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Ok so here is the thing. I'm a senior in high school and its my last chance to make an impression for colleges. Currently I'm jumping on a skypole 13'6" 160 and clearing 14', so i believe that I'm pretty much maximizing my vault off my current pole. I don't have a coach with any pole vault knowledge so im on my own here. I want to choose a pole for this season that is going to give me room to improve but not that i will be destroying in 3 weeks. I have been looking at spirit poles and think the one i should be getting on is a 14' 7" but im clueless as to the test weight i should get. I weigh 155 and would get a 160 but i hear that the spirit poles are especially soft. Also i am an above average strength vaulter with much speed. So any info or websites you guys could help me out with would be great.
Thanks

As always, it is difficult to suggest a pole to buy if we haven't seen your vault... But I'll give it a shot.

How deep do you land in the pit (where are your standards usually set)?

Standards at 24 usually unless im having an off day i bring them into 18.

mostly land in the center of the bit a few feet from the back of the box but occasionally i end up near right side of the pit

What poles do you already have access to that you could try out?

i only have the the 13' 6" 160 pacer, (not skypole like i previously said) and thats it.

and maybe like a super old 180 15 footer'

I'd get a 14' 160 Skypole or Pacer.

But it doesn't sound like you need it yet, wait to move up poles until you are clearing the bar with the standards all the way back and landing a little deeper in the pit.

When you do move up poles, start out my moving your grip straight across (don't just grab at the top of the longer pole).

You think he should stay at 160? I was thinking more along the lines of 165-70... What's your reasoning? Shouldn't you go more weight THEN length? But since he can't do one at a time, he would have to deal with both at the same time... right?

Definitely stay jumping on your current pole for a little while longer though... You are NOT maximizing that pole. You SHOULD be able to clear another 4-8 inches on it and have your standards buried. However, it is not too early to start playing around with some bigger poles.

powerplant42 wrote:You think he should stay at 160? I was thinking more along the lines of 165-70... What's your reasoning? Shouldn't you go more weight THEN length? But since he can't do one at a time, he would have to deal with both at the same time... right?

Because he is a high school kid with limited resources. He can grip down on the longer pole if he is not ready for more length, but if he guesses wrong and is ready for more grip then he will be somewhat stuck with a shorter pole. He's already jumping more than a foot over his handhold, and while he is not ready to move up poles yet, I think there is a decent chance he'll need more length by the end of the season.

In a perfect world he'd go to a stiffer pole of the same length, but we can't always have every pole available.

Hey guys thanks, beginning last season my Pr was 10' 6" and i bumbed up four feet so i am hoping to jump up maybe another 1.5 to 3 and i could possibly buy two poles so if you think i should get like a 170 or 175 of the same weight it is a possibility. So i should be jumping like 14'6 off of my current pole? And once i accomplish that i should go to a bigger pole?

Get a 14' 165-170 and a 13'6" 170.

And there is a HUGE difference between 14', 15'6", and 17'. You'll need a lot more than a 14' 170 to jump 17'...