High School Safety – Weight vs Pole Ratings

[Rhino]

Lets just go back to the aluminum and swedish steel pole and everyone will have to learn how to vault and no more hassel:))

Or let everyone vault with whatever pole he wants to use and no more hassel .

[highhopes]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.

[2-15-46]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.

Pre fiberglass days we were given a pole and we learned how on our own... my first pole was bamboo:)

PR13-6 on a aluminum pole 1964

[SKOT]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.

Pre fiberglass days we were given a pole and we learned how on our own... my first pole was bamboo:)

PR13-6 on a aluminum pole 1964

Just curious, but how high were you gripping when you jumped 13'6 on an aluminum pole?

[txpolevaulter_k25]

i just outgrew my poles since track season ended i wiegh 160 and i used to be 140 so now i have to find new poles or loose weight, but i have to do it in 2 weeks before camp, now that sux

o and to the guy that posted his pr on a metal pole mine is 9'6 on a 10' pole lol i set up a pit in my back yard just to see how high i could get. I will post some videos or somthing l8r

[highhopes]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.


Pre fiberglass days we were given a pole and we learned how on our own... my first pole was bamboo:)

PR13-6 on a aluminum pole 1964

I have seen a lot of vaulters on poles that were way to soft or way to stiff from schools with great pole selections and I have also seen vaulters from schools with almost no pole selection on the perfect pole

[2-15-46]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.

Pre fiberglass days we were given a pole and we learned how on our own... my first pole was bamboo:)

PR13-6 on a aluminum pole 1964

Just curious, but how high were you gripping when you jumped 13'6 on an aluminum pole?

around twelve ...I was very strong upper body and used to think I was Tarzan... had ropes all over my giant oak tree back home:) still built like an ape

[Rhino]

Beginners are not smart enough to vault on whatever pole they want, and not everyone has a competent coach.

I don't think you give humans enough credit. I was smart enough to vault on whatever pole I could find. I always felt that I was in a better position to know what was best for me than someone who wasn't even there.

[Tom Wilson]

This post is being placed on my original safety topic and on the one Bruce at ESSX started looking at pole length vs weight for proper pole selection.

I have spent the summer working on the 13’ 187 and 191 poles from Bruce Caldwell at ESSX. Again I want to say thanks to Bruce for working with me on the original and added topic. My origination of the post topic was related to safety regarding pole weight rating to have to exceed a vaulter’s weight. As many high school athletes hold low on longer poles I questioned if that adds to or detracts from safety. Bruce’s point is the athlete is using too long of a pole and a pole will perform better if held higher relative to the length of the pole and then the proper weight pole could be used.

I have also done a lot of searching for opinions on the subject elsewhere. I did come across some of the original discussions when the rule was implemented and found the concern addressed with a decision agreed to amongst the rule makers that the rule was important and the realization could lead to higher costs due to a need for more poles and shorter poles.

So this summer I jumped nearly exclusively on the 13’ poles and my weight is generally in the 185 to 188 range, age 49. Result has been that nearly all my vaulting friends remark how much better my technique has gotten throughout the whole jump including inversion. However no higher clearances have occurred, although some of my jumps have clearly gotten me higher I just haven’t cleared higher bars. I find I am extremely comfortable jumping on poles at and over my weight using 13’ poles. The 187 is actually too soft and with the 191 I often still bury the standards at 31â€Â