PoleVaultPower.com

My long approach is 7 lefts and is at 84', however the place I practice at only has a runway of 81'. My question is if I go to a 5 step run up can I just divide 84 by 7, which is 12 and then that is approximately the distance between each left. So if I want to move to a 5 step, can I just multiply 12' x 5 lefts and get 60'? I know that each step is not the same since your cadence should change and your last 2 steps are penultimate, but would this be a good place to start?

I would try around a 45 foot check mark. that would be 4 steps hit check mark then 6 steps. for a total of 10 steps or 5 lefts.

Figure out what distance it takes to accelerate 4 steps and hit the 45 foot check mark and you should be good to go. Overall if you can hit this mark plus or minus 6 inches you should be good.

A safe first attempt to figure out distance would be to put your pole tip on the 45 foot mark. Stretch your arm out completely then take a little step back. Perform an accelerated first 4 steps hit the 45 foot mark then finish the final 6 steps and hit the plant.

I would expect your 6 left run to be about 72 feet (84 - 12). You can work it out on the track with or without a slide box. How high do you hold? I would check that againts DJ's chart for your mid. At 14' your mid would be 47'.

I would agree with you Rhino if he had more of a run-up. with only 4 steps or 2 lefts he will not be able to reach the speed needed at the 6 step mark to effectively get into the pits. he will have to reach to hit the ideal spot. Besides where you hold you must also look at the time it takes to cover the last 6 steps. If you can't get the speed the stride length means nothing your only sacrificing stride frequency for a longer stride which will in return produce slower speeds.

From 5 lefts holding at 14' it will be around 44'6 to 45'6 depending on how tall and how quickly you can accelerate. He wanted from 5 lefts not 6 lefts.

try between 69 and 72

Some info I may have forgotten in the first post, I'm holding at 12' and my plant mark is at 10'. So I guess technically my run up from start to plant is 74, but from start to 0' it's 84'. I don't know if I mixed anyone up on this but I meant that my short run up is 5 lefts, not 5 steps.

Why can't you do like DJ said on the mid mark post? If you know where your mid mark is, you place your left foot there. Then running away from the pit, do your normal approach steps as if you were going to jump. When you run out of runway, that's how many steps you'll be able to use on that 81' runway. I say "steps" meaning each time a foot hits the ground. So, if your mid mark has been determined, you know from there it's three lefts to take off. When you run backwards from your mid mark and you can only get 3 lefts before you runout of track, you mark where that third left touches down and that's where you start from to jump. You will then (using my scenerio) have a 12 step approach not including the penultimate and take off step. Let your own legs tell you where to start. Later........Mike

my 7 left is like 85 adn my 5 left is 69.. if that helps any?.. so ur prob around there too.

just run it back one time instead of trying to guess....

How high is your grip? That is key to the location of the six stride mark..

ashcraftpv wrote:just run it back one time instead of trying to guess....

i'm serious....

people cry and moan about running steps back, but if you're trying to figure out a starting point for a number of strides you've never tried before, save yourself the potential run throughs and crashes. It may not be spot on, but its close enough to get off the ground with confidence.

Just come up 11 shoes heel-to-toe and go. You'll be close enough to on and adjust from there. I"m not a fan of running through unless you're mentally weak.