Pole Choice

[Jay]

I have a couple poles i can choose from but none of them seem to be right. i weight 155 and use a 150 13' pole now but im afraid im going to break it. their is a 150 13'6 pole but i cant hold high enough on it yet so im just sticking to the 13' for now. The next pole up is a 170 13'6 pole but im unfortunately not good enough to hold high since my pr is only an embarrassing 9 feet. I still have many things to work on but i was just wondering which one i should use / which one i can vault higher, quicker.

PS: the 150 13' that i use now i grip about at 12'

[rainbowgirl28]

You said your grip always slides down. Do you bend the pole when your grip slides down?

[Jay]

Usually no, i started bending the pole but i sorta try not to in meets because i dont really know what to do when it bends therefore resulting in a fail vault

[souleman]

Do you have any shorter poles? A 12 X 160 would probably be about right. Seeing you're in high school, you want to stay away from any pole that is below your weight. Regardless, you shouldn't be bending a pole very much at all at this point. Re-read my post on your other question and follow those instructions. Remember, you had to walk before you could run. Ain't no different here. Later............Mike

[Jay]

i dont have any shorter poles that are atleast 150. i think ill just have to do with the 13' 150

[souleman]

For this time of the year I'd say the 13' 6" X 150 then because it will be stiffer. That doesn't mean it will be OK to hold at 12' 6". Quite the contrary. I still want you to do what I told you in the earlier thread and hold at 10' 6" for that 9 foot jump. Stiff pole vaulting is better for you because you have to be better technically. You have to plant strong, take off strong, drive the knee strong and swing fast to make it work. A flexible pole does a wonderful job of covering up flaws in technique which in turn does you no good. The question has been asked a million times on this forum, "do you want to jump high or do you want to make the pole bend". We want to jump high and that's why I'd like to see you on a stiff pole. Go watch this video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8610699280052593028# . In it, coach Butler covers some of the areas to which you need to know and understand. On your opening entry you included, "PS: the 150 13' that i use now i grip about at 12' ". That's telling me that you didn't take heed to my suggestions for your other thread. Being scattered all over the country, we (the members of the forum) can't be there to coach you but we can give you ideas and recommendations that will help you help yourself be a better vaulter. It's up to you to apply what we recommend. I hope you will and succeed beyond your dreams. Later...Mike

[Jay]

Thanks for the video, really helps.

PS: i made the posts the same day, therefore didnt even have time to practice your suggestion. tomorrow will be the first time i do the holding at 10'6 and going 9'.

[souleman]

Just got back into town and after reading your reply I kinda figured you hadn't had time to try out the new stuff. One thing to concentrate on is "the one thing to concentrate on". In other words (for now any way) focus on one part of the jump. I see a few of us agree that plant, take off and swing is an important thing for you right now. While you're working on this make sure that you are doing so while staying in the parameters of DJ's chart. 10'6" grip, 35' 6 step mark, short run to force you to drive the take off, etc. Your enthusiasm is there and that's great. Just be patient enough to work on these things we suggest til you have them mastered then c'mon back and we'll give you the next "thing to do". Later...............Mike

[Jay]

well ive been using the 13' 150 and i no heighted last meet going for 8'6 which is pretty horrible. im not sure what exactly went wrong but i was holding about 10'6 but simply could not seem to get over the bar. On my last attempt i barely grazed it resulting in a disappointing meet overall

[KirkB]

... i'm not sure what exactly went wrong but i was holding about 10'6 but simply could not seem to get over the bar. ...

I'm not sure either, but for starters you're quite brave (maybe TOO brave) to start at 8-6 when your PR is 9-0. I realize you're gripping way higher than this, but still ... one way to avoid an NH is to start low enough that you're almost GUARANTEED to clear your opening height.

Just a suggestion for next meet.

Anothing suprising thing is that in your first post, you said you gripped at 12-0, but in your last meet, your gripped at 10-6. While I'm not going to criticize you for lowering your grip ... (I've recommended that to AJ ... repeatedly) ... I question what your "RIGHT" grip is? Maybe the 10-6 is too low ... or maybe the 12-0 is too high ... I dunno ... it depends on how far into the PLZ you landed. What grip did you use on your PR? Where did you land for your PR, and where did you land in your last meet?

Kirk

[souleman]

OOPS! My bad Jay. My grip suggestions were for you to work on in practice (at this point). Kirk is dead on about where to start at a meet. For this early in the season I'd start at 7'6" or so to make sure you clear a height. Look at it this way, if you smoke 7' 6", 8' and 8' 6" before you go for 9' and beyond, that allows you to jump more and by making those heights you'll have more fun. Don't be looking at what the more accomplished vaulters are doing. Instead WATCH what they're doing and what you might be able to apply to yourself. Getting back to grip. If you can't grip at 10' 6" and clear 9' (as prescribed by DJ's chart) that means there are some physical and or (more than likely) technical things that you really need to work on. In a meet you have to do what it takes to clear the heights. I'm SOOOOOOOOO hoping your coach won't let you grip too high. That's not safe at all. When you get to practice get back on that 10'6 " grip until you can make 9'. Then move your grip up 4 inches for 9' 6", then 4 inches for 10' and so on. Use a stiff pole for these practices. It'll force you to drive the plant and take off. Get some video shot of your jumps and get it posted. It's time for us to see what you've got. It'll help us help you better. Later.................Mike

[Jay]

Yesterday i had a meet and it was sadly the last one of indoor season. The opening was 8 feet so i started at opening. I got some help from a vaulter from another town who im friends with, i was gripping about 11' i believe and was landing well into the PLZ. I cleared 8 on my first try but 8'6 somehow got me. I noticed that i wasnt driving my knee like i usually do.

i will take all of your tips into consideration. The unfortunate thing is i get to vault once a week on a portable pit. Basically all we can do is pop ups which are good dont get me wrong but better when i can take full jumps and practice at getting heights. When outdoor comes around we pv almost every day so I will be sure to use what you have said. thanks a bunch guys, you'll be hearing back from me in a month or so.

ps: what are some good off season pv workouts? I workout almost every other day with weights but im looking for specific exercises that will help everything go along better.