer over perfectly,
and even more specifically, I got to add in some
minors that pretty didn't necessarily offer for some things that
I want to get into, So that strength and conditioning,
that coaching, and you need to stay offered more specific
classes to that as well.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
Absolutely, that's incredible, And it sounds like you're taking the
concept of trek and field, you're taking the concept of
pole vault and basically saying like, look, I don't want
this to just be like something I do in high
school or college, but it sounds like you want to
make that a big part of what you do in
the future as well, with that kinesiology major, with the
coaching and the strength and conditioning influence and all of
(06:43):
that kind of stuff as well. That way, what's kind
of made you interested in kinesiology? Is it the track
and field in the pole vault or is it other
things that kind of made you like want to go
into this world this space that way?
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, So I think the big thing that really influenced
me was it happened in high school, we were lucky
enough to have a strength and conditioning class called Advanced
Physical Conditioning, and it was beneficial for athletes. They just
wanted you in there just to weight lift, get stronger, agility,
things like that. And I had great coaches there and
(07:18):
I really loved what they do. I really gravitated towards them,
and I was like, you know, this is like I
want their job, Like this is what I want to do.
So that kind of really clicked in my brain. And
then I did like this personal study thing where I
answered a bunch of questions. Somebody asked me questions and
(07:39):
then they got to know a little bit about my
personality in like a different way rather than knowing me,
but by the way I answered questions. And then that
also gave me the It solidified that I wanted to
do things with like movement of.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
The body exercise.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
I wanted to continue being fit myself as well as
teaching other people how to lift properly or even coach pullball,
teach them correct movements and safety things like that.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Absolutely, I love everything about that. And it sounds like
it's just that concept of again giving back. It's like
you know, pull volt sounds like it's had such an
amazing impact on you and really helped shape the person
that you are today that way, And I think that
there's something about that, right, Like sport plays such a
key influence on people their development who they are and
(08:31):
teach them lessons that they're not going to learn anywhere,
And what better way to continue that kind of concept
and that kind of legacy than to turn around and
give it back to kind of the next generation.
Speaker 4 (08:41):
That way, for sure, I completely agree with that, And.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
I would say the other piece too, is like for
me anyways, pull Vault is just always so amazing to watch,
Like I'm just like, how in the heck do you
all do that? Like it's one of those things that
I'll watch and I'm like, I like to think I
can do some cool stuff, but like I can't do
anything like that. Like you're literally like sprinting full speed
ahead or like what looks like full speed ahead to me,
(09:05):
and then like sticking a pole in the ground and
flying like ten fourteen fifteen, I don't even know how
I feet through the air and like twisting as you
do it and like somehow not getting hurt when you fall,
and like I've seen some of those like fail kind
of like complications online that way, and I'm like, man,
that must really freaking hurt. But like it's like almost
like an addicting kind of quality to people that do
(09:26):
the pole vault because they love it so much. But
it just looks so incredibly challenging from a physical standpoint,
a coordination standpoint, and obviously the mental side as well
when you do fall and get hurt and come up
short that way. I mean, it just seems so incredible
to me. How do you how do you do it?
I mean, what's the secret to the pole vault? And
like just all those other qualities that I just outlined
(09:48):
that way.
Speaker 2 (09:49):
Man, I'm still trying to put all the pieces together
as well.
Speaker 4 (09:53):
I'm gonna be honest, Believe me.
Speaker 2 (09:55):
The falls do happen, but it's you gotta get right
back up and try to get and you can't really
like dwell on it at all. I mean, I mean,
I broke I've broken two poles in my life, like
when they snap. One was a drill, it was a
fluke accident, and then one I was actually vaulting and
I was not I'm gonna be honest, I was not
(10:17):
good at the time. So I didn't fall from quite
so high, but got right back up, found a different pole,
got right back in line, ended up fine. But yeah,
I mean, I think it's just the confidence and the
trust in knowing that I've done this before, like I
can do it again. So like getting to the back
(10:38):
of the runway and then you know you are running
full speed towards the pit and I feel like it's
a bigger target than what you think where you're supposed
to put the pole in the ground. So that adds
some comfort to that, I guess, And you know, the
idea of your landing on a big fluffy mat, like
you know, there's like you you can see these things
(10:59):
and you think that you're gonna be okay, but sometimes
there are those voices in the back of your head,
and I feel like this past year I was really
struggling on the mental side of the pole vault of
knowing that I am gonna be okay. So I had
a bunch of run throughs, there were practices where I
could not get.
