vaulting in the rain

[fong520]

well i have a meet weds and saturday and both days its supposed to rain.. wat kind of stuff should i do b4 hand and during it so nothing bad happens. i kno we can wear 1/4" spikes so ill do that. (unless its bad?) i remember one time everythign was wet the runway and all adn i slipped at take off adn fell itno the pit. not very fun.. so ya wat do u all do about gripping the pole as well as the gournd. adn do u do anything different?

[CHC04Vault]

Take a trashbag with u during the meet so when ur not jumpin u can keep everything dry, some chalk to make everything dry, and have a team mate to catch the pole all the time everytime. Change ur spikes can and can't help, depends on feel, i personally have a very weird set up with involves 3/4, 1/2 and flat spikes. Fianlly, do not skip heights like it was a normal meet, go in ealry (the rain might get worse) and maybe try to dry the take off area if possible.

[Bonevt]

I think that there is more of a problem with it being cold then wet. Make sure that you bring lots of towels, Keep your poles cover AT ALL TIMES. Bring a unbrella, multiple pairs of dry socks(very important when you change shoes), and chalk. If you go prepared, and make sure that you keep dry you will be find. Also don't freek your self out by thinking your going to slip or try and get on your biggest poles.

Good luck

[CHC04Vault]

Yeah, being an east coast vaulter really sucks we have horrible weather for pole vaulting, if its not raining its windy, or its bitter cold.

[rainbowgirl28]

Bring 2 or 3 big black garbage bags. Bring LOTS of towels. Bring like 5 pairs of dry socks. Bring the biggest umbrella you can get your hands on. Bring a lot of extra tape.

The most important thing is to keep your grip dry! If it gets wet, retape it. Keep your poles in their tube when you're not using them, and keep whatever pole you have under the garbage bag between jumps.

Use chalk or sticky spray or whatever you like. Bring more than usual if you can.

Bring dry clothes for after the meet. Keep them in big zip-lock bags if you can. Keep everything you can in zip-lock bags, inside another bag.

Stay loose and warm. You'll get cold faster when you are wet.

[PVPirate26]

we had a really rainy and cold meet last year...it was awful, but we managed to make it through. one of my teammates (female) sewed all of us waterproof grip covers. we had lots of blankets and towels and our coaches even brought tents to stick the tops of our poles in to keep them dry. we stayed dry in the tent as well. good luck!!

[master]

All of the above advice is good for trying to keep yourself dry and warm and your poles dry. But don't forget to use common sense. If you can't keep your grip dry or if the runway is at all slippery, don't put yourself at risk by jumping. It is far better to miss a meet or two by choice then to miss many because of an injury. Just my two cents worth.

[vaulter870]

keep your poles dry and your self dry thats all you can do . if you do that and are having fun then you will vault the same as any other day i know cause i am not affected by the rain i acctually jump better in it!! haha thats only on occasion but i have jumped better sometimes in the rain then normal conditions

[souleman]

Key thing is to keep things dry especially your grip. I don't know if it's still allowed but, when I went to state back in 69, we had to do all three attempts at a height consecutively. I did the three, (in the rain) and slipped off the pole all 3 attempts. A half hour after my NH,(at state mind you), the sun came out and the rest of the day was beautiful, trouble is I NH'd. So, now to my point. If they let you and there is a slight chance the weather will improve, if you miss your first two attempts at a height, take a buy and hope the conditions are better for your 1 attempt at the next height. Like I said, I don't know if this is even allowed with todays rules but I do know I would have placed anywhere from 3rd to 5th at state my one time there if I would have done it that way. A lesson that still bugs me 36 years later. Later...................Mike

[scubastevesgirly]

We had a meet this past wkend., and it was pretty wet. If you make sure you stay warm and keep your pole pretty dry and wear spikes, it should be okay.
my senior year at the district meet, I didn't wear spikes (b/c I didn't feel like running 50 meters to get them from the bleachers ) and the runway was soaked. I slipped every plant...good thing we had a small district ....So wear spikes (i'm assuming you'd do that anyway though)

[blazerunner121]

All of the above advice is good for trying to keep yourself dry and warm and your poles dry. But don't forget to use common sense. If you can't keep your grip dry or if the runway is at all slippery, don't put yourself at risk by jumping. It is far better to miss a meet or two by choice then to miss many because of an injury. Just my two cents worth.

and also don't expect to try to p.r. during a rainy,windy,cold meet.

[drcurran]

I don't want to throw a "wet blanket" on this party, but if it is raining the event should be moved indoors, if possible, or postponed until a dry day. Our event gets enough bad press we don't need an injury because of weather to give us more bad ink! JM .02

Dan