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Okay, I am 5'10, 145 lb. I am on a 13'6, 135 lb. pole. I am not blowing through it or anything. It is actually just about the perfect pole for me. My school doesn't have a pole another pole besides a 15' 155 lb pole. I know the rule says that the weight is supposed to be at or above your weight. Why is this rule in place? I don't think I could even get on a pole that is my weight. I know the rule is there to help protect people, but I'd be more in danger of falling down if I was on a pole that was my weight and shooting me back out.

for learning, its usually okay to use poles below ur weight just to get used to the technique, but when u use a pole under your weight, u have more of a chance of breaking it...there may be more to it than that, *shrug* but thats all i really know...

Weight rule came about because guys were jumping on poles that were way under their weight and way too long. They subscribed to the theory of the higher you hold the higher you jump. This generally resulted in blowing thru the back or out of the pit to the side. What the weight rule really dictates is that you have to jump on a shorter pole. So if you are on a 13'6"-135 and weigh 145 you really need a 13' -145 or 150 which will react similarly.

monopoly00 wrote:Okay, I am 5'10, 145 lb. I am on a 13'6, 135 lb. pole. I am not blowing through it or anything. It is actually just about the perfect pole for me. My school doesn't have a pole another pole besides a 15' 155 lb pole. I know the rule says that the weight is supposed to be at or above your weight. Why is this rule in place? I don't think I could even get on a pole that is my weight. I know the rule is there to help protect people, but I'd be more in danger of falling down if I was on a pole that was my weight and shooting me back out.

First let me say the pole rating is not new.
It is recommend and required by all pole manufacturers since the first Fiberglass pole was ever sold.
If your pole is not over bending and you have failed to adhere to the recommendations,
I believe you left some important facts out.
You could be holding below the required grip area on the 13’6â€Â

The message board now has so many posts that it is not always easy to find a discussion of a topic of which you have a specific interest. Quite some time ago, I made a post under this forum under the topic of Rules of the Pole Vault -- Part 5. This post involved an effort to provide explanations from several different PV "experts" pertaining to why a weight rating rule was implemented.

Anyway, just thought that that topic and the replies might be of interest to you.

The discussions change as people ask questions. Maybe if it is another topic we need to form another topic heading. I will keep that in mind in the future

Bruce

ESSX wrote:

monopoly00 wrote:Okay, I am 5'10, 145 lb. I am on a 13'6, 135 lb. pole. I am not blowing through it or anything. It is actually just about the perfect pole for me. My school doesn't have a pole another pole besides a 15' 155 lb pole. I know the rule says that the weight is supposed to be at or above your weight. Why is this rule in place? I don't think I could even get on a pole that is my weight. I know the rule is there to help protect people, but I'd be more in danger of falling down if I was on a pole that was my weight and shooting me back out.

First let me say the pole rating is not new.
It is recommend and required by all pole manufacturers since the first Fiberglass pole was ever sold.
If your pole is not over bending and you have failed to adhere to the recommendations,
I believe you left some important facts out.
You could be holding below the required grip area on the 13’6â€Â