need help with crappy pole

[MillerTime]

hi, im a male college freshman at a really small school in PA, i weigh around 133, im using a 13'7 135 spirit pole thats way too small. im holding around 12'-12-6, and i still cant jump higher than 11' (weve had 10 total meets this indoor and outdoor season, i jumped 11' on my first attempt at 9/10 of the meets (i injured my quad at one meet)). is it mental? I have VERY limited poles (the smallest pole we have is a 15' 165), theres 2 nearby high schools, and they have very limited poles too, i found a 14' 135 spirit that im borrowing for regionals tomarrow, its the exact same pole as mine, but i figured the 5 extra inches couldnt hurt. where should i hold on this pole?? i hold low because im pretty fast and i blow through it. would it be better to hold at the same spot/lower, and run full speed? or would i do better if i held higher and ran slower? any help/advise at all would be appreciated.

thanks!
-miller

[Bruce Caldwell]

I think you can jump a foot higher if you read this thoroughly!!!
It is not the pole the spirit is a good pole brand it is because of the grip on too long of a pole!
If you are jumping 11'6" you need to use a pole length that is no more than 1 foot over your best jump and your grip needs to be in the grip area. Chances are you are a much better vaulter once you get the basic set.
It is pole vaulting over your handgrip we need to strive for, not pole jumping, riding the pole up like an elevator and hopping off.!
IT is the laws of the double pendulum.
One pendulum is the pole moving from take off to push and the other pendulum is the vaulter moving from take off to push.
[color=darkred][b]They need to time together to give you;
1. A pole directly under you for something to push down on rather than pushing against a pole that is not fully straight or near the bar. ( Most coaches say you are not staying under long enough for enough penetration to move the pole to the bar. One can stand to the side and see the pole does not get straight up and down and under the vaulter if this pendulum is too long, so by moving the grip down you speed up this pendulum on a proper pole to match the power of the swing pendulum.!)
2. A vaulter timed to receive as much energy stored in the pole during recoil to lift the hips and help the vaulter to pull and push weightlessly to get the hips above the head. ( This is why you need to use a pole over your weight but no longer than a 1 foot over the height you jump to successfully use a pole rated at or above your weight)
3. A pole and the vaulter to time and get the full pop of the swing power and pole power of the vault. (If you time better you can use poles rated at least 5-15 lbs over your weight for more pop. Always choose poles with more stiffness in the same length before moving to a longer length until you are at least jumping over your handgrip by 6-12â€Â

[ashcraftpv]

If you are gripping down a foot on the pole and blowing through, then you should raise your grip one fist at a time until you stop blowing through or reach the maximum grip height for that pole. If you are still blowing through after that, then move to the borrowed pole and use the same grip height. If you continue to penetrate too much without over bending the pole, then continue to raise your grip.

A common misconception among people is that the higher you grip on the pole, the more it will bend, which in turnn will make you land deeper in the mats. THIS IS WRONG! Lowering the grip does make the pole "stiffer", but it also decreases the amount of effort needed to move the pole past vertical. Here's a quick "what to do " chart:

land deep in mats + little or normal bend: raise grip if possible or next pole
land deep in mats + big bend: next pole
land shallow + little or normal bend: go down a pole or lower grip
land shallow + big bend: lower grip

[Skyin' Brian]

Here's a quick "what to do " chart:

land deep in mats + little or normal bend: raise grip if possible or next pole
land deep in mats + big bend: next pole
land shallow + little or normal bend: go down a pole or lower grip
land shallow + big bend: lower grip

this reads much like that little flier that used to come taped to gill vaulting poles....all pretty intuitive, but a great place to start if you know very little about pole selection

[Robert schmitt]

That should be printed in big letters on the top cover!

[MillerTime]

well i jumped 12', and had some good attempts at 12'6. the officials were really bad, the bar was a foot lower than they said, so i blew through 10', 10'6 and 11' and 11'6, i was feeling good, then they realized it was a foot low, so instead of going to like 11', they just went to 12' so i went from 6 inches below my PR for the year (10'6) to a foot above it (12') somehow i made it on my last attempt. i wish i woulda read these posts before i went, maybe i woulda jumped higher!

i dont know if you guys have myspace, i put up some pictures, i think all 3 pictures of me vaulting are my three 12'6 missed attempts. dont know if you can tell what im doing wrong from the pictures, but if you have some advise, i need it, i dont have a coach or nothin, so any advice would be great!

http://www.myspace.com/27199969

if you dont have myspace, i think you can see them by this link, just hit "next" to see the others.

http://www1.myspace.com/reloc.cfm?c=18& ... B6BDCCD335

[AKell]

the 2nd link worked, but whenever i tried to move around in the site it kicked me out. That pic looked good, though- you were inverted pretty well and you looked like you were on-target rather than having too much pole trouble.