Gain weight or lose it?

[Mellemeter]

Hi, I'm new to the whole pole vaulting thing and could use some help. My coach knows nothing of vaulting but said that if I was interested in vaulting I could try it out. So last week he gave me a pole and said "see what happens." I grabbed the pole at the very back like I see olympic vaulters do, I ran like crazy down the strip, planted, lost my grip and flipped forward, landing in the metal box. Since then I have been trying to learn but I simply cannot bend the pole. I weigh 148-150lbs and the only poles we have at my school are a 140 weighted pole and a 160 weighted pole. My coach tells me that I will break the 140 if I use it, but I can't even budge the 160. So at this point I don't know if I should try to lose weight and use the 140 pole, or if I should gain weight and still try to bend the stiff as broomhandle 160.

Your thoughts?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

[VaultPurple]

For starters, when your starting, you never grip the top of the pole. About 9 foot up is plenty for the start.

What length are the two poles? That is really important.

But most importantly, unless you are like 5'6 or under, you do not need to be under 140. How tall are you?

But when you are learning the weight of the pole is not really important, you are not going to be bending it to start with anyway. And unless you are gripping the top of the 140 it is not going to break. I am gonna guess that 140 is somewhere around 13' so it is fine until you are gripping up to like 11'. But it all really depends on the length of the pole. So figure out what those are and you can go from there.

[rainbowgirl28]

Obviously your coach is an idiot and no one at your school cares if you kill yourself. Watching this video is a good place to start... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 052593028#

I also really recommend buying the book I sell in my store. You can buy it from NeoVault.com, I don't care, I sell it because it's a good book, not because I am trying to get rich.

As to your original question, your weight is completely irrelevant at this point, that is not what you need to be worrying about.

[golfdane]

Obviously your coach is an idiot and no one at your school cares if you kill yourself. Watching this video is a good place to start... http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 052593028#

I also really recommend buying the book I sell in my store. You can buy it from NeoVault.com, I don't care, I sell it because it's a good book, not because I am trying to get rich.

As to your original question, your weight is completely irrelevant at this point, that is not what you need to be worrying about.

Totally agree. Allowing anyone who's not skilled as a vaulter, to grip at the top of a pole and attempt to vault, should not be allowed anywhere near a pole vault pit. Pole vault is a progression. You crawl before you walk. You walk before you run.
The book and the DVD Becca talks about, is a sound investment. It can give you valuable insights into vaulting with safety, even if you are a total novice to begin with. However, find someone who can give you proper feedback (and your current coach is not it, I guess).

[golfdane]

The interesting part for a novice starts at 10:00 on the video Becca linked to earlier. Really important to get good habits from the start, and learn how it feels.

[VaultPurple]

now before we go calling people idiots, lets get all the info. This kid could be 6'4 and it could have been an 11' 140, not really that tough even for beginner to grip top. I wouldn't suggest it.. but its possible.

My team mate in high school was about 6'3 and one day at practice he just grabbed the top of a 13' 155 and was like 'i wonder what will happen', and guess what, it worked and he started clearing like 10' by just bending his knees over the bar his whole first year. Then we found a real coach and he ended up doing like 14'6. So taking chances doesn't always end too horribly.

[Barefoot]

To try and actually answer the question. If you are fat, lose weight through exercise and healthy eating. If you are skinny, get stronger. Learn to vault properly with the right run, right grip and right pole so you are getting safely into the pit... in the beginning this does NOT mean bending the pole. Choosing the right pole involves far more variables than you have provided us with. The short answer is learn to stiff pole vault on the 160, slowly raising grip as your penetration allows you to clear a bar with the standards pushed back to 80cm.

Its pole vaulting, not pole bending.

[VTechVaulter]

still absolutely moronic coaching move. someone who has no idea what to do with their hands, where to run from, which foot to jump off has no business capping a pole and running from far away.

if you want to learn, and your coach is that dumb, go to some camps. any of them will be much better and safer than whats going on there. this sport doesn't need any more casualties

now before we go calling people idiots, lets get all the info. This kid could be 6'4 and it could have been an 11' 140, not really that tough even for beginner to grip top. I wouldn't suggest it.. but its possible.

My team mate in high school was about 6'3 and one day at practice he just grabbed the top of a 13' 155 and was like 'i wonder what will happen', and guess what, it worked and he started clearing like 10' by just bending his knees over the bar his whole first year. Then we found a real coach and he ended up doing like 14'6. So taking chances doesn't always end too horribly.

[altius]

Hi, I'm new to the whole pole vaulting thing and could use some help. My coach knows nothing of vaulting but said that if I was interested in vaulting I could try it out. So last week he gave me a pole and said "see what happens." I grabbed the pole at the very back like I see olympic vaulters do, I ran like crazy down the strip, planted, lost my grip and flipped forward, LANDING IN THE METAL BOX!!!!!!!!!. Since then I have been trying to learn but I simply cannot bend the pole. I weigh 148-150lbs and the only poles we have at my school are a 140 weighted pole and a 160 weighted pole. My coach tells me that I will break the 140 if I use it, but I can't even budge the 160. So at this point I don't know if I should try to lose weight and use the 140 pole, or if I should gain weight and still try to bend the stiff as broomhandle 160.

Your thoughts?
Any help is greatly appreciated!

It is difficult to believe that this kind of thing is still happening! But clearly it is! My best advice is that you take up an event where the coach does know something about the event -before you kill yourself.

[altius]

So taking chances doesn't always end too horribly. No - but when it does it can be dammed costly for everyone involved.

[ladyvolspvcoach]

Where are you located? Maybe we can find someone close by who can give you some real help.