That darn Huffman Roll....

[rainbowgirl28]

Falls from 6' in the air can be fatal. I don't want to see anymore advice given on my website under ANY circumstances that involves pole vaulting on a high jump pit, or that poster will take a vacation. End of discussion on that topic.

[KirkB]

never pole vault on a HJ pit. no matter how high you jump. falling from 9' and missing the pit could cause serious injuries. I'm surprised anyone here would think it's ok.

After my last post, I realized that you were probably thinking of a single HJ mat ... and I was thinking of 2 ... back-to-back. No one in their right mind should ever even THINK of vaulting on a SINGLE HJ pit ... so that thought never occured to me.

Nevertheless, the type of size of foam pit was not the point of my original post of AJ getting outside in the cold weather and doing SOMETHING to figure out the right grip to use to swing OVER the bar ... without flagging out.

Really AJ, you could practice with a low grip with SAND vaulting ... no need for any foam to break your fall with a low practice grip.

RG, in my defense, I usually speak out against unsafe training and vaulting facilities ... including the use of HJ pits. For example, I recently joined you in TWO other threads ... advising someone NOT to use HJ pits here http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=18947&p=135831 and here http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=47&t=18579&p=135830&hilit=kirk+accident+corner#p135830.

... so I think your threat of an unrequested vacation is a little heavy-handed.

Kirk

[Ajw118]

For the record, my PR is 10. And I tried to do the jagodins today in the sand but the metal cover over the sand was frozen on and loaded with ice and snow so it would have been impossible to lift. Also, the weather was too cold to grip the pole.

Furthermore, I understand what Kirk meant. I wasn't going to use the high jump pit, or one single mat for that matter. If I were to use the mats, I'd bring them over to the sand pit and lay them side by side and across so I'd have plenty of room to land on something squishy.

[KirkB]

For the record, my PR is 10. And I tried to do the jagodins today in the sand but the metal cover over the sand was frozen on and loaded with ice and snow so it would have been impossible to lift. Also, the weather was too cold to grip the pole. ...

AJ, at least you TRIED to train outdoors ... I admire you for that!

When you said it was cold, I thought you meant 12 degrees Centigrade ... not Fairenheit ... LOL! It's 8 degrees here in Vancouver ... very balmy. CENTRIGRADE!

Here's a better idea ... get to the meets EARLY ... REALLY early. I mean so early that you're the first one down the runway. Try out the lower grip then. As many times as you can, moving it up or down a fist until you've figured it out.

Then cool down ... and warm up again before the meet.

If you think you're going to get too tired this way, don't worry about it. If the outdoor meets are more important than the indoor ones, then NOW IS THE TIME TO WORK ON LOWERING YOUR GRIP ... AND LANDING FURTHER INTO THE PIT!

Kirk

[rainbowgirl28]

Furthermore, I understand what Kirk meant. I wasn't going to use the high jump pit, or one single mat for that matter. If I were to use the mats, I'd bring them over to the sand pit and lay them side by side and across so I'd have plenty of room to land on something squishy.

Do you know that a kid died this past fall rope vaulting in a very similar setup to what you just described?

[golfdane]

Furthermore, I understand what Kirk meant. I wasn't going to use the high jump pit, or one single mat for that matter. If I were to use the mats, I'd bring them over to the sand pit and lay them side by side and across so I'd have plenty of room to land on something squishy.

Do you know that a kid died this past fall rope vaulting in a very similar setup to what you just described?

Says more about rope vaulting than HJ pits...

I doubt that Kirk would endorse a drill that isn't done in the sandpit in the summer. Replacing the sand with a HJ pit, if the sand is too hard, hardly seems like a hazardous drill.