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My school bought me a brand new 14' 165 Spirit but after only 2 meets Im blowing through it like nothing. The next biggest pole I have is a 15' 175 Spirit. I know this is a huge jump in poles but its all I have to work with. I cant even use the 65 anymore unless I was going from a 4 step or something. Its 15' 75 or nothing. How should I go about this transition? Where should I hold? Any other tips to help me out so I dont wind up on the runway when I try out this new pole? Thanks.

You and I have the same goal for the end of the year and a similar problem with progressing faster than the school can provide us with poles. Fortunately for me, I was able to borrow some poles from 2 different local universities. They tend to have a larger selection of heaver and longer poles than high schools which would prevent you from having to make the jump. If there are any such colleges or even other highschools around that will let you borrow poles I would definitely give it a try. All they can say is no.

are you holding at the top of the 14? Im not sure if the PR is updated, but you are going to want to work with the 14' 165 a little longer, id say until you are at least jumping over your handhold, because its only going to get harder to learn as you start getting on bigger poles. Hold lower and go from a shorter run.

I haven't seen you jump, and I know nothing about you, but I would be willing to bet that you would go splat if you try to make that jump from a 14' to a 15' pole......there is a big difference in those two sizes of sticks....do you have any video?

I dont really think any colleges can help me out but ill see if local high schools can. I am holding at the top of the 14' pole. I wish I could work on my top phase more with the 14'er but Im just too much for the pole, I cant even use it and yes that PR is updated. Everytime my invesion starts to come along and I get to the point where I should be able to jump my grip, I have to move up poles. I dont have anything I can use besides the 15' 175. I would love to hold low on the 14 but right now with the league, section and even state meets coming up, I need height. I am a very fast and strong vaulter and my plant reflects that. Im gonna hold lower on the 15' pole and see what happens. I really think with a few days of practice I can get safely into the pit with the 15' stick.

my advice is make a Will/

CrossBarHOpper wrote:my advice is make a Will/

lol good suggestion....I have a similar problem was working on a UCS 12' 170 w/ 16.6 flex (i think) and was blowing through the ting to the back of the pit w/in the first week....the next pole we have for me to get on is a really old (or i think really old considering its condition) Pacer III that's label says 15' 160 but measures ~14'-14'4" so i think if my calculations r right its like a 170-175. i have no idea what the flex is cuz i can't find any etching on the pole and its not on the label. so i've been trying to go from a 12' hand grip straight up to like a 13-13'6" hand grip....it sux it's like jumping on a 4x4 piece of lumber when i can actually get my self to jump w/ it...but w/e just got to work on it i guess

VaultMarq26 wrote:I haven't seen you jump, and I know nothing about you, but I would be willing to bet that you would go splat if you try to make that jump from a 14' to a 15' pole......there is a big difference in those two sizes of sticks....do you have any video?

I must agree with VaultMarq26. There is a huge difference in a 14 and 15 ft pole. Really, in my limited opinion, you would need to be blowing through a 14-185 or 190 in order to transition to a 15-175.
I am not saying you can't do it, I have not seen you jump, you do need to be clear about the real difference in the poles.

If I hold at my 14' hand grip on the 15' pole wont that be like a 14 75?

it would be like a 185 or more

Again I will agree with VaultMarq26.
Weight ratings between 14 and 15 ft poles are meaningless. It is an apples and oranges comparison.
Better to use the "Relative Stiffness" chart that Jan Johnson (among others) has published.

Anti-Gravity wrote:Again I will agree with VaultMarq26.
Better to use the "Relative Stiffness" chart that Jan Johnson (among others) has published.

where could you find this?