Using training poles?

[steepler]

What are some correct ways to use training poles???
My coach got some for us to use but we don't know how to safely use them.
All we know is that you are supposed to use a short approach and that they bend easier and unbend slower.
How short of an approach, how fast to run, etc...???

[Bruce Caldwell]

Follow these instruction only for the following trainer pole only
1. Black hollow trainer Fiber flex FiberSport
2. Orange foam filled trainer . Genesis/Fiber flex FiberSport
3. White core filled trainer Fiber flex FiberSport
NOT a Maxima BLACK HS Pole they are not trainers
Any other types I did not produce I cannot provide proper info on!

Make sure your pit is more than 16'6" from back of box to back of pit
Put another base pad in the back take a 1/3 run if the pole does not bend for training then take a 1/2 run
Adjust your run based on how much the trainer bends
Lower hand grip to work on form and develop better push
Reduce speed if you blow through the pole.
Have fun be safe

Bruce
PS I do not have any in stock

[steepler]

Thanks ESSX: I'm not sure what kind of poles the ones we have are, but would it be safe to assume I can follow those steps on the trainer poles we have too?

[Bruce Caldwell]

only if they are the ones I produced. I cannotprovid einfo for those produced by another brand or company as they may have other properirties.
I have seen poles labelled traning poles that were just a vaulting poles rated lighter. those I cannot give advice to use.

[AVC Coach]

Just out of curiousity, what is the reason for the foam filler inside the pole?

We have an old, heavy orange (I think it's a Catapole) trainer that I jumped on when I was in high school and it's still in good shape. The claim when we got it was "Impossible to break".

[2-15-46]

Follow these instruction only for the following trainer pole only
1. Black hollow trainer Fiber flex FiberSport
2. Orange foam filled trainer . Genesis/Fiber flex FiberSport
3. White core filled trainer Fiber flex FiberSport
NOT a Maxima BLACK HS Pole they are not trainers
Any other types I did not produce I cannot provide proper info on!

Make sure your pit is more than 16'6" from back of box to back of pit
Put another base pad in the back take a 1/3 run if the pole does not bend for training then take a 1/2 run
Adjust your run based on how much the trainer bends
Lower hand grip to work on form and develop better push
Reduce speed if you blow through the pole.
Have fun be safe

Bruce
PS I do not have any in stock

Bruce... A HS gave me about a half dozen Maxima HS poles with a pre bend but very heavy.... different weights....not foam filled.... I am assuming you made them for a short period....were they designed for trainers or competition???? One is supposed to be a 160 but my big butt can't get it to bend holding onto 11-6(a13 footer)

[achtungpv]

The claim when we got it was "Impossible to break".

Yeah, heard that too. I had a gray Cata-Pole trainer. It was the first pole I ever broke. Landed head first in the box. I was fine. Kids were tougher back then.

[Bruce Caldwell]

Bruce... A HS gave me about a half dozen Maxima HS poles with a pre bend but very heavy.... different weights....not foam filled.... I am assuming you made them for a short period....were they designed for trainers or competition???? One is supposed to be a 160 but my big butt can't get it to bend holding onto 11-6(a13 footer)

They were designed for competition and not as a trainer pole

[steepler]

One of my teammates tried one of the poles the other day for the first time. I wasn't there to see it but here is what he told me.
He weighs ~140 and used a pole with a weight range of 130-150. He wasn't at the top of the pole, used about a 1/3 approach and got rejected pretty badly. It didn't bend at all, he barely even left the runway. He was a little shaken up and was too nervous to try it again with a longer approach.
Are trainers easier to bend or the same as a regular pole? Do they just unbend more slowly?
I'm sorry I don't have the brand of pole, I haven't looked yet. They are reddish in color. They are thinner but feel significantly heavier than a regular pole. We have 3 of them with different weight ranges (110-130, 130-150, 150-160 or something like that).

Anybody able to help me out?

[Bruce Caldwell]

One of my teammates tried one of the poles the other day for the first time. I wasn't there to see it but here is what he told me.
He weighs ~140 and used a pole with a weight range of 130-150. He wasn't at the top of the pole, used about a 1/3 approach and got rejected pretty badly. It didn't bend at all, he barely even left the runway. He was a little shaken up and was too nervous to try it again with a longer approach.
Are trainers easier to bend or the same as a regular pole? Do they just unbend more slowly?
I'm sorry I don't have the brand of pole, I haven't looked yet. They are reddish in color. They are thinner but feel significantly heavier than a regular pole. We have 3 of them with different weight ranges (110-130, 130-150, 150-160 or something like that).Anybody able to help me out?

As I said in my first post short run works for the trainers I built. The ones other brands built require a full run. I think I know the brand and a real trainer pole is for short run only. That is what got the trainer banned in the first place is other brands making trainer poles that required a full run which are thinker made and softer than normal poles and then people taking a full run on a real trainer and blow out the back of the pit. People started using the trainer pole in meets as it was softer for their vaulter to get on.
Back in the days of the legal trainer pits were only 14' from the back of the box to the back of the pit. My competition lobbied to ban them because it was unsafe especially in shallow pits. Well yes if you used the poles incorrectly as any product it would be unsafe. ( I also believe the trainer pole promoted pole vaulting, but my competition saw it as a cut in their pole sales. not me I saw people jumping higher and having people buy more poles as a result of it.
Today pits are 16'5"- 18'8" behind the box so they would be safer to use now, however they are still banned for use in practice and in meets by the NFHS
Bruce

[2-15-46]

Bruce, these HS poles that I have that I thought were trainers...are they legal for HS's?????

Bob

[rainbowgirl28]

Today pits are 16'5"- 18'8" behind the box so they would be safer to use now, however they are still banned for use in practice and in meets by the NFHS

Wait, what rule bans training poles from use in practice? I thought they were just banned from high school meets?