Anthony Bro Petit in Villasanta for a Vaulting Clinic Dedicated to Young Vaulters

“I was a vaulter for fifteen years. I started when I was ten years old, and after winning the team world title with France in 2016 I began coaching.”

With disarming simplicity, Anthony Bro Petit describes his journey in the world of vaulting—a path that began as an athlete and has evolved into a career as an international coach. That journey will bring him on Saturday, March 14, to the Centro Ippico Monzese in Villasanta, where he will conduct a clinic for Juniors and Young Vaulters, working alongside the Italian national team coach Lorenzo Lupacchini.

The event is highly anticipated and represents an important step in his new collaboration with the Italian team.

A Coach Who Travels the World

Anthony Bro Petit is one of those coaches whose experience has been shaped across many countries. After finishing his athletic career at the highest level, he began travelling extensively as an international coach.

“After 2016 I started coaching and travelling all over the world. It’s been about ten years now.”

His work has taken him almost everywhere—across Europe, North and South America—often for extended periods.

“For the last two years I wasn’t even living at home. I was staying in hotels or Airbnbs for months in different countries.”

Today his base is in Poland, where he has opened his own training centre.

“I opened my training centre here. It’s one of my bases, but I still keep travelling.”

And among this year’s destinations, Italy holds a special place.

“This year I’m coming to Italy and I’m very happy about it.”

The Collaboration with the Italian National Team

His collaboration with Italian national coach Lorenzo Lupacchini began only a few months ago, but it already seems to have found a natural balance.

“Lorenzo contacted me at the beginning of the year. He told me: I like the way you coach, it would be great to share the work with the athletes. What do you think about managing the juniors and young vaulters?”

The answer came immediately.

“I said: okay, deal. I’m more than happy to work with them.”

For Bro Petit, it is also an exciting challenge because the Italian context is different from what he often encounters.

“Usually I’m hired in countries where vaulting is still developing. Here it’s different: Italy is already a strong nation. We’re not starting from scratch—the groundwork has already been done very well.”

The goal, therefore, is not to build a system from the ground up, but to take the athletes to the next level.

“Now we have to work on moving toward high performance.”

The Villasanta Clinic

The clinic on March 14 will also serve as a sort of assessment of the work carried out during the first few weeks.

“The morning will be like a check-up after one month of work.”

During this time the athletes have already followed a structured preparation program, including weekly video analysis and a detailed physical training plan.

“We receive videos every week, we analyse them, we do debriefings and I prepare a monthly plan for them. The clinic is to check whether the work has been done and whether there are improvements.”

The morning session will simulate a competition situation, while the afternoon will focus on more detailed technical work.

“After the debriefing we will work on the parts that need adjustment and on collective work, especially the artistic side and freestyle technique.”

Training will take place directly on the horse.

“Since I started working with them in January, the idea is to switch immediately to the horse to see the weak points straight away and adapt as quickly as possible ahead of the championships.”

Why Working with Young Athletes Matters

The clinic is specifically designed for junior athletes and young vaulters—a choice that Bro Petit particularly enjoys.

“After ten years of travelling and working with many countries, I realised that I like working with young athletes.”

He says it with a smile, with the same straightforwardness that characterised the entire interview.

“With them it’s easier: there isn’t that barrier you sometimes have between adults, that feeling of ‘first I need to trust you’. They say: okay, I’ll try. And they do it immediately.”

According to the French coach, young Italian vaulters already have a strong foundation.

“In Italy they are very strong. They already know what works. Maybe they just need a better structure to truly move toward high performance.”

And that is precisely the role he hopes to play.

“I think my job is to help them make that step.”

A Meeting Between Two “Latin” Schools

At first glance, collaboration between France and Italy in vaulting might seem unusual, but Bro Petit recounts it with humour.

“It’s funny because I’m French, and we know that Italians and French people don’t always agree…”

Then he laughs and adds:

“But we share the Latin side, and when we talk about the artistic aspect we speak the same language.”

For that reason, exchanging perspectives between coaches can be extremely valuable.

“Lorenzo and I coach in a very similar way. Sometimes it’s useful just to have someone else saying the same thing in a different way.”

Technique, Pressure and the Mental Side

Beyond technique, the mental aspect inevitably plays a role in athletes’ development.

“I’m not a mental coach, but during my sessions I try to introduce what I call active mental coaching.”

In practice, he explains, it means training athletes to repeat movements until they become natural—even under pressure.

“They already know how to perform a technical movement. The real question is: what happens when there is pressure?”

For this reason, he often recreates competition-like situations during training.

“My role is to put them a little under pressure to analyse how they react, so they don’t panic during championships.”

A Project That Will Continue

The Villasanta clinic will not be a one-off event. The collaboration with the Italian team has been planned over several months.

“We have a contract and a plan until July. The idea is to have one clinic per month.”

A programme that will allow the French coach to closely follow the development of Italy’s young vaulters.

And as he smiles, his enthusiasm is unmistakable: when international experience, curiosity and team spirit come together, the most interesting collaborations often emerge. In vaulting as well.

AC

HSJ x FISE

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