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DO YOU THINK THIS IS A SMART MOVE? SHOULD HE STICK WITH THE 16FTRS OR WILL HE GO HIGHER ON THE 5.0 METER POLES? MY COACH TIM MCMICHEALS THINKS IT MAY POSSIBLY THROW OFF HIS TIMING AND SHOULD STICK W/ THE 4.90S.

ID LIKE TO HEAR FROM U PVJUNKIE U SEEM TO BE THE MAN AROUND HERE.

Just matters where he grips I jumped on 5m the year at KU relays the timing ain't that bad if you got a good take off and they will definately throw you higher.

ya it might throw his time off some but he can keep practicin till he gets it. Dave Volz always got his grip up there because he wasnt afraid. "Im gonna jump as high as I can or I'm not gonna jump at all." That was his attitude. It may take him awhile but maybe movin up a little at a time and practicin a lot at it he will def get it down.

Tommy is a big kid and really fast. I was surprised he made the jump on 4.90 poles. I am sure he is ready for the 5 meter poles.

One of the main parts of the FX design and testing was to make for smoother transitions between poles for both length changes and weight changes. I have watched the U of I guys transition lengths without problems -

Well.......................Moving to longer pole is ONLY neccessary when you need to raise your grip and your outta pole. Here is how it works.

1 You are not overbending the pole (many people dont even know what this looks like and if you did you would cringe like I do when you watch these vaults)
2 You are on a pole 15 - 20lbs over your wt.
3 You are landing deep
4 You have no more pole left to raise your grip.

You dont have to meet all of these and there are others. Watch his vault and form your own opinion.

i completely agree with all the points that Brian has made above.

I switched to 5m poles the week before my last meet in school and it made a huge difference in my vault, but it may not make a difference in someone else's. The main difference I noticed between 4.90 and 5m poles is that the pole moves a little slower (at least in Spirits), which lined up perfectly with the timing of my swing since i had a slow swing back in the day. too bad it poured a** rain and forced me to go back down to the 4.90m poles that weekend. I popped some huge jumps on 5m poles in practice, so you never know......

rainbowgirl28 wrote:Tommy is a big kid and really fast. I was surprised he made the jump on 4.90 poles. I am sure he is ready for the 5 meter poles.

IM NOT SURE HOW HIGH ESHBACH GRIPPED WHEN HE CLEARED 18-2.1/4 BUT I THINK IT WAS UNDER 16. MAYBE FOR A HIGHSCHOOLER ITS DIFFERENT BUT JUMPING 18-3 GRIPPING 16 ISNT SHOCKING. I GARUANTEE DIAL DIDNT GRIP THAT HIGH WHEN HE CLEARED 18 IN H.S. I THINK HE COULD GO EVEN HIGHER ON 4.90 POLES.

TURN OFF your caps lock. Those would have to be some fat custom made 4.90s. I think he'll do even better on 5ms. I saw video of him his freshman year and he was already on a 4.90 holding about 15'. He rotated the pole FAST but had almost no swing. and Baggett wouldn't move his grip unless he was ready for it.

Eshbach Still only jumps on 4.90s. He says he hates 5m poles can't swing as fast om them.

Wow thats an interesting problem. You'd think Eshbach would jump higher if he raised his grip.