PoleVaultPower.com

This may seem like a silly topic, but it's an idea that I've toyed around with for a while. Lets say you have an extremely long pole (~20 ft). Right now the limiting factor is taking off and rotating the pole to vertical with such a high grip. Now lets say the pole was much more elastic than typical fiberglass or carbon poles and you continued your run after the pole hit the back of the box. The advantage here is you can continue to add energy into the pole after it is bent.

I think the current shape of pits would prevent such a bend in the pole, but with a few changes they could accomodate. Instead of a straight top arm your bottom arm would now be straight because of the angle of the pole. You could still achieve a 12-14 foot takeoff and penetrate into the pits. All form aside, I believe a 19'+ grip is possible, and a "vaulter" could slowly ride the pole up to the bar.

Far fetched, I know, but so was a bendable pole in the first place. What are some others' ideas on whether or not this could work?

I think the problem is, the more bend, the more force it is going to take to keep it bent at that point. If you are going to ride it to the top, that means the force it takes to only BEGIN the bend, to move the pole from a completely straight position to a little bend, needs to be more than your weightX9.8. That force necessary is only going to increase as you bend it more and more. Even if you ran into the vault, going to 90 degrees in the bend would probably take more than twice your body weightX9.8. Its a novel idea and i like it. There are just some tweaks to work out .

Let me know once you make them, I'll buy 2, and get that Nike contract and laugh at Tiger

haha i dont know it might conflict with some of the physics of the vault but who the hell wouldnt wanna try it