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I have a confusing question (or two) for some of you. I am a college grad from this past may and am coaching pole vault now in high school. I competed for 4 years and was a 13'8.5" vaulter on 14' poles and used 14' 160-170 spirits (just for background). Now coaching, i am really tempted to go up again and vault. its too hard to sit back and watch the full stuff (i do everythng else aside from full approaches). Well i tried wednesday night...

We have a 14' 145 spirit, and then 15' 145, 15' 150 pacer III's (we also have another identical 15' 145, so it says on the label, but it is only 14'3 long in truth which is weird...). I weigh 165 by the way. I thought if i held down a foot it would be a 14' 155 and 14' 160. Well i went up twice and was not as fast as i used to be on the runway of course, but bent well, but stalled out and landed just next to the box on the mats. Now i know the pole will bend like a 15 footer no matter where i hold, but this felt harder than any time before in my life. we have a 14' 165, but that was what i used when in my peak stages. i am curious what i can do to get up i the air (and into the pit 'normally'). i use a 7 left approach and want to practice with my guys, but i seem to be stuck between poles. am i? or can i use the 14' 145 but grip down and use a 5-6 left, or will the 15' 145/150 be good but just get more practice while holding down...

sorry for the long post, but it bugs me and confuses me why i am not able to vault fully. any help would be good, or email me at patricksheridan1@hotmail.com

patybobady wrote:I have a confusing question (or two) for some of you. I am a college grad from this past may and am coaching pole vault now in high school. I competed for 4 years and was a 13'8.5" vaulter on 14' poles and used 14' 160-170 spirits (just for background). Now coaching, i am really tempted to go up again and vault. its too hard to sit back and watch the full stuff (i do everythng else aside from full approaches). Well i tried wednesday night...

We have a 14' 145 spirit, and then 15' 145, 15' 150 pacer III's (we also have another identical 15' 145, so it says on the label, but it is only 14'3 long in truth which is weird...). I weigh 165 by the way. I thought if i held down a foot it would be a 14' 155 and 14' 160. Well i went up twice and was not as fast as i used to be on the runway of course, but bent well, but stalled out and landed just next to the box on the mats. Now i know the pole will bend like a 15 footer no matter where i hold, but this felt harder than any time before in my life. we have a 14' 165, but that was what i used when in my peak stages. i am curious what i can do to get up i the air (and into the pit 'normally'). i use a 7 left approach and want to practice with my guys, but i seem to be stuck between poles. am i? or can i use the 14' 145 but grip down and use a 5-6 left, or will the 15' 145/150 be good but just get more practice while holding down...

sorry for the long post, but it bugs me and confuses me why i am not able to vault fully. any help would be good, or email me at patricksheridan1@hotmail.com

Your series:

14' 145 Spirit
14' 165?
15' 145 PIII chopped to 14'3 is approx. a 14' 160-65
15' 145 PIII (equivalent to a 14' 165)
15' 150 PIII (equivalent to a 14' 170)

Bear in mind that Spirits tend to be at least 5lb softer than their equivalent size Pacer III's. So your Spirit is probably more like a 14' 140, giving you about a 20-2525lb gap to your next pole, the 14' 165. A 15' 145 is equivalent to a 14' 165 at the same handgrip. The one that is chopped/shorter has probably lost up to 5lbs stiffness if it was cut at the bottom, so it might be more like a 14' 160.

Like the Irish guy in Braveheart said to William Wallace: "The good lord tells me he can get ME out of this mess, but he's pretty sure, YOU"RE f***!"

You're either going to have to use the 14' 145 from a shorter run, or move to a longer run to hit either the the chopped off 15' 145, 14' 165, or 15' 145, probably in that order. I wouldn't go jacking your grip up on the 145 or 150, because you will not make the pit if you can't get in on the lower grip with the shorter poles.

Good luck.

you may also want to keep in mind that it has ben a while since you have vaulted seriously and it might just take some time to get back in jumping shape.