Mecham wrote:But, I think it is more of a confidence stimulator than anything else
i personally feel that false a false sense of confidence leads to less spacial awareness while in the air. if you think you will be safe no matter what, your body wont learn to sense that it isnt going straight or deep enough into the pit. it only takes on bad jump and one bad decission to finish a bad jump to have serious problems...
i will say that i still keep my helmet in my bag, but i have not worn it in over a year for pole vaulting (i have used it for water ski jumping ). it is in there for days when conditions are "ideal" for jumping