You get what you pay for with pole vault pits

[rainbowgirl28]

Who makes these cheap *** pole vault pits that are not thick enough to stop a vaulter who is going 13'+? They don't have a brand name on them, but I am running into them all over the place here in WA.

They meet the minimum dimensions to be legal, but they are not thick enough in the back to adequately break the fall of bigger/better vaulters.

Is this a common problem for the better high school vaulters? My list of facilities one of my kids can't jump at just keeps growing.

[strato]

but yet you would recomend jumping on hay

[VaultMarq26]

but yet you would recomend jumping on hay

If you had actually READ the thread about hay pits you would have seen that Becca said hay pits would be dangerous and not a good idea for actual vaulting.

[rainbowgirl28]

but yet you would recomend jumping on hay

I have been debating deleting that thread because I am afraid someone is going to be dumb enough to try it and break their back and somehow try to sue me because they got the idea off this site.

[txpolevaulter_k25]

but yet you would recomend jumping on hay

I have been debating deleting that thread because I am afraid someone is going to be dumb enough to try it and break their back and somehow try to sue me because they got the idea off this site.

yeah you should just delete it, although i am probably the only one dumb/crazy enough to try it lol

[souleman]

Becca, I favor deleting the thread. I forgot we live in a time that common sense is not what it use to be regarding what can and can not be done safely. Later......Mike

P.S. I'll go delete my contributions now.

[achtungpv]

yeah you should just delete it, although i am probably the only one dumb/crazy enough to try it lol

don't underestimate the stupidity of high schoolers or the general public.

[stormvault]

Becca,
Have you found a pit that is less than 30" thick by any company that can adequately soften a landing? I know many schools that have purchased the bare minimum pits from a couple of comapanies that after a year or 2 if an athlete who has any size goes over 13' they will run into problems. I have seen the same thing here. I think there is a reason that college pits have to be 32" and for the majority of high school kids who go 12' a 26" pit is ok.

I figured I would coment on your original post and not the Willie Nelson Green Alfalfa pit that is being advertised.

[rainbowgirl28]

Becca,
Have you found a pit that is less than 30" thick by any company that can adequately soften a landing? I know many schools that have purchased the bare minimum pits from a couple of comapanies that after a year or 2 if an athlete who has any size goes over 13' they will run into problems. I have seen the same thing here. I think there is a reason that college pits have to be 32" and for the majority of high school kids who go 12' a 26" pit is ok.

I figured I would coment on your original post and not the Willie Nelson Green Alfalfa pit that is being advertised.

I've never paid attention to the exact thickness of the pit, but this is also the first year I coached high school full time.

I know that the pit we used this past weekend had probably never been used before, or very minimally, and the only way I saved the kids' backs was by having two layers of the supplemental padding and two top pads on top.

It probably also depends on what you put the pit on. I would think putting it on tires instead of the track could potentially help, but I would hate to see someone bottom out and hit the tire wrong.

[spike gibeault]

my school has one of those no-name brands and its falling apart, once i started jumping 13 i was getting bruises on my back from bottoming out...and my head coach decided to put the pit on pallets so after all the straps that hold it together broke, the matts started to seperate and i was hitting the pallets...i definetly would rather have tires, im gonna do that over the summer, thanks becca

[txpolevaulter_k25]

my school has one of those no-name brands and its falling apart, once i started jumping 13 i was getting bruises on my back from bottoming out...and my head coach decided to put the pit on pallets so after all the straps that hold it together broke, the matts started to seperate and i was hitting the pallets...i definetly would rather have tires, im gonna do that over the summer, thanks becca

make sure you tie all the tires together, or they will separate and make holes in you pit, and you will still land on the ground, we use duct tape

[rainbowgirl28]

my school has one of those no-name brands and its falling apart, once i started jumping 13 i was getting bruises on my back from bottoming out...and my head coach decided to put the pit on pallets so after all the straps that hold it together broke, the matts started to seperate and i was hitting the pallets...i definetly would rather have tires, im gonna do that over the summer, thanks becca

make sure you tie all the tires together, or they will separate and make holes in you pit, and you will still land on the ground, we use duct tape

I would imagine big zip ties would work even better than duct tape.