Need bigger poles (video)- Longer or stiffer?

[theczar]

Hey guys

I've just got back into jumping after taking a few years break after college, and I bought a pole series I thought (at the time) would be on the large side. After about 4 months of jumping...I've gotten on the biggest pole I have and need something bigger.

Here's the pole series I currently have, all ESSX recoils:
15'9" 175, 180,185, and 190
I'm 5'11" 195lbs (yeah, I need to loose weight. I'm working on it!)

Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTlTQ0rgZzY&feature=youtu.be

In college, I jumped on a series of 15'6" UCS poles, making my 5.20m PR on a 15'6" 200, grip at 15'4". Now, I'm capping the 15'9" 190 (~15'8" grip), getting decent penetration (standards at 70cm). Problem is, the pole recoil is giving me nothing off the top (as you can see from the video). I've tried lowering my grip to stiffen it up, but even dropping my grip by 1-2 inches gives me too much penetration and I can't get a decent bar with standards at 80.

My current grip is higher than I used at my prime, and my college bought me a series of 15'6" UCS poles because I couldn't get on our 16' pacer carbons. Carbons seem to throw off my timing and I could never get them to work for me...not too sure if this is due to gripping down on a 16er or because of the timing difference. Or it could just be in my head

I'm concerned that if I get longer poles (16' or 5m) that I may run into the problems I had before about getting on 16ers, and I might not increase my grip anyway. On the flip side, If I stick with the 15'9" series (where I know my grip works, I just need a stiffer pole at the same grip), then I may find that eventually I'll need a longer pole, assuming I get faster and clean up my approach and plant sequence.

TL;DNR - Do I need longer poles or stiffer poles?

Thanks!

[altius]

i am not suggesting that you are portly -BUT - you need to lose weight - that would be the cheapest solution to your problem because technically you look reasonably good - although with any increase in grip height you must re emphasize the up jumping at take off. Should certainly be able to handle 15'6 or 16 as you get fitter.

[theczar]

i am not suggesting that you are portly -BUT - you need to lose weight

Ouch

But truthfully, that's going to be key for me moving forward. Last year I played AFL instead of track, and got banged up enough (1 broken rib and 2 dislocated ribs from rucking) to want to put on more muscle mass to protect myself. I ended up going from about 190 to 215lbs . That was before I decided to get back in to vaulting. I've since slimmed back down to 195, but my target is 185 (which is what I weighted at my peak in college). I need A TON more sprint work to get to where I need to be...heavier and slower is not a good combination!

PS - I ended up getting four 16ers to continue my series. Now to slim down and speed up!