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Ok so when I put the tip of the pole on the ground and hold the other end, the pole swivels round so that the softside is pointing up and the pole is like a very,very flat U shape pointing towards the floor (imagination required here).

So when I plant, should the soft side be pointing straight down to the floor so that the upside of the curive is pointing straight up or should it be slightly to the side ?

I see that when vaulters with a good standard jump, the pole bends to the left!. Is that because it naturally does that when the softside is pointing down or is it that the the softwide should be at say 4.00 o'clock when planting and the top side of the pole should say be at 10.00 o'clock ?

I'm fearing that I've not made myself very clear but cant quite find the words to explain what I mean!!

If that makes sense to anyone, I'd be grateful for clarification.

Kind regards
Rob

Rob, you've made yourself very clear! Here's an old trick that will put the softside in the correct position everytime. With the soft side down as you describe in your thread, put your thumb on the top of the pole (softside up) and your fore finger on the bottom so that a line drawn through your forefinger and thumb will be a vertical line! Now keeping the thumb and forefinger in place turn the pole over so that the thumb is now down and the forefinger up and the vertical line between them back to vertical. Now rotate the hand (while in the same position on the pole) so that the vertical line is at a 45degree angle to the left. Hold the pole in that position and raise it straight above your head. Grab the pole and with your top hand ( if a right handed vaulter) and bring it down to your side. Holding the poles position constant lift the pole as though you are going to start your approach. Look at the label of the pole. That is what you sould see each time you start your approach!! Ta Dah!! As always the explainations are always more complicated than the action it self~!!

Soft side forward! This is the side that will be bending the most, and the sail piece will naturally try to get to this position every time you jump! If you put the pole tip on the ground and hold the top and push in the middle and the pole is its easiest to bend, the soft side is facing down. Rotate it until you find what side you push to get an easy bend.

(For right handed vaulters, the pole bends out to the left because the right shoulder straightens out with the top of the pole, and the bottom shoulder straightens out while that hand holds the bottom... does that make sense?)
^Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!!!

what??????????????????

It should be obvious if you just try bending it on the ground or against a wall.
(Or just look for a 'soft side' label...)

powerplant42 wrote:For right handed vaulters, the pole bends out to the left because the right shoulder straightens out with the top of the pole, and the bottom shoulder straightens out while that hand holds the bottom... does that make sense?)
^Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!!!

Hmm... i dont follow. Thats seems wayy too complicated. The pole bends to the left because vaulters move their bottom hand out of the way when they swing. Whatever way you aim your bottom hand, the pole will bend that direction.

The direction of the bend doesnt matter much though, but the way you are holding the pole is. Volscoach said it great, thats an awesome way to always find the bend. What you are talking about it pre-bend, Murkinrg, and sometimes its hard to find. A lot of times, the vault company will put on the company label facing a certain way on every pole they make. For example, spirit poles have the label facing "in" on the stiff side, and altius had the label facing "out" on the soft side. That might be a good way to tell, but also getting your grip, and giving the pole a little push might help you feel where the bend is.

powerplant42 wrote:
For right handed vaulters, the pole bends out to the left because the right shoulder straightens out with the top of the pole, and the bottom shoulder straightens out while that hand holds the bottom... does that make sense?)
^Somebody correct me if I'm wrong!!!


Hmm... i dont follow. Thats seems wayy too complicated. The pole bends to the left because vaulters move their bottom hand out of the way when they swing. Whatever way you aim your bottom hand, the pole will bend that direction.

I'm just saying that when one swings, the shoulders sort of try to get them back to a neutral position. The bottom gets pulled to the left, the top to the right, so there's a bend outside to the left. I think there's a thread on this somewhere around here...

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I would like some clarification of terms and reference points. My understanding is the "soft-side" of a pole is the side in the direction of the pre-bend. This can be very accurately found by placing each end of the pole on the top of a hurdle and let go. The pole will stabilize in a rotation where one side of the pole is down. To me, the side that is down is the soft-side of the pole. That is the direction of the pre-bend.

Let's just start with that and if we agree on that I have some more to discuss.

- master

Agreed.

Good morning

Hold the pole loosely in the hand at shoulder level with the tip on the ground. The side that “rollsâ€