Speaker 4 (11:16):
Off the ground, and.
Speaker 2 (11:19):
But nearing the end of the season, I feel like
I started pulling it together and really getting back into
that comfort space.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
It sucks that happened nearing the end of the season.
Speaker 2 (11:29):
But you know, some things like that happen and you
just have to roll with the punches kind of thing.
Speaker 1 (11:34):
And yeah, absolutely what goes into breaking those mental barriers
that pop up in the sport of pull vaulting that way,
Like is there something that you do, Like do we
just got to like crank the t swift and power
through it, or like what do we do to kind
of break through those mental obstacles that form?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
So I think a big thing is just cutting it
back down to the basics. So I would go back
and just get upside down on our normal three step drills,
or we would go to a like a pull up
bar and do swing ups, like just knowing that like
you can get upside down still, like you still have
that movement whether you can get to it or not
in the pole vault at that point in time. And
(12:14):
then also just going back to a shorter step run.
You don't have to run all the way back at
your we call it seven or eight steps. You can
go down to your four or your five and get
on a smaller pole, which was what I did. I
got on super small poles, which in the moment I
was like, Kennedy, what are you doing?
Speaker 4 (12:34):
This is embarrassing. You were on bigger poles in high school.
What is going on here?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
But then it's also like you just need to like
rebuild those muscle memory type things and also just rebuilding
up that confidence step by step. And then also like
another thing is I gripped down, Like you don't need
to grip at the end of the pole. There's like
when you're building things up, you can grip down. So
just working through things like that slowly and then building
(13:02):
on steps where I could just be like, hey, I
didn't run through every single jump today, I took up three,
which there was a point this season where that was
something positive.
Speaker 1 (13:12):
So it sounds like it's such a technical game for
pole vault right, Like it's just so many different things,
like you mentioned the steps to where you grip on
the pole, to decize the pole and so on. It
sounds like there's a lot of like attention that like
attention to detail that goes into this whole incredible process
that we see of someone sprinting and sticking a pole
in the ground and then flying through the air in
(13:33):
some like almost like artistic way, Like it just looks
so effortless for you all, And I mean if I
attempted to do it, it would.
Speaker 3 (13:40):
Not be effortless whatsoever.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
Like I'm not even sure I could make it over
like a little three foot kind of thing that way,
Like it's incredible to watch what you do and then
make it look so seamless. But as you were talking,
I was just like, oh my gosh, Like there's a
lot more that goes into this than I think we
give it credit for.
Speaker 4 (13:57):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
I feel like even when I started coaching and having
to like explain those steps to the athletes, because I'm
very big on like there's another thing like standards, which
is where the bar is placed. Most athletes in high school,
their coach does it completely for them. If I'm there perfect,
I'll do it for you. But there's times where I
was like, I want you to understand and take control
(14:20):
of things like this. So there's just lots of little
tiny details that when I was coaching, I was like,
we need to take this step by step with teaching
these athletes how to do things like this. I feel
like with being in the sport so long, I can understand, like, oh,
I'm I can grip here, I can run from here.
(14:41):
It just comes naturally. But there are so many technical things.
There's weight labels, length of polls, flex ratings, standards, grip
where you're running from. There's a bunch of things that
go into the pole vault that just when all pieced together,
is really when the magic happens.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
And i'd imagine initially, like when you were first getting
into pole vault, probably back in middle school, if I
had guess like that wasn't something that like we sweated
every little detail, but like as you progressed, it's like,
oh my gosh, all these things play such a key
role in it.
Speaker 4 (15:12):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2 (15:13):
And when I first started vault, they gave me the
smallest pole that they had, which was I was lucky
enough that there was a pole like that, like when
you're first learning, you know, in high school there you're
not always lucky to have a good progression of polls.
But they gave me the smallest one in my eyes.
(15:33):
They told me where to hold the weight label, the
length didn't matter, and I just ran towards the pit.
