PoleVaultPower.com

The other day I had a vault that was really, really out. I think I was just getting tired or something, but I didn't change my step and I took off out. This caused me to not be able to get my feet in front of my body, and the pole basically flung me upside down into the pit right behind the box. I came really close to landing on my neck, and I was forced to put my hands down and roll out of it to avoid braking anything. I still hurt my neck pretty badly. Im just wondering, while in the air, I got this feeling of helplessness, but there has to be SOMETHING you can do to prevent yourself from falling like that. This has happened to me once and my friend once as well. Those are the only times I've ever seen it happen. Its not often, but enough to the point where I never want it to happen again without me knowing what to do.

I was thinking, maybe if I let go with just my top hand it wouldn't be so bad. I'd probably get smacked with the pole, but at least I wouldn't land on my neck.

1. Practice your run enough to be consistent.
2. Don't practice when you are tired.

3. NEVER let go of the pole (if the vault is going wrong)

It's hard to land on your neck if you are still hanging on to the pole. Even if you are in a weird position, hanging on longer will give you time to get your feet underneath you and land safely.

I think you underestimate how much force the pole has stored in it. If you let go with your top hand, that is going to snap back and you won't be able to control where it hits you. I've seen a nose break (gushing blood everywhere in the process!).

never let go of the pole!! where have i heard that before?haha its probubly one of the worst things you can do though

If you hang on, you can’t land on your head. The weight of you legs will drop them back under you before you hit the ground. If you have the body control to do it, you can use the leverage and control that the pole gives you to keep the crash from being worse than it is. If you hang on, you can land how and where you like. If you let go, you are going to lie where you fall.

You can also slide down the pole to lower the height you are falling from. If you are 6’ tall and gripping 15’, your feet are only 8’ off the ground if you are hanging vertically from the pole. That is a huge difference in velocity into the ground if you are going to miss the pit. If you slide down a couple of feet, you help yourself even more.

I’ll tell a story to illustrate: I was getting a push from one of my freshman athletes while attempting 18' 8" and griping 16’ on a pole 50 pounds over my weight. (I know, stupid from the start, but that was back when I felt invincible.) He hit me in the left shoulder and pushed me straight sideways to the right. I bailed as hard as I could, but going at a 45 degree angle to the side at that velocity, bailing wasn’t going to help me much. This was the only circumstance I have ever been in when hanging onto the pole would not help. I was traveling too fast and at too flat of an angle for the pole to slow me down. I was going to miss the pit completely and from a very long way up. I saved myself by letting go of the pole and grabbing the top of the standard. It was heavier than my pole and sticking up vertically, so there was a chance it would slow me down and give me more control. I pulled on it as hard as I could and managed to collapse it down to its lowest setting and rode it into the ground. I walked away from that one with only a few bruises on my hip and shoulder where I rolled along the ground. The moral is: DON’T get a push from anyone, ever, and HANG ON to something.

The only reason I got in trouble in the first place was sheer stupidity, and the only reason I saved myself was by being smart enough to get my hands on something that would help me. I am proud of how I saved it, I am ashamed of how I got into that situation to begin with.

In the case of your particular crash, however, it sounds like you went through the motions of extending and turning. Put the bar as far back as it will go, and never finish a jump if you cannot get some part of your body over the bar. This will give you spatial awareness to know if you have penetrated far enough to make it to the pit. It will also help your plant. Discretion is the better part of valor. A desperate attempt to make the bar when there is no hope has been the cause of the worst crashes in front of the box that I have ever seen.

rainbowgirl28 wrote:I think you underestimate how much force the pole has stored in it. If you let go with your top hand, that is going to snap back and you won't be able to control where it hits you. I've seen a nose break (gushing blood everywhere in the process!).

no, last year at reno my friend found a can of that sticky stuff and thought it would be funny to spray it on my hands, and about an hour later (during friday practice) I moved my grip up to a part of the pole where there was no tape and it was clean fiberglass, and my now dirty slippery hands caused my top hand to let go, and the pole smacked me in the a**, as I was getting halfway upside down. It hurt, but I would rather that to falling upside down.

