High School Safety – Weight vs Pole Ratings

[Tom Wilson]

I am interested in views on the safety or risks developed by the high school rule where a pole has to have a higher weight rating than the vaulter’s actual weight. If schools had a wide variety of poles (weights and lengths) I believe the rule may enhance safety. However, I believe safety is lessoned by forcing young vaulters onto poles rated their weight or higher. Most vaulters are not holding near the top end of a pole when learning bending. Consider the safety of a 165 lb high school vaulter with typical 14 foot poles to choose from with the poles being rated 140, 150, 160 and 170 lbs. (which is actually a pretty good range of poles for high schools). Let’s say in learning their grip is 15â€Â

[txpolevaulter_k25]

i think it is more unsafe to vault on a pole higher than you weight just in the fact that i and jumping on a pole a lot more than my weight and from experience it is more dangerous to go up and then fall right back down possibly breaking ankles or legs luckily i have not yet to do, and if you jump on a pole less that your weight as long as it is not a huge difference you should be fine

[Rhino]

Great to see you posting, Tom!

I am 100% in favor of dropping the rule. Altering the rule in the way you described would be complicated beyond the realm of practicality.

Thermo-flex had a dial-a-pole which determined how high a given weight could hold on a given pole. Of course there are other factors besides weight and height of handhold that affect the bend. Therefore, every bit of this is subjective, and no rule is any better than the judgement of a competent coach.

Yesterday was district track meet. The official forced the participants to weigh in with their shoes. Now, the rule states that the vaulter's body weight is not to exceed the rated weight of the pole. I fully understand the logic behind putting everything that is to hand from the pole on the scales, but where do you stop? How about making a vaulter weigh again everytime he takes a swig of Gatorade? Rules don't need interpretation if they are clearly written. The rulebook doesn't require anything more than the vaulter's body to be weighed (correct me if I'm wrong). The rulebook does, however, require that the poles be properly marked. Several poles used in the competition were not, including several used by vaulters from the official's school. Why go beyond the letter of the rule on the vaulter's weight, and not enforce the other half of the equasion, the pole? Of course I didn't point this out, because I am only a parent, not a coach or official, and because I won't work to the detriment of any vaulter.

My daughter was 0.4 lbs over the weight of her pole. She had to sweat, spit, and cry off the .4 lbs to get on her 118.8 lb pole. She has a shorter 120 lb. pole she could use, but she blows through it! Similarly, the winning boy was 2 lbs. over his 15' 140 lb pole, so he had to use a 14' 150 (about a 10 lb lighter pole). Anybody who says this rule enhances safety is just plain wrong!

Tom, you know me and know that my opinions are not always mainstream, but consider that those who impose safety regulations are not concerned with safety so much as their own security. When I was in high school, nobody was responsible for my safety except for me! The rules concerned dimensions of the box, to standardize our experience from one venue to the next. We never landed on sawdust, but some of the pits were skimpy enough to make sawdust look inviting. The store where we bought vaulting poles often had sections of broken poles we could have cheap that gave beginning vaulters an opportunity to try the sport. I saw a total of two poles break during my high school years, and never saw anyone hurt greater than ankle injuries from landing standing up on modern pits. I love the improved facilities that are available today, but otherwise, I far prefer the conditions under which I participated then, where individual responsibility reigned rather than avoidance of liability. I have two daughters in this event, and I promise that I care at least as much about their safety as anyone involved in making and enforcing the safety rules and regulations.

So how do I vote? Scrap the rule, don't complicate it. Will it ever happen? Not likely, until they start re-installing diving boards in swimming pools.

[theczar]

no rule is any better than the judgement of a competent coach

I completely agree.

[souleman]

Rhino, you hit it on the head and I couldn't agree with you more.....for the most part. On the other hand, you and I have both seen some really dumb stuff done at the vaulting pit by both coaches and vaulters. In yours and my day (I think, I'm 55) we not only had to concentrate on getting over the crossbar but back down safely. We did it on poles that were 14 and 15 sometimes 16 feet long and we were holding on at 12 feet or so(OH Boy! Lot's of bend in those buggers. The damn things were so heavy we needed the 3 feet out the back for ballast). What I'm trying to say is, there was no false sense of security that todays equipment and set ups provide. The setups of today, I believe, promotes some vaulters and coaches to push jumps past a point of safety.The fear factor that you and I faced just isn't there today. This is where the trouble starts. Also consider todays misguided focus on getting the pole to bend rather than learning how to vault correctly in the first place. That focus is demonstrated in probably 30% of all the entries on this forum. Take away the weight rule and watch the poles really start to bend. Should we modify or pull the weight rule? I'd say yes but we really can't . Not until dangerous vaulters and coaches get smart............ yeah right! That's gonna happen. The liability issue is just too great. Later...Mike