And then as you got more comfortable, they would explain
to you like now is when you need to go
up a pole or up a hand grip and it
was just that slow and steady type learning environment.
Speaker 3 (15:52):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (15:52):
And obviously, as you mentioned, you've had cases where the
pole has broken on you in the past, and just
going back to that mental side form me, like, I'd
imagine that would be a quite scary moment.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
You know.
Speaker 1 (16:04):
Again, I've never had it happen with myself that way,
but I've also never pull vaulted before. But I'm just
trying to picture myself in your shoes, and I'd imagine
if I'm trying to like go full full speed into
something stick the pole and then fly ten twelve foot
up in the air and the pole snaps or breaks
on me like that, You're not in a great position
when that happens, and I'd imagine that it's scary in
(16:26):
the moment, but it's also like scary afterwards because it's like,
oh shoot, what if that happens again? And like there's
this like cycle of thoughts that I feel like could
develop from that. So I'm interested here, what was like
going through your mind when you've had pulls break on
you while you're doing the pull vault that way, and
then how do you kind of overcome again those mental
obstacles that might kind of you know, show themselves in
(16:50):
relation to the pole vault afterwards.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Yeah, So when my first pull broke on me, it
was small. I was, I want to say, gonna be
a sophomore in high school. This was in the summer
going into that, so I was still pretty new to
pull vault itself, and I feel like that helped foreshadowing
with the mental aspect. So when it did break, I
(17:15):
was at my summer club, DC Athletics, just getting in
that summer training and I was waiting in line.
Speaker 4 (17:22):
It was my turn. I ran up, planted the poll.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Next thing I know, I'm flipped backwards really quickly. I
land on the mat luckily, and I was just when
it first happened, I remember being like confused.
Speaker 4 (17:36):
I was like, what happened? And then someone got on video,
so that's always a plus.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
And my coaches looked back at the video and they
were like, you know, that only happened. They were quick
to like respond and be like you're fine, like make sure,
making sure I was fine, which I was, And they
were quick to like jump in the fact. They're like,
you're gonna be fine, like get back in line. Things
like that. They looked at the video and they told me.
(18:02):
They were like, you know, that happened because you did
this right and things like that. So I did, like
pieces were put together. I was still a new BIDEO
was still learning. They were like, you did these things right,
that is why this happened, things like that, And I
think it really helped on the mental side, Like with
that happening, like I was still young, like that was
(18:23):
the first big fall or major thing that happened to
me in pole vault, so like I did not think
anything of it. I'm gonna be honest, and just.
Speaker 4 (18:34):
Kept jumping from there.
Speaker 2 (18:35):
And the only other pole I broke it was doing
a drill, which.
Speaker 4 (18:40):
It shouldn't have broke.
Speaker 2 (18:41):
It was just like one of those really weird freak accidents.
And I was totally fine.
Speaker 4 (18:45):
But yes, haven't broken a pole since, I guess not
con Wood.
Speaker 1 (18:49):
Oh my goodness, hopefully it stays that way. But one
of the things that you pointed out there is just
when bad things happened, like unexpected things happened, like a
pole breaking on you, the language that was used afterwards
was very like careful, Like it sounds like not everyone
freaked out.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
Not everyone was like, oh, my gosh, that's terrible.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
Like it broke, like it sounds like it was very like,
you know, strategically worded in the sense that it's like, hey,
we don't want to freak out about this, Like it
can happen. It's part of the sport, like the poll
can break or maybe landing you missed the mat once
or twice, like it can happen. So it's like, you know,
we I think it makes things worse when we actually
(19:28):
downhill spiral in response to them, as opposed to actually
just kind of like pausing, assessing for a second and
then kind of like choosing our words carefully from there.
And maybe you've seen this in relation to your own
coaching of athletes that way. But it's like the words
that we say and using conversations and in coaching and
so on that way carries so much weight in meaning
to them that if I use the wrong one in
(19:49):
the wrong situation, like I could actually be you know,
trending the wrong direction. So I think that, you know,
choosing your words carefully as a coach is obviously super essential,
especially in moments like that things might not necessarily go
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Speaker 2 (20:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (20:52):
I completely agree.