What happens is the pole starts to fling you towards the pit, then slides out of the box, holding on any longer will simply cause the tip of the pole to go up a little, then fall down the rest of the way with you. There really is nothing you can do when this type of thing happens. Its kinda like if you vault on a pole way to small for you on a short stride and you just go straight, and at the end it fires you down into the pit, except your normally standing up or at the worst you do a face plant.

well if you keep your top hand gripped until after the pole is recoiled, at least, you will avoid getting smacked in the gluteous maximus AND falling on your neck. Basically at all times in the vault, i have a bail out stradegy in the back of my mind. It involves not swinging unless im sure im set up for a nice vault, and if you get stuck on top just hang there with both hands until you are over a piece of mat. In worse case scenario, you are perfectly in-line with the pole and STILL dont make it through, you might come back from where you took off. If this happens, think about how much less of a drop it will be if the pole is there to help you land. Although when you are over the mats, make sure if you let go, you dont land on your feet.
It minds me of my last summer practice (last summer practice for a season), i got stuck on top of a short-run pole, just a 14'3 gripping at 13'3 25 Ibs over my weight. I started heading toward the standard, and let go when i was over part of the mat. My spikes got caught in the sloping part of the mat, and strained some ligaments. Moral of the story, when stuck on the pole, make not landing on your feet and landing on the mat your FIRST priority.

alright i had a really bad problem with this two seasons ago and i got really really good at falling the right way. basically if your out or under that much and the poles gonna reject you DONT LET GO NO MATTER WHAT. it may be scary as hell but the pole will straighten back out in the box. try and hug the pole to you as this happens and once the pole straightens out it will start to fall, most of the time to the side. once you feel your feet over the pit let go and fall on it but not before. if, and this has only happened to me once, you start falling backwards hold on to the pole make sure your feet are under you bend your knees and LAND ON YOUR TOES, the toes part is very important cause i missed half of last season cause i landed on my heals. also make sure that you knees are bent cause if theyre locked and you land on your feet from that hieght you are screwed. anywas once you land do a forward roll and it will transfer a lot of the momentum out of the fall.

one last thing. the pole is your life line. always. last season i had, wat i thought was, a really good vault, it was a great day but i let go to soon cause i lost my position in the jump and i thought i was over the pit. somehow i managed to grab onto the pole and i started falling upside down right into the box and i wasnt able to get my feet under me cause the pole had already straightened out and was now bending with me. the only reason im here right now is cause i grabbed onto the pole and as i was falling the pole bent in half and moved me a few feet to the side and onto the safety of the pit, literally inches away from the box. i landed on my neck on that one but because i grabbed the pole i landed on the pit. afterwards i let go and the pole recoiled into me, that was kinda painful bad bruise but i guess the moral of the story is that even if your falling into the box DONT LET GO cause the pole will move you back onto the pit.
worst case scenario you land in the grass or on the track but its still MUCH better than the metal box

Only happened to me once. I think my steps must have been off, or I just really ran through the pole. I wasn't tired, but I landed on my shoulder as I was rolling in the air and separated my shoulder due to my rotation as I hit the pits. I was holding at about 14'6" on a pole 35 pounds over my weight. I never had it happen again. I can't explain it.
I guess poop just happens.

moral of the subject:

never let go of the pole

other moral:

when you decide to pole vault, you also decide that anything and everything can and probably will happen to your body, no matter what you do... all sorts of crazy crap can happen... just learn to avoid these occurrences as well as our now famed "saraf" can... seriously, its incredible the jams that dude can get himself out of.

jcoover wrote:moral of the subject:

never let go of the pole

other moral:

when you decide to pole vault, you also decide that anything and everything can and probably will happen to your body, no matter what you do... all sorts of crazy crap can happen... just learn to avoid these occurrences as well as our now famed "saraf" can... seriously, its incredible the jams that dude can get himself out of.

The real thing you want to do is NOT practice getting out of jams! The only reason why I have saved my life so many times is when i jumped from 10' to 15' I landed on the runway about the same amount of times as I landed in the pit. Moral of that story is, its not easy to teach your self to pole vault!

Here is a little fact that some of you are missing. Not only do you want to hang on to the pole no matter what. You also need to leave the pole in the box. If you remove it you lose just as much control as if you just let go.

Example:
http://www.vaultchicago.com/Videos/Scar ... JCrash.wmv

WOW. that must not have been fun. I enjoyed a good scare though! Remember everyone, DON'T do anything like that EVER but if you are going to biff like that, please video tape it so we can all see it