ras wrote:Decamouse wrote:
Easiest way is to ignore the label placement - a 13ft 145 Spirit and a 13 ft 145 Pacer would feel almost identical if held right at the top - so for you the 13-145 Spirit to the 13-150 Pacer is the next pole up - just our of curiosity - flex numbers- 13-145 should be around 20.5 and 13-150 should be around 19.5
Interesting! So a borderline high school athlete would have a harder (approx 10 pound) time "making weight" with a Spirit than any other pole/brand?
On 13' poles and above they're similar to other brands, you just can't hold as high. So a 13'150 Skypole and 13'150 Spirit are going to feel fairly similar, if you are gripping 12'6 on both poles. You have to compare apples to apples. Yes, you can grip higher on the Skypole, which will then make it feel softer, but it takes more energy to move a higher grip into the pit.
So if you have a HS boy who grips 12' on a 13' pole, it doesn't matter where the max handhold is because he is not there. If he is gripping 12'9 on a 13'160 Skypole, then a 13'165 Spirit would be less than ideal, simply because of the max handhold rule. If he was in college, it wouldn't matter, it would be a good next pole.
On 12' and shorter poles, I find that Spirits tend to be ~10lbs stiffer than Gill poles, and are harder for HS girls to make weight. They're great poles, but I prefer other brands for the more mediocre athletes out there.