Speaker 2 (20:53):
I feel like when I'm coaching as well, I feel
like I notice myself doing that like naturally, which is
really awesome where I don't want to like freak them
out about this or like have an imprint and they
think forever on this, Like I want athletes to know
that like they are safe and in these progressions they
(21:14):
are going to be fine. Things like that, and I
want them to have that confidence as well.
Speaker 1 (21:19):
Absolutely, having the athletes develop their own confidence, having good communication,
and building good relations with them obviously all great hallmarks
of a successful coach in any space. I don't care
if it's a pole vault or a different track and
field discipline or again kinesiology, strength coach, whatever. What other
things have you seen based on your own experience in
sports and so on that way that make coaches? Again,
(21:41):
any kind of coach that you've had that way successful
and good and what kind of things have you seen
and experience to m maybe it could be better.
Speaker 2 (21:50):
I'm gonna have to go with a big thing that
I've seen coaches is just like being personable, being real
with the athlete to a certain extent, of course, and
just knowing that like you are also human, they are human.
It's like we can bond over certain things. Like when
I was coaching at West Lafayette, I was a year
(22:11):
older than the seniors, so there's that really close age
gap where it's like, is this legit type.
Speaker 4 (22:18):
Vibe where it was fun?
Speaker 2 (22:20):
I will say they kept me young, even though I
already was. But you know, we could talk about Taylor
Swift's new album that came out, and we can talk
about the Purdue football and basketball game, like like, we're
all humans.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
We all have.
Speaker 2 (22:38):
Things in life that we enjoy and that we can
bond over and things like that. So definitely just being
real with the athletes, like hey, hey, how is your
exam that you had the other day, And just understanding
that they have things in life that they're going through
as well. They're not just a robot going through the
(22:58):
motions that you're telling them what to do over and
over again, things like that, And definitely.
Speaker 4 (23:04):
Just realizing how each.
Speaker 2 (23:07):
Athlete learns where in that I can notice from being
a college athlete, like I can tell that my coach
talks to person A different than person B, and then
he has a different way that he explains things to me,
and just because he knows that's how I like to
learn and what I like where I definitely respond better.
(23:28):
I think it's how I learn and pull vault more
like stern tone, like like not so beat around the bush,
nice type person like I don't really respond great to that.
So if he's more more stern towards me with his
tone and like, hey, you need to do this if
you want to clear this bar. I'll be like all right,
(23:51):
you know, like for sure like one thousand percent. And
then like I take that into a coaching standpoint, like
this person like they do not take criticism great or
this person you know needs needs that major.
Speaker 4 (24:05):
Encouragement to keep going. Things like that.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
So just understanding how different athletes learn best and respond
best to.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
You, absolutely, how you can best interact with them, what
the best framework is for that athlete, because your own
kind of standard operational framework might not be what's best
for them, and you have to kind of evolve your
approach to best provide for that athlete. And I cannot,
I cannot emphasize your point enough about the importance of
(24:34):
having like legit good relations with the people that you
work with. And again, this is any profession. I don't
care if you're a head coach, assistant coach, strength coach,
ATPT whatever it fricking is like, you have to put
people first.
Speaker 3 (24:45):
At the end of the day.
Speaker 1 (24:46):
You have to get to know them, you have to
develop a relation with them, and you have to understand like, hey,
we have to be a team together working towards this
common goal.
Speaker 3 (24:54):
Right.
Speaker 1 (24:54):
In this case, it's a common goal of pull vault. Right,
Kennedy here pull volt's about twelve foot, sometimes a little,
but more than twelve foot, Like that's wicked good. But
homegirl Kennedy here wants to go even higher. Kennedy wants
to hit fourteen feet. How do we get her there?
How do we work together to help make sure she
gets there? And I think the more you go at
it with that team based mindset and to your point,
sometimes the best way to develop that is literally talking
(25:17):
about things that have nothing to do with the sport.
Like we keep coming back to Taylor Swift. It's like
I freaking prd my deadlift in my squad to Taylor
Swift songs like blank Space all the way.
Speaker 3 (25:26):
Baby. It works for me. I don't question it. It
just freaking works.
