manavetta wrote: He grips at 5.30 on a 5.38 13.2 flex, taking off around 4.50m, so he's got to have some crazy speed going into takeoff just for the physics to make sense.
That's for sure!
He grips higher than anyone else, especially for his height (6-3).
manavetta wrote: Does anybody know his 100m or 200m times?
Vaulters don't usually run 200m competitively, or even in practice (at full speed), and even if he did, I don't think that would give you his true top speed.
It would be better to know his 40m, 50m, or 60m speed.
manavetta wrote: or maybe just runway velocity?
I don't know his runway velocity, but you can calculate it from his vids. You know his grip, so take that to calibrate the distance he covers per frame, on his last couple steps.
Here's a thread where we discussed some of this back in 2009. The last page in this thread gives you some examples of how to use free software for video analysis. Since then, there's been quite a few more free software products that you can use (sorry, I'm rusty on this topic).
http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=38&t=17113&p=122842&hilit=kirk+video+metrics#p122842It would be nice to know how his takeoff velocity compares to Lavillenie, Bubka, and other 6m vaulters.
Kirk