How far below your PR should you come in at?

[Rosie<3]

I have a PR of 9', and i know i can do 10, i no-touch it at practice all of the time. However, when i cleared it we had a 6 jump rule and it was my last jump. I came in at 7' that day. I have been told to come in at 8, but my first few jumps in a meet are not always my greatest however when there is a 6 jump rule, i want to PR but it is difficult to clear everything first attempt, especially new heights. But, I am too scared to come in at 8. My jumps generally get better as the meet moves on, and i really do not have much time to warm up. I am kind of lost on what do to. Is 7 or 7'6" too low to come in at with a PR of 9? ? For those who do not know what a 6 jump rule is, it is when a meet director thinks there are too many vaulters (usually 18 or more people), so they only allow six jumps by each vaulter.

[mcavarano]

Hey I'm faced with the same dilemma after pr'ing at 13'6 11' is two low to start at. So what I do is in practice warm up like usual and then once I'm all warmed up I'll put the bar up at 12' or 12'6 in your case 8' or 8'6 most of the time I make it but sometimes I'll hit it the first time then make it on my second attempt but its only practice so it doesn't matter if you hit it. What does matter is every time you make it you'll gain confidence for when it does matter in meets. Don't know if this is the best way to do it but I has certainly worked for me so good luck I hope this will help you start higher and end up clearing new heights!

[Rosie<3]

Wish i could do that but my coach never puts the crossbar up :/

[ClintonMagus]

I am not a pole vault coach, per se, but I have observed something from several years of officiating meets and watching my daughter jump. As high school jumpers progress from meet to meet during the year, they gain confidence and thus select higher opening heights. This usually seems to go in 6-inch increments. For example, they might start out the season at an opening height of 8 feet. A couple of meets later, they will move to an opening height of 8-6, then 9 feet, etc. They seem to develop a "rhythm", so to speak, of progression. Usually, their finishing height seems to track this opening height.

Yesterday at our state meet, there was a girl who was at an opening height of 7-6 at the beginning of the season (jumping 9-6). Throughout the season, she moved to 8 feet (jumping 10) and 8-6 (jumping 11 feet on a jump that combined athletics, a tailwind, and some luck). All season, her form had been exceptional. She had never opened at 9 feet in a meet, but yesterday she elected to open at 9-6 (maybe she was trying to psych out her competition). Her entire timing, for lack of a better term, seemed to be off. Warmups were weird, and her jumps were not pretty. She cleared 10-6 on a funky jump (third attempt), finished third, and did not come close to clearing 11 feet.

This is a roundabout way to say that I theorize that this logical, orderly progression of opening heights during the season is necessary to keep the "rhythm" going. Once it gets interrupted, it becomes uncomfortable, sort of like the feeling you get when everyone in a room suddenly stops talking at the same time.

I believe that a high school jumper only has about five or six really quality jumps in him for a typical meet (possibly a couple more for a big meet), so you should use no more than three or four of these to reach your PR, and the other two or three to try and break it.