coach say's i should use a 15 footer?

[angerpaulie]

well im bout 6 ft and bout 160 i gained about 20 lbs since last yr i run a 4'5 40 and im pretty skinny but my coach wants me two jump on a 15 foot pole this yr what weight should get the pole as and do u think thats a safe thing seeing how last yr i jumped on a 14'6 145 and couldnt get in everytime ?

[ashcraftpv]

There's nothing wrong with having aspirations of getting on those poles, but you should not start on them, especially if the biggest pole you've jumped on is a 14' 6" 145.

You shouldn't jump on anything under your body weight, period. Find the shortest pole that fits your weight and start on that. What size was the pole you normally jumped on last year?

[angerpaulie]

well im not really sure it was a 13 6 150 spirit and i had to cap it off which i do believe was illegal but if not i would blow through and this yr im alot faster and stronger so i was thinking of getting a carbon fx 15 140 do u think i would be able to jump on that?

[ashcraftpv]

a 140? no way! not if you weigh 160.....

You need to remember that holding high doesn't equal jumping high. If you were blowing through a 13'6" 150 last year, you probably should get a 13'6" 160 and start from there, or maybe even a 14' 160. You should not waste your money on 15' poles just yet. What do you think you'll weigh at the beginning of track season and how high did you jump last year?

[angerpaulie]

well i will probly get to 170-180 cuz im in training to gain weight and get my 40 down to a 4'3 last yr sucked for me cuz i couldnt find a pole that fit me it would either be to small or to big so i jumped only 12 in meets it was 11'6 and i heard that u should jump on poles under ur weight but maybe im wrong what do u think i should do >?

[rainbowgirl28]

I think you should find a coach in your area that knows something about pole vault and has poles you can use.

http://www.polevaultpower.com/database/ ... h&region=6 is a good place to start.

It is against the high school rules to use a pole rated UNDER your weight.

[ashcraftpv]

why are you training to gain weight? You should train to become stronger and faster. weight gain should not be a goal, but a byproduct of your training. I've never met someone who's put gained 20 lbs in the amount of time you are talking about and has gotten faster. I'll agree with rainbowgirl28, you sound like you need to hook up with a PV coach that knows what he is doing. Everything you are describing so far is only going to end up getting you injured or worse.