Pits Bottoming out

[ZachmanPV]

My schools pole vault mats are getting up there in years, and they're bottoming out after about 14'. Im jumping 15'6" and even though they're sitting on astro turf they dont feel too great when I land on them at the higher heights. Short of buying new pits (which my school is not about to do when they have a price tag of $10,000) does anybody have any ideas on how to make them a little better to land on while still keeping them within safety regulations? Thanks!

[botakatobi]

Your pits are clearly unsafe for higher heights.

Make this known to the coach and athletic director.

Safety is at risk and is a more important consideration than vaulting high at the moment.

You can call the pit manufacturer and get a quote if the pits can be refurbished.

Do not jump high on them in the meanwhile.

[rainbowgirl28]

They are probably just not thick enough/dense enough foam for your needs. I have seen this before with minimally sized HS pits, especially some off-brand ones.

Do make sure that the pieces underneath the top pad are tightly secured together, you can bottom out if you land in the crack between two pieces and they slide apart underneath you. If you can find an extra top pad of some sort it may help, but if nothing is helping, you should just jump from a short run in practice if you can do that safely, and find somewhere else to practice your long run.