The Rules of Pole Vault Part 5

[Robert schmitt]

Last year at alot of meets they finally allowed the coaches to be down near the pits to spot thier athletes. This was a great idea. It worked great, the coaches did not interfere with other athletes it afforded for a safer enviroment. The spotting was not neccissary for the most part however it made it safer to comunicate with the athlete so they could make the changes neccessary to vault safely. I think this was a great idea to improve the safety of the event. I never understood why you cann't coach a high school pole vaulter during a meet!! That is when most kids need the supervision the most so they can vault safely.

[vaultfan]

As an alternative to having a spotter, (which from an official’s viewpoint may be rather impractical) I would like to discuss a method of landing by a vaulter.

It is understood that the objective of the vaulter is to land in the middle of the pit on the hips and the back. Landing on the feet is extremely hazardous with injuries to the ankles or knees.

However, everyone knows that not every vault will be perfect and it is just part of the sport to learn how to land when the vault is not “on.â€Â

[indestructo]

While I agree that sliding down the pole would be safer then landing in the box, it wouldn't be a technique I would teach my athletes. I've attempted this a couple times myself and failed both times. The first time the pole was already re-bending and when I slide my hands the pole came in and left a 3ft bruise down my leg, the second time I went too fast and burned my hands. I still feel that the safest method of "crashing" on a stalled vault is to hang on to the pole and ride it to the ground. It takes you away from the box and is much easier then anything else. While "sliding" may look cooler then hanging on to the pool and landing akwardly, I don't believe it can consistently provide for the safest landings. Anyone else's thoughts??

I do think that its a great idea for coaches to make sure vaulters are aware of how to land and avoid injury when a vault doesn't go right. Part of this I think is just a natural ability that isn't an easy thing to teach.

[lonestar]

Jan Johnson has some great bailout drills on his Sky Systems III video. He had the vaulters take about a 4 step run with a low grip planting into a long jump pit and plant to the right, plant to the left, and learn how to hold on and land on their feet. He also had them hold higher and get rejected straight back, learning how to land on their feet. The drills were all safe because the run was short and the grips were relatively low, and it taught the vaulters what to expect and how to deal with it.

We've always gone by the saying "The pole is your parachute." When in doubt, stay with it. I don't recommend sliding down, but I have seen people successfully stall a pole out and gently swing over top of the front buns of the pit, then drop off of it, but you have to have good air awareness to do that and not miss the pit.

[vaultfan]

“With the small pits, you had to know where it was that you were going to land. Now, we have the bigger pits and better technique and our guard is let down because we don’t have to be as concerned with how and where we land.â€Â