Speaker 1 (25:31):
So it's like, you know, we can talk about all
that kind of stuff and all kinds of like random
silly stuff and all that sort of thing and just
develop this kind of like relation with each other that
again helps us with our main goal, but also just
humanizes the whole approach, like we're all people at the
end of the day, doesn't matter what your title is,
whether you're the athlete or the coach. Like, at the
(25:51):
end of the day, there's life outside of sport that
I think we often forget about for a lot of people.
Speaker 4 (25:56):
Yeah, for sure, I completely agree.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
And I would say the other piece to that as
well is, you know, obviously we can talk about advice
to coaches all day long, but I think another element
of that is the athlete themselves that way, and obviously
you have this unique spot where you're both an athlete
and a coach at the same time. What kind of
advice do you have for other athletes or maybe the
(26:20):
next generation of athletes that way that you know, in
five years when you know you're done in college that way,
but there's a new generation of poll vaulters coming in
that way and they're kind of taking the spotlight that way.
What kind of advice do you have for them based
on your experience as an athlete, you know, whether that
be in relation to pole vault or just relation to
(26:40):
athletics in general that way, what kind of things have
you learned through your own experience that you really want
them to like take away.
Speaker 2 (26:47):
I would have to say a big one would be
just trusting the process. That's been sort of my mantra
is through high school through my first year at Purdue
is trust the process as like there is a reason
that I'm here, and with that more opportunities.
Speaker 4 (27:06):
Could open up to you.
Speaker 2 (27:09):
It may not be a straight line in athletics, trusting
your training, Trusting what your coaches are doing for you,
creating the workouts, the strength conditioning programs, your athletic trainers pts,
whoever it is, Trusting what they have for you, that
(27:31):
they are professionals, they know what they're doing. It may
not seem like something that you want to do in
the moment, but it will benefit you in the end.
So trusting that process and then also just going along
with that, trusting yourself if in athletics your body has
done this before, especially college, like you are at this
college level for a reason. People want you here, You
(27:54):
belong specifically, so trust that you are allowed to take
up space, you are allowed to be there.
Speaker 4 (28:01):
And then I guess just a big one would be
just have fun, enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (28:05):
Like I can't believe I'm going into my third year athletically.
It feels like just yesterday I was just it was
my first day. I was a scared little freshman, I
was new, I was a transfer, I hadn't made friends yet.
Speaker 4 (28:19):
But have fun with it.
Speaker 2 (28:21):
Enjoy the hard training days. Definitely gonna take that into
this next season.
Speaker 4 (28:26):
Enjoy it. Take each day.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Like for what it is, like one at a time,
Like if you're going into for pole vault, like our
jump day, I'm gonna think about the jump day. I'm
not gonna think about the meat at the end of
the week. I'm gonna think about our swing ups we're
doing on the swing up rock today. I'm not gonna
worry about what I'm gonna clear that hasn't even happened yet.
(28:50):
So just staying in the moment, having fun, Enjoy your
time with your friends, your teammates, your coaches.
Speaker 4 (28:57):
We all want to have fun too.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
It sounds like you keep the main thing the main
thing at the end of the day, for lack of
a better way to put it. And as you're talking,
I know you mentioned about trusting the process and also
trusting yourself that way. Have you ever been in a
situation where the two don't align, where you know your
own self is kind of telling you like something needs
to change or you know, whatever it is that way,
(29:22):
and yet the process is telling you to stay consistent,
and what do you do when there's a misalignment between
what you've been doing and what you feel you need.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
I feel like this is very I see this in
pole Vault with myself a lot of times. Not I
haven't seen it as much in college with myself, but
just where there is a miscommunication or a misalignment between
(29:52):
coach an athlete where the coach thinks you may need this,
but then an athlete thinks they need something else. I
think this is especially big in like the injury thing
where in high school I was having major back pain,
and I will be honest, I wasn't very verbal about
it at first, So there's that. But there's that difference
(30:14):
between trust the process and trust yourself. Like I was like, no,
the process needs me to compete in sectionals, like the
team they need me to compete in sectionals, and my
body like I was like, man, I don't know if
I'm really feeling up to this, which at the end
of the day, I did compete. It was an important meet.