[Tom Wilson]

My grandfather taught me all the progress of the world is due to dis-satisfied people. I suppose I am one of them. The rule lessens safety and if in agreement we should strive to change or eliminate it even if it is hard. Vaulting is hard and we persevere so let’s not say we can’t change or eliminate a bad rule.

I suppose my most significant injury of my vaulting life was caused by landing short which I regularly did. Most my minor injuries were also by landing short. Old guys all had bad ankles from the bad pits but pits are great now. My first learning was sawdust which was actually better then the 4â€Â

[rainbowgirl28]

If the desired outcome is safety, the weight rating rule needs to be scrapped and replaced with a rule that requires vaulters to land in a safe zone near the center of the pit.

[WillinghamPV]

a lot of people just lie about their weight....

[tigervaulter727]

a lot of people just lie about their weight....

maybe in the states where your coach just certifies/signs off on your weight, but not in the states where we have to actually step on scale...

[Rhino]

Take away the weight rule and watch the poles really start to bend.

I do not buy this premise. There are plenty of resources including this forum that teach that higher heights come from stiffer (within reason) poles and deep standards. Overbending is counterproductive to the goal. College vaulters know this. Open vaulters know this. My daughters know this not from my teaching, but from their own experience. Mushy poles take you through the bar, not over it. I am not a young athlete, but I do not hold within a foot of the end of a pole that is rated at my weight, because it would not give me anything back.

On another note, there are still some pristine Pacer IIIs out there (my favorite money-maker pole is from 1977). According to my understanding, Pacer III poles cannot conform to today's rules, because they do not have a weight / handhold band that meets the specifications and the manufacturer is no longer in business to recertify them. What a waste of expensive poles. The more selections available in a school's inventory, the safer the potential for vaulting. That's why I urged Patbodady in another thread to not discard a pole because of a flaw that might be only cosmetic, not because I am a careless daredevil.

I forgot in my earlier post to answer Tom's specific questions: Yes, I vault frequently on poles rated below my weight. Yes, I do routinely have vaulters at the high school and college level under my tutelege vaulting on poles rated below their weights.

Thank you, Tom, for your efforts to correct what I consider to be a grievous burden on our event.

[vaultwest]

This is a tuff issue, brings to mind an old saying " You can't legislate common sense".

If you have a large enough inventory of poles the high school weight rule is not as big a problem. If you have good athletes that are vaulting correctly the rule is not as big a problem. But we all know, that is not the real world. Lots of programs have limited pole inventories and many of us coach athletes that are not good enough athletes to do any other event. Perhaps this rule has prevented some catasrophic injuries or perhaps it is just the great work Jan Johnson and others did in getting the new pit size legislated that has made the difference.

All I know is that I am sure glad that I coach at the Junior college level. I have a great inventory of poles that I have worked very hard to acquire over the years. I have no idea what any of my present 12 vaulters weigh. We vault from 3 strides to 9 strides and all of my athletes end up using many different lengths and weights of poles. I know what all my pole sequences are in length and weight and I just match up the vaulter with the proper pole for the length of his run to ensure we are vaulting on a pole that gives the vaulter the proper pole speed and pole bend to maximize their vault. I am just very thankful that I don't have to calculate in my vaulters body weights in this proceedure.

I have always found it funny that at the college level quite often our best athletes, our decathletes, more times than not are actually on poles under their weight, we adjust their hand hold heights ( they hold down on poles) to allow them to have success in this event.

I guess what I am saying is that the answer to this question is proper coaching but how do we legislate that. Although I think that all the coach certification programs are helping and I think this great site is also helping. It is up to all of us to help as many uninformed coaches as we can to make this event all that it can be.

Vault On

[Barto]

For several years I was a staunch opponent of the weight rating rule; however, I now have to admit one thing that is difficult to dispute - the event has become more safe.

This may be due to increased awareness or any number of other factors (the larger pit plays a big part), but my observations of 1980 to the present tell me the event has become more safe at the high school level.

The rule is far from perfect, but it has had its' desired effect.

my 2 cents