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well im a junior i weigh 135 im about 6 foot tall and i jump on a 14 160 carbon holding right at the op under the label my standards are set at 17-21 depending on how i am running i run from 8 rights my pr is only 13 6 and i was wondering how i could help with the push from the top of the pole and the whole swing thing its difficult for me to learn anything when your the only lefty on the team of 5 people but i was just wondering what could help me and also when should i collapse my bottom arm everytime i do and i pull through it feels as if the pole bends even more i just dont know what to do and i dont think i should get on a bigger pole because all we have is a 15 150 and bigger so can i have some advice please?

my first advice to you would be to lower your grip like 4-6 inches to get some better pole speed if your standards are at 17-21 inches. Plus dropping your grip down will stiffen up the pole a little so you can be agressive with your left arm. The stiffer pole you jump on the higher it will enable you to push off. And that 15ft 150 isnt going to be much bigger than your 14ft 160, it might end up being the perfect next pole up but i wouldnt go to it until your standards are at 26+ on the other pole. just because its a 15ft pole doesnt mean you need to grip at the top of it, i would only move your grip up 2 or3 inches at the most so you would have a grip around 13'8 or 9 on it. and a good run and plant and getting on the stiffest pole possible is the key to jumping high.

i would agree with kyle here. Im early on in the season and im practising on a 14ft 160 and since my partner broke the 15ft 145, i use a 15ft 150, its fine man. Im not too much bigger than you, im 6ft3.5 and i weigh approx 150plbs but i grip about 12 foot on these poles. You should be fine. As Kyle has already said jump better on the 160 and make it softer before you move up. I dont know how much 18 inches in cm for your stands but, usually the sign of a good vaulter is having your stands at 60+cm

ok so i should just lower my hand grip to about 13 9? and wait till im getting in more to go on the 15 150 but if i go down on the pole doesnt that mean i wont jump as high as i was?

haha classic. Heights will come later man, just wacking your grip up isnt the solution. By lowering your grip, you should be able to perfect your technique on a smaller scale, THEN move up. Putting yourself on a large pole will just AMPLIFY your previous problems. And in in your case its the driving the pole in, therefore your gonna land square on your a** ( just callin it as i see)if you simply move up.

angerpaulie wrote:ok so i should just lower my hand grip to about 13 9? and wait till im getting in more to go on the 15 150 but if i go down on the pole doesnt that mean i wont jump as high as i was?

moving your grip down might help you even jump higher. If you grip to high u have no pole speed so its worthless energy, by lowering your grip you will catch that energy better and jump higher. if the key to pole vaulting high was just gripping high then the best vaulters in the world would be trying to grip around 18ft instead of their normal 16 - 16'6 grips.