But when we got to that tournament season, I was
(30:38):
in severe pain, and I feel like what I wanted
was different than what the process was. So I feel
like that's a big one in the injury where the
injury realm, where trusting the process is different than trusting yourself,
and those don't really align together perfectly.
Speaker 3 (30:58):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (31:00):
I've seen a lot of situations like that pop up
for athletes before, and it's one of those things like
I'm always amazed by what athletes are able to play through.
And I do not endorse this by any means, but
there's been athletes I've worked with that they end up
playing through stress fractures and ACL tears and stuff like that,
and again, it's beyond me how they do it, because
I just think about the risk, I think about the
(31:22):
injury that's already occurred, and yet they somehow find a
way to push through it and persevere, whether or not
it's in the best judgment or not. And I think
that there's something that like, unless you're an athlete yourself,
unless you've been in that situation before, like you just
don't get it. And I can't think of a different
way to say it. It's just like, you know, regardless
(31:43):
of what the advice is, like, there's something extremely powerful
about the athlete mindset that like will literally shut everything
else down and just get you laser focused on the
task at hand, the goal at hand, And I've just
not seen it in like any other aspect of life
that way.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Yeah, I can agree to that first with firsthand experience,
like they're at the end of the day, it's just like, yeah,
I'm hurting, but I also have this meat that I
want to compete and that's important. So it's almost like
something just turns off and that like adrenaline turns on
just to kind of hide that in the moment struggle
(32:25):
and like pain with that.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
So I agree for sure, absolutely, And I realize, you know,
we've talked about a lot of different things from kind
of trusting yourself to pull vaulting to coaching, kinesiology and
beyond that way, but I also mentioned about the importance
of just getting to know people as people that way
a number of times, and again we've referenced Taylor Swift
a number of times that way. I have a feeling
(32:48):
I could be wrong about this, but I have a
feeling we're a big t Swift fan here, correct.
Speaker 4 (32:52):
Yeah, you would, you would get that one.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
Right, So tell me more about kind of like the
life outside of sport for you that way, whether that's
Taylor's Swift concerts or other things that you like to
do outside of pole vault and kinesiology classes, because again
I'm assuming we have a life outside of those two things.
Speaker 2 (33:09):
Yes, it's very important to have a life outside of
school and sport as well.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
But I guess the big thing. I love music.
Speaker 2 (33:18):
I love going to concerts, Taylor Swift, favorite artists, but
also big country fan Luke Bryan, Megan Marony, people like that.
And then I love just hanging out with friends. So
when I'm at school, we're constantly doing something. Nearing the
end of the months where it got warmer, we started
(33:39):
playing pickleball. I had never played. I'm not good, but
it's still something fun to do. So we'll bring our speaker,
go out to the courts play pickleball, or we'll go
there's a bunch of trails around, we'll go walking on trails,
just hanging out with my friends, trying to you. I
made great friends with my teammates, just separating the friend
(34:01):
with the sport, so getting closer in that aspect. And yeah,
other than that, I just spend my time trying to
just coaching. Unfortunately, as much as I want to step
away from it, it's just.
Speaker 4 (34:15):
What I love.
Speaker 1 (34:16):
So we are a certified pickleballer. Is that going to
take the place a pole vault after college?
Speaker 2 (34:22):
Or man if if I pull it together and get good,
that would be awesome. It's it's tiring, it's hard, but
I'm I'm oh, man, I want to say that would
be awesome, But I sure hope.
Speaker 4 (34:39):
Not with how I play.
Speaker 1 (34:41):
Hey, you never know. I mean it's like it's crazy
to me because I think the pole vault would be
so much more challenging than pickleball, and again the way
you do it, making it look so effortless and like
you're twelve feet up in the air, like like to me,
I'm like, oh my gosh, Like that's insane. And then
like it's crazy that like you make that look so
(35:03):
easy and get pick a ball can be a little
bit of a challenge for you. Like I feel like
I feel like if we just got a ball out
on the pickle ball court, you can catch up to
the pole vall abilities quite easily.
Speaker 2 (35:15):
Yeah, I mean, people say it's like, what do you
mean you can't, Like you swing and you miss in
the pickleball and you pull ball.
