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Hello PVP. this happens to be my first post ever, so here goes. I started out vaulting in my sophomore year of highschool, but bad grades ended my season. I go to el camino high in oceanside california, the same school that derek scott went to. I came back this year with my grades up and an eagerness to vault. At my first meet, Mt Carmel, i won first place JV vaulting at 9'6". Thats when i started to really bend my pole. Im 5'5.5" 130 lbs and im using a 12' 140lbs skypole. At my meet yesterday i got a new pr of 10' My coach said i was squashing my pole too much, but i didnt understand what he meant. I used my newest grip yesterday and today, which is the the maximum hand hold height. It felt good yesterday, but today it wasnt feeling too great. My coach and fellow vaulters are saying that im bending the pole 90 degrees and its way too much. I tried using a 13'6" 130 skypole using my grip from the previous pole, but i cant get the right bend out of it. I totally ate it 3 times today, and its never happened to me before. i fell on the front mat 1 time and on the ground the other 2 times. i believe i have outgrown my pole, and i am getting a new 13' 133 ESSX pole. Will i need to change anything really? is it going to be way more of a difference? Thanks in advance (sorry if its in the wrong section)

well if the pole is bending too much you have to go bigger unless u are landing short if that is the case you need to lower ur hand grip....about going to a different pole...a foot and a half difference really isnt that smart excpecially if you are keeping the same hand hold...on the new pole move ur grip up 3 fingers and move back 3 inches and you should be able to get in real easy

ok thanks for the tip. my coach was telling me to move onto a stiffer pole and to try out my hand grip. On monday when i get my 13' ill try that 3 fingers and 3 inches thing. ill let you know how it goes. thanks again

alright do do that....and its easier to hit positions with a lower grip so you really could keep raising ur grip up and moving back but ur positions will get worse so try to work on positions and not holding high or on a big pole...because i tried it and it only gets you so far...its like an imediate change but then its harder later to get the positions

I THINK TARASOV S BEND GOOD POLE

well i got my new pole yesterday. my coach didnt bring it to practice because he couldnt rig it up to his car. and then the other day it was raining so practice ended early. But i got it. Nice pole. 13'1 132 ESSX pole. im not holding up to where i was on my old skypole, i moved down to my pop up drill height. so far so good. im not bending it yet though, seeing as how i am only holding at my pop up drill height but i do have a meet today and i know i will move up on the pole so ill let you know how it goes.

update:

well i either tied for 1st or got 2nd. they ended the meet, and it was me and my teammate miguel and 1 kid from carlsbad. me and miguel cleared 8'6 way too easy, but they sent an official saying that the meet was over, so they didnt count miguels 9' but if they did i got 2nd because he went before i did. a little dissapointed that i could vault more that night. my coach brought another 13'1 but this one had more flex and was 127.6. i got on that on friday and started bending it, not like my old skypole but a bend nonetheless. and im actually getting into the pit now, so thats good. and i can use the 127.6 as a warmup pole and hen my 132 for competition. so far i have to say, i love essx poles. i cant wait to fully use my new pole, its gonna be amazing.

update:
havent been on here in awhile. been way too busy. but. i blew through the 13 127.6 pole. not even holding all the way up on that one. the flex is 24.9. so for the past 3 weeks ive been up on the 132 23.0 flex essx pole. got a new pr of 10'6 officially. At practice ive been making it over 11-11'6. But today at avocado league prelims, im lowing through my magic 132! the pole is throwing me out instead of up and i couldnt make any height. i no heighted for the first time ever. The main problem is, the only other pole i have is the very first model of essx poles ever made, a 13'1 132 20.7 flex. im trying it out tomorrow but i know i will blow through it by next year. looks like i need a new pole...again. we have a 13'1 150. ill try them out. i plan on going to some camps this summer to get better and all. its been a great season