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Did anybody run into the same problem I had at my pit in Reno (#3)? Every jump I took came up very short (into my shins), even though I was hitting all of the positions and on a soft pole. I chalked it up to early season, until I was watching the 7:45 competition on the same pit. In warm-ups somebody noticed that the standards looked a little far back, so they dug out the pads and realized that 80 centimeters was actually at about 140 centimeters. Thankfully, they fixed them before the last competition, but what about the 5:30, 3:15 (my competition), 1:00, and 10:15 competitions. We're just kind of outa luck, I guess? I know for a fact that a similar situation occured on Pit #1. A competitor noticed part way through the competition the the standards looked off, so they dug out the pads; low and behold they were about 20 centimeters off.
It's funny, you go to a USATF sactioned event with certain assumptions, maybe the most important being that the equipment your jumping on be correctly installed. If you noticed, a lot of people came up short in many different competitions. (Excluding the ones hitting the box)
I really like the Pole Vault Summit, and always have a good time. I've jumped well there in the past, and I've jumped poor there in the past. But, I don't think I've ever jumped well there and not made opening height.

I did not wanna say anything about it cause i didnt know if it was tru, but a freind of mine told me that the pits had shifted back during the earlier competitions. I was on my smallest pole and i had my standards at 65, i did the same thing u did, and blamed it on myself. Not to mention at two of my bars at 5m i came down on them really wierd, cause i was really reaching for the bar off the top and i jumped at 5:30 so they must have been back eally far if that tru. But it still was fun.

I always check the standards when I officiate. This year I even brought a laser leveling device. My pit (#8, 5:30) was dead on when we started. My understanding (Paul Heglar checked it with my laser device while I was reading rules to the competitors) was that the standards were already okay, but it was just a high school pit, so I don't think anyone was jumping with enough force to change anything.

One way to check the standards (anyone can do it) is to stretch a bungee between the uprights and eyeball it. The bungee can get as low as the pit. That's what I used to do before getting the laser device. If you want to get really anal you can hang a plumb line over the bungee. Yes, I do keep a plumb line and weight in my officiating bag, but have never had to use it. If you are not sure that the uprights are totally vertical you can hang the plumb line over the crossbar when it is at the desired height.

While we are on the topic of officiating tricks, the height can be measured using a $39 paint pole from Home Depot along with a roller brush handle. It beats the $240 or so that the track catalogs want for their measuring devices and is more durable to boot.

Yeah, I jumped on Pit 3 at 3:15 right before you guys and had the same problem. I couldn't roll my smallest pole over, and damn near landed in the box on my first jump. At that point though, they figured out that the pit was too far forward and the top pad kept falling into the box, which the pole would hit and stop. Then, after my comp. they found that the standards were like a foot off. Even on other pits though I saw all kinds of guy getting stood up, landing short or even in the box. Doesn't make sense. I wish they would have checked the standards before my comp.

I wish I could say that was my problem, but I wasn't even really getting off the ground...

Were those the pits with the brand new standards where you just turn dials?

rainbowgirl28 wrote:I wish I could say that was my problem, but I wasn't even really getting off the ground...

Were those the pits with the brand new standards where you just turn dials?

Pits 1 and 2 had the new ones with the fixed uprights that the dials move the offset/top piece only. I know a few elites say those things can really mess up your depth perception because the uprights don't move and are close to the box.

Pit 3 had the tall crankup standards that you push the uprights back and forth to set the base.

what happened to the pits 1-3 at reno...

All the pits down stairs were assembled on thursday. The standards were zero'd and anchored to the fondations with screws.

pits one and two were the pits used on stage friday night. Thus they had to be torn down and reassembled before competions on saturday morning. The crew that helps set up did a great job, but they forgot to do one little thing to Screw the standards in place. There was also a bit of a rush to get all the pits upstairs ready for the training sessions on friday.

I don't want to point any fingers, but that big red headed guy (scott weinholdtz or however you spell his last name) was in charge. So if you have issues you should contact him and I'm sure he'll take care of it

no seriously, It takes a lot to of man and woman hours to put on the summit every year. and the individuals from fresno, UCS, whichita state, and everyone else who helped did an amazing job.

I was the guy on pit one who got fed up with the standards and had them fixed, not that it mattered for me I train with the standards at 150cm, but I could see others in the open 1 group having problems.

lastly, lets not forget reno isn't about jumping high, its about learning how to vault properly and safely.

I have to agree with Kevin on this one, Reno is for learning, jumping high is a bonus. I like Vaultmd having his laser and plumbbob, I carry those in my bag also, I like for the standards to be set correctly, eases my mind. I did notice alot of vaulters coming up short also, the open and collegiate vaulters I chalked it up to trying too hard, there were alot of vaulters amped up and maybe the timing was off. Regardless of your standard settings, if you land in the box, something didn't happen right at take off. I got to say though, even with a few vaults coming up short, most of the vaulting I saw and officiated were outstanding. Alot of competitive spirit, comraderie and good sound vaulting. Made me proud to be a part of a great community, the vault community.

I was one of the guys who landed in the box, and I would have to agree that it was because I was too amped up. It was a third atempt and I decided to take the jump no matter what, and instead of taking off at 13' I took off at 11' and tried to complete the vault. I blame adrenaline and sheer stuberness.

VaultNinja wrote:I was one of the guys who landed in the box, and I would have to agree that it was because I was too amped up. It was a third atempt and I decided to take the jump no matter what, and instead of taking off at 13' I took off at 11' and tried to complete the vault. I blame adrenaline and sheer stuberness.

How's your butt feeling?

VaultNinja wrote:I was one of the guys who landed in the box, and I would have to agree that it was because I was too amped up. It was a third atempt and I decided to take the jump no matter what, and instead of taking off at 13' I took off at 11' and tried to complete the vault. I blame adrenaline and sheer stuberness.

Are you the guy from Idaho State?

I was down at Pit 5 when you hit the ground. I thought you were dead. Glad to see you're okay!

i too thought u were down for the count. u had the height tho