Speaker 4 (35:22):
You take this.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Stick and you run and fling yourself up, but you
like swing and a miss with the pickleball, Like I don't.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
I don't know, I don't understand it, but I.
Speaker 1 (35:34):
Was gonna say I'm also saying those things as a
complete and narp at this point in my life as well.
So like I would suck on the pickleball court as well,
I would suck at tennis. There's a lot of sports
that I'm just I like to say I'm not made
for that. I'm not built for that, but it still
makes a good story regardless.
Speaker 4 (35:53):
Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 1 (35:55):
You actually bring up an interesting point I want to
hit on real quick. You mentioned about comments people that way.
I'm imagining that regardless of how a meat goes for you,
there's always people that are right by your side, supportive,
and there's also some people that are like, oh my gosh,
that was awful. That was terrible. Like there's always people
that just say stuff that they shouldn't, And I always
call them the armchair quarterbacks. It's like they're gonna lean
(36:17):
back and throw stuff out there that like they really
have no business throwing out there. Has that ever been
something that's come up for you in relation to pull
vault before and if so, what's your kind of response
and reaction to them? Because I feel like this online
world is just as empowering and as great as it
can be at times, it's also a bit frustrating for
(36:38):
some athletes getting bombarded with just stuff like that from
you know, faceless Instagram, TikTok accounts from someone who you
know has never played any organized sport in their life
that way, Like, I just I hate this concept of
people feeling like they need to tear other people down
that way. But has that ever happened to you, and
if so, what's your response to it.
Speaker 2 (36:59):
I haven't gotten any like big hate with like Instagram
or TikTok things like that. I've been pretty lucky with that.
But I feel like just knowing that well if like, yeah,
I may have had a.
Speaker 4 (37:16):
Not so great meat like I didn't.
Speaker 2 (37:18):
Do great, but I still cleared twelve feet like this
person if they picked up a pole, like they probably
wouldn't know how to hold it right. So just knowing,
like just protecting my peace in that way where it's
like are they certified in knowing what they're talking about?
Things like that, Just knowing things like keeping things like
(37:41):
that in my brain. But I feel like for the
most part, it's mainly positive with like friends, coaches, family,
because most people like I am very open about my
Polevard experience and like what I'm working on right now
and things like that. I did go through a rough
part of the season where I know how like three
or four times in a row, and that just means
(38:03):
like you did not clear a bar at all, Like
you started low and you did not clear anything. So
that happens, and I feel like the responses that I've
gone to that are just like, like it happens, like
for sure, Like you know if someone says, oh, it happens,
you know the first one two times, but you know
when it keeps happening, you're like, well, when.
Speaker 4 (38:20):
Is it gonna stop?
Speaker 2 (38:22):
You just need to keep those positive thoughts rolling in
your brain and then other people kind of catch on
to that and be like, hey, well you got on
a bigger poll, you ran faster. I noticed, like you
did this part right, It just the standards were too
far back or things like that. So it's just finding
those positives yourself and then just working through through those
(38:47):
and if there.
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Are haters, they're just probably just jealous, if.
Speaker 3 (38:51):
Anything, absolutely they are. It's funny.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
I was literally just talking about this with someone earlier
today in the sense that I've never been critique by
someone doing more than me. I've never been, you know,
having someone doing more that's ahead of me in life
trying to pull me down. If anything, they're trying to
do the opposite and pull me up. It's always someone
who again I use that armchair quarterback analogy, it's someone
(39:14):
who's doing less. And I feel like a lot of
times athletes are just highly successful in things and it
doesn't matter whether it's sport or life, whatever it is,
Like you all have this knack and competitive edge that
just makes you highly successful at like whatever you do,
whatever your pursuit is. And I feel like for a
lot of people, other successes can make them recognize their
(39:35):
own missed opportunities. And it's like, you know, there's nothing
wrong with being insecure about those things, but when you
take it to the point of trying to derail other people,
that's where I draw the line, and it's just not
it for me. So it's like recognizing that, like other
people have great opportunities, other people are making the most
of them, but you yourself are also going to get
a ton of opportunities like that. You know, just don't
(39:57):
miss them because they might be dressed in overalls and
look like we're yeah for sure.
