Pole Advice

A forum to discuss everything to do with pole vaulting equipment: poles, pits, spikes, etc.

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mlbrandon
PV Newbie
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 4:37 pm
Expertise: Former HS Vaulter, Current HS Coach
Gender: Female
World Record Holder?: Renaud Lavillenie

Pole Advice

Unread postby mlbrandon » Sun May 12, 2013 5:20 pm

I have been coaching high school pole vaulters for the past two years. I have one athlete that is extremely talented and I would like him to succeed, but I find I need some advice on his pole situation - specifically what kind anyone thinks he would do best on. Here are some of his details:

Junior, 5'10", 173 lbs, 100M dash is 12 seconds flat, 2nd year vaulting.
Last year he cleared 12' - I cannot remember the pole or other specifics from then.

This year he has cleared 14' with his standards at 27". This was on a new pole we purchased at the beginning of the season - a 14'6" 180 lb Skypole carbon with flex rating of 15.5. He is always extremely consistent with his approach, plant and take-off. However, beginning with using this pole, he would quit on the vault about halfway through his swing because it was more stiff than the last pole he was on - different sensation that made him timid. Once he got the inversion down, he was kicking butt with the pole. Unfortunately in practice this last Tuesday, he broke the pole during his plant and take-off. We were lucky enough to be able to borrow a pole from a neighboring school before our qualifying meet yesterday.

This pole was a UCS Spirit 15' 180 lb fiberglass with flex rating of 15.5 (I believe on the flex rating - the pole was close to a decade old). He had two practices on it and was doing the same thing he did at the beginning with his Skypole - quitting on the vault. On his third vault at competition yesterday, he broke the Spirit pole as well. I am assuming his standard settings would have been around 24 -25 if he had completed any vaults with this pole.

We have also tried him on an old UCS Spirit 15' 190 lb fiberglass pole (I do not know the flex rating). But that pole was too stiff for him. Also, he is on a 9 pace approach - it is about 110' from the front of the plant box. At a 7 and 8 pace approach, he was not getting enough speed or power with his new pole at first.

I do have some videos of him at practice I can post if needed. There are other videos of him at practice, competition and one of him breaking the Spirit pole, but unfortunately the folks who recorded those have not sent them to me yet. If you need any more information, please let me know and I will provide all that I can. I do need to get this pole ordered tomorrow so he can hopefully have a couple of practices on it before the State qualifying meet on Friday, May 17. Thank you for an advice you can provide.

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