FLEX NUMBERS

[jmayesvaultmom]

Would someone please define "training" poles? Aren't they just a pole you warm up on that is maybe shorter and under your weight to use for popups and drills from a close run...one you would never jump on in a meet?

[wacky274]

from what i remember hearing about them....i believe a training pole is like a pole vaulting pole without a sail piece....helps a vaulter learn how to keep energy going into the pole correctly, and helps plant correctly......i'm probably way off, wouldnt surprise me, but i do believe thats what i've been told

[PVJunkie]

Your right on target....no sail tons of glass no flex # thus no max weight. Thats why you cant use them in comp. there is no max wt. (they can and are flexed but the # is not put on the pole). Keep in mind that the US High School Fed is the only gov. body in the WORLD to have the max wt rule on the books. Why............you may ask..........blame our glorious hs athletics "system". In other countries they use a club system (far superior to ours) that would never have a bad coach teaching an event or position in any sport. They just wouldnt have the event and you would go to a different club. In the US...........well we all know tons of bad coaches that give lots of sports a bad name. In our particular event they also make it more dangerous. Like i said on an earlier post, a bad sprint coach is just bad, a bad vault coach is DANGEROUS!!! Bad officiating is one of my major pet peeves in our sport. Last year in the ILL state HS meet they made everone re tape their poles because it was said the the tape had to be one continuous layer (tape from your lowest possible grip to your highest). Needless to say some of the schools sharing poles had nearly half the pole covered with a whole roll of tape. Even if only one athlete were using the pole and they liked to have both their top and bottom hand taped they had this huge long spiral of tape. I personally read the HS, NCAA, USATF and IAAF rules on the vault several times a year (and I am not a cert. official) and at the HS level it is still amazing how the guy in charge has no concept of the rules. If your caoch does not travel with a rule book in his/her back pocket everywhere they go..........they should!! Nothing ruins a good comp than annoying every athlete and coach who showed up properly prepared and is distracted by some official who has MADE UP the rules on the fly and dosent even own a rule book.

Sorry.........stepping off my soap box.........there now, all better.

later, B

[wacky274]

whew....i'm glad to know that i was correct, lol....cause i was pretty sure thats what it was

[jmayesvaultmom]

I guess then, that our school doesn't have any training poles and Jodie has never used one anywhere. But it might be something to consider for the new vaulters.

[lonestar]

I guess then, that our school doesn't have any training poles and Jodie has never used one anywhere. But it might be something to consider for the new vaulters.

Actually, if Jodie has worked with Don Hood Sr., then she has used one. Don's program usually entails short run vaults on Altius training poles (rated A, B, C, or D for stiffness) and then long run vaults on competition poles.

Training poles are fine to use for that purpose - the problem with them is that they can bend a whole lot and usually not break, so a lot of high school boys started using them on long runs, bending the snot out of them, and overshooting the pit, getting head injuries like the ones that killed 2 kids last year. Basically, you should treat a training pole like any other pole and grip it on a run that will get you landing i n the middle of the pit, and not off the back, sides, or in the box.

[jmayesvaultmom]

I know Don uses the ABCD ratings. Jodie has never been to one of his camps. She has always worked with him privately or with 2 or 3 other vaulters. She always has had her poles with her and used those--but other vaulters used his. There have been a couple of times she used a blue pole of his warming up the first couple of times she was there. Maybe that was a training pole? I don't know what kind it was... I don't remember it bending any differently..so I don't know.

[lonestar]

I know Don uses the ABCD ratings. Jodie has never been to one of his camps. She has always worked with him privately or with 2 or 3 other vaulters. She always has had her poles with her and used those--but other vaulters used his. There have been a couple of times she used a blue pole of his warming up the first couple of times she was there. Maybe that was a training pole? I don't know what kind it was... I don't remember it bending any differently..so I don't know.

Those blue poles that Don has are all Altius poles, and he mainly only keeps training poles rated ABCD, so the pole Jodie warmed up on was probably one of those. I've been to his private lessons also, and he ran them exactly like his camps. They don't bend any differently, they're essentially just like a normal pole but are supposedly easier to get on and slower to unbend. It's hard to notice any difference between Altius trainers and comp poles.

[rainbowgirl28]

bumped for all you who don't understand flex numbers yet

[RPVA03]

Could you explain what effect length has on flex numbers. I assume then that with longer poles they space the supports farther apart when measuring. Is this true? Say if you have a 14’ 150 and it’s flex falls between 20.0 and 21.0. Will a 15’ 150 also fall between 20.0 and 21.0, or will it be lower like between 19.0 and 20.0?

[lonestar]

Could you explain what effect length has on flex numbers. I assume then that with longer poles they space the supports farther apart when measuring. Is this true? Say if you have a 14’ 150 and it’s flex falls between 20.0 and 21.0. Will a 15’ 150 also fall between 20.0 and 21.0, or will it be lower like between 19.0 and 20.0?

Every length is different, and if a 180 falls between a 16.0-16.9 in a 15' length, it doesn't mean those same flex numbers will apply to that weight rating in another length. If I'm not mistaken, a 16' 180 is more like in the 18. range.

Yes, the spans on the flex machine do move farther apart for longer poles, but each company is different. UCS, for example, flexes 13'7s and 14's on the same span, 14'7s and 15's on the same span, and 15'7s and 16's on the same span. Gill (and I believe Essx) has a designated span for each increment pole, but again, the flex range for a given weight rating in one length isn't necessarily the same flex range for the same weight rating in a longer or shorter length.

[Lax PV]

Could you explain what effect length has on flex numbers. I assume then that with longer poles they space the supports farther apart when measuring. Is this true? Say if you have a 14’ 150 and it’s flex falls between 20.0 and 21.0. Will a 15’ 150 also fall between 20.0 and 21.0, or will it be lower like between 19.0 and 20.0?

Every length is different, and if a 180 falls between a 16.0-16.9 in a 15' length, it doesn't mean those same flex numbers will apply to that weight rating in another length. If I'm not mistaken, a 16' 180 is more like in the 18. range.

Yes, the spans on the flex machine do move farther apart for longer poles, but each company is different. UCS, for example, flexes 13'7s and 14's on the same span, 14'7s and 15's on the same span, and 15'7s and 16's on the same span. Gill (and I believe Essx) has a designated span for each increment pole, but again, the flex range for a given weight rating in one length isn't necessarily the same flex range for the same weight rating in a longer or shorter length.

That explains my everlasting question about the un-understandable flex numbers that the rare, but yet available, UCS 475 poles always have. Could never figure it out...