Speaker 2 (40:01):
If someone has something to say that's they shouldn't say
it if it's mean, first of all, but use that
as motivation and if anything, Like you are your biggest
hype person, so just went through that yourself.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
What's your best way that you hype yourself up?
Speaker 4 (40:20):
I guess like pre meat routine.
Speaker 2 (40:22):
Definitely turn on, turning on some bangers, like some music,
obviously throwing some Taylor Swift in there, like her big
like hype songs, ones with like a big bass, or
like we love listening to like two thousands twenty ten,
so we love like Essha Britney stears like bringing them
(40:43):
into it, just really just hyping yourself up, getting that
adrenaline pumping and then just walking in there with your
head held high and like you're like I can do
this and just all.
Speaker 4 (40:53):
That positive self talk.
Speaker 2 (40:55):
You're like, I've worked so hard for this practice. It's
time to show people what we've been working on here.
Speaker 1 (41:00):
You know, it's so crazy that you say things like
Kashia Britney Spears that sort of thing, because like, I
can always tell generations of people based on the music
that they listen to. Because like, there's people that I
work with now that have never heard of Britney Spears.
There's one girl that never heard of like Tupac and Biggie,
and like I we literally had to like pause the
PT session for a quick like history lesson on like Tupac,
(41:21):
Biggie and the whole kind of nine.
Speaker 3 (41:23):
Yards that way. So it's always amazing to me to
hear like what.
Speaker 1 (41:27):
Their hype, what people's hype music is what gets them going,
and like it's it's very much a generational thing. Like
a lot of the high school kids I work with
right now, they're like hype playlists that they like asked
to be like thrown on in the middle of their
PT session. They're all like Megan d. Stallion and Cardi
B and that sort of thing. And I'm not saying
that there's anything wrong with that, but it's certainly different
(41:49):
than what I see from you know, people like three
years older than them. So it's always funny to me
to see that like generational influence on the hype playlist
that way.
Speaker 4 (41:59):
Yeah, I notice that as well, for.
Speaker 3 (42:01):
Sure, Kennedy.
Speaker 1 (42:03):
I feel like we could probably talk all day long
about so many different things that way, whether that be
in relation to you know, pull vault or sport, or
life or kinesiology or any of the many things that
we talked about today that way. Is there anything that
we missed or anything else you want to share with
the people listening, Man.
Speaker 4 (42:23):
I could probably also talk about it all day. All
those topics.
Speaker 2 (42:28):
Get me in a conversation, I'll talk to your ear
off for hours, But I guess I'll be touched on this.
Speaker 4 (42:32):
But have fun, enjoy it.
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Not to put you in your place or anything, but
you're not going to be an athlete forever, so enjoy
this time, make the memories, look back on it. And
I guess that's yeah. I need to take my own advice.
Speaker 1 (42:51):
Time to live it up and have a little bit
of fun this summer that way. And I hope you
get to all the Taylor Swift concerts in Kesha and
record all the tiktoks and just do all the things
that way. That would be amazing for people who want
to find out more about you, and just keep up
to date with all the amazing things that you do.
Speaker 3 (43:10):
Kennedy. Where can they find you at?
Speaker 2 (43:12):
My TikTok and Instagram should be the same there k
R Meryrill three two six two or probably if you
just search up Kennedy Merrill, it should come up.
Speaker 4 (43:21):
And my TikTok.
Speaker 2 (43:23):
Man, Guys, it's just being funny music videos and Instagram.
Speaker 4 (43:28):
We're just trying to keep it casual.
Speaker 1 (43:29):
So dude, that is what I'm here for. I freaking
love that vibe. At the end of the day, it's
just got to be good for the plot, and as
long as the plot line is good, everything else falls
into place.
Speaker 4 (43:40):
Yep, do it for the plot.
Speaker 3 (43:42):
Do it for the plot.
Speaker 1 (43:43):
I'm going to link to all that stuff you mentioned Instagram, TikTok,
all that in the description below. That way, if you
didn't quite catch it, you can just click there. Keep
up to date with everything Kennedy is up to. This
is amazing. Really appreciate your time and the conversation today, Kennedy.
Speaker 4 (43:57):
Yes, thank you so much for having me
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