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Right now, I am consistently vaulting over 10 feet but I have cleared 10'6" one but it was a lucky vault. Before, I was using a UCS Spirit 13 foot 140 pole, holding about a foot down, but I overbent it once and my coach had me move up to a UCS Spirit 13'7" 145 pole, which is REALLLLLY stiff compared to my other pole. ON this one, i can only get like a quiver bend. This is really throwing me off. I know that in order to get higher, I need to get on this pole since the 140 pole will just not give me strong recoil i need after i bend it, but me not being able to bend the 145 pole alot is making me lose my confidence and alot of times, I flail out at the top of my vault because I give up during my jump. So I was wondering what kinds of things I can do in order to get used to this pole, bend it, and clear at least 10'6" for my last meet of the season in just 7 days. Thanks.. Also, I mentioned this in another thread but the concept of swinging my legs behind my head is hard for me. I think all I need for that is to think of it in another way. Like someone told me to pretend there is a hoop at the top of the pole that you have to go through, but it didn't work for me that well... Thanks again..

Andy, if you can, try to borrow a pole that's between your old one and your new one. Even if you haven't practiced with it ... like if someone at your meet in 7 days lends you one ... you can probably still jump higher on it than either of your 2 poles.

Check out the Relative Stiffness Chart, and print out a copy ... to take to the meet with you. Then if someone is willing to lend you one, you can see how it compares to the other 2.

It's like the story of the 3 bears ... you need to find the pole that's "just right".

Kirk

For right now though, that's the only pole I have that's stiffer than my 140. My meet is this Wednesday and today at practice, I did not have ANY good jumps, I am actually now scared of the 145 pole since I have been rejected twice and fell back before. I can't penetrate the pit, and I can't do anything. I think this is a mental thing but I'm really stressing out right now!!! PLEASE HELP

KirkB wrote: Check out the Relative Stiffness Chart ...

Andy, have you checked out this chart?

Do you realize that there's 2 other pole stiffnesses between your light pole and your heavy pole?

Here's your 2 poles, highlighted in yellow ...

In an earlier post, I recommended that you try to find a pole between your 2 poles ... one with a Relative Stiffness of 30 or 31.

But while I've been typing this, I'm beginning to realize that the 145 is NOT too heavy for you. Just lower your grip so that it DOESN'T reject you.

andy94566 wrote: ... My meet is this Wednesday and today at practice, I did not have ANY good jumps, I am actually now scared of the 145 pole since I have been rejected twice and fell back before. I can't penetrate the pit, and I can't do anything. I think this is a mental thing but I'm really stressing out right now!!!

This is NOT a mental thing. You're simply gripping the pole too high for your current technique (or lack of technique). I haven't seen your vids, and you haven't said what your grip is, but assuming that you're gripping somewhere in the 12-13' range, you're focussing too much on BENDING the pole, and not enough on PROPER TECHNIQUE.

Even with a 12' grip, you should be easily clearing 10-6 ... without much technique. With an 11-6 grip, you need SOME technique to clear 10-6, and with an 11-0 grip, you need GOOD technique to clear it. These are just rough numbers, but you get the idea. Tell us your grip, and someone with better numbers than me can give you better guidance on the average grip-to-bar ratio. According to DJ's Mid Mark Chart (http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=4643&hilit=step+checkmark), you should only need to grip 11-4 to clear 10-6. I doubt that you're gripping that low ... but tell us. Remember that it's pole VAULTING ... not pole BENDING.

You must understand that if you're swinging PROPERLY, then the pole can't possibly "reject" you. Your misses will be either blow-thrus (if you're bending it too much) or stall-outs (if you're not bending it enough). Solution for stall-outs: LOWER YOUR GRIP!

I am concluding that the pole "rejecting" you is becuz you're simply gripping to high on it. In fact, you must be bending it quite a bit in order for you to be "rejected", so maybe you don't need a lighter pole after all. Just lower your grip to a height that you're capable of handling.

Kirk