Bending a Skypole

[McD Vault]

Okay so i jump on a spirit 14 180 and i weigh about 185. i have a skypole 14 185 but cannot get ANY bend out of it. My plant is strong and i have good pole speed, i just can't get the thing to bend! Any tips?

[rainbowgirl28]

What are the flex numbers of both poles? How high are you holding on each pole?

[McD Vault]

im not sure about the flex numbers, but im one hand grip down on each. its making me crazy

[rainbowgirl28]

im not sure about the flex numbers, but im one hand grip down on each. its making me crazy

Well go look up the flex numbers. If you don't know what they are, write down everything that is engraved on the top of the pole. It could be that you have a soft 180 and a stiff 185 so it's closer to a 10lb jump than a 5lb jump.

Or it could be that you are trying too hard when you go up poles and reaching yourself under.

[McD Vault]

yeah thats also an issue. im a junior in high school and my pr sophomore year was 12 6. but this indoor season all i've cleared was 11 6 because my step has been a foot under nearly every jump. not to mention im blowing through the crossbar on the 180.. i've heard skypoles are notorious for being hard to bend, and i think the 10lb estimated weight jump may be even more than 10 lbs in actuality.
im not sure, the situation just sucks because outdoor season has just begun and i still haven't settled it.

[rainbowgirl28]

Skypoles are not hard to bend. Skypoles are actually notorious for being easier to bend. The brand of the pole shouldn't make a difference in this case.

[KirkB]

i have a skypole 14 185 but cannot get ANY bend out of it. My plant is strong and i have good pole speed, i just can't get the thing to bend! Any tips?

If you have a strong plant and good pole speed (to verical) with exactly the same grip, and if you're blowing thru the 180, I can't imagine that you mean "ANY". How much do you mean when you say "ANY"?

If you mean you don't get "AS MUCH" bend as you think you should have, how do you finish those vaults?

And are you jumping on it exactly as you jump on the 180?

Assuming that the poles are only 5-10 pounds apart, I think the first thing you need to do is to stop blaming the problem on the pole, and take personal responsibility for the differences between your jumps on the 180 and 185.

The first step in this direction is to not do anything differently on the 185. Run the same, plant the same, jump the same, and SWING the same. Since there should be no "waiting for the pole to do something", if you SWING the same, you WILL get SOME bend, and that bend should be sufficient to complete the vault with very similar technique as on the 180.

Video would help us to analyze the differences, if that's possible. We might be able to pick out something you're doing differently on the 185 that's causing you to not finish your vault "properly".

I can see that this is very stressful and frustrating for you right now. Just be happy that you've hit this difficulty very early in the outdoor season, and once you take responsibility for fixing it (with something your doing technically), then you'll have time to fix it. But I I realize that you can't fix it until you know what to fix. We can help you with that if you either provide vids, or describe the symptons a little more clearly.

Superlative words like "can't get ANY bend" don't help us much, because we know that that's an exageration. And more importantly, it causes you to focus on the wrong thing. Focus on what YOU'RE doing differently ... not what the pole is doing. If your technique is sound on the 185, you WILL swing properly, and the pole WILL bend enough to have a successful jump.

You won't blow thru, but you won't stall out either. It should be "just about right" ... even if it's a LITTLE on the stiff side.

Kirk

[McD Vault]

You're right, I do have one issue i didn't know if i mentioned, but it is DEFINITELY not all the pole's fault. My step has been about a foot under, and because of this, my center of gravity is off from takeoff, meaning my takeoff is not perfect.. Thanks a lot for your help.

Also, im getting a little bend from the plant, but it's really difficult for me to swing completely upside down.

[KirkB]

... My step has been about a foot under, and because of this, my center of gravity is off from takeoff, meaning my takeoff is not perfect ...

Aha!

You need to realize that there's 2 distinct parts of the SWING. There's the DOWNSWING ... which puts energy into the pole as well as drives the pole forwards to vertical, and there's the UPSWING ... which rotates your body from a hanging-down position to an inverted position.

On a highbar, the division between the 2 is obvious. Downswing is before you pass directly under the bar, and upswing is after that.

On a pole, it's a little less obvious. Downswing is everything up to passing the chord of the pole, and upswing is everything after that.

If you're not getting ANY bend out of the pole then the chord and the pole are one and the same.

If you're a foot under, then you're not going to have much of a DOWNSWING. So you won't bend the pole much, because you're not putting much energy into it.

This is probably why your 185 isn't bending much!

Remedy: Get back on the 180, fix your takeoff so that it's a foot back, then get back on the 185, and DO EVERYTHING THE SAME!

Also, im getting a little bend from the plant, but it's really difficult for me to swing completely upside down.

The less downswing you have ... or the slower the downswing ... the less UPSWING you'll have. Without a strong upswing, it's tough to get fully inverted.

Fix the takeoff, and you'll fix the DOWNSWING. Fix the DOWNSWING, and you'll fix the UPSWING. Fix the UPSWING, and you'll get upside down easier/sooner.

Can you see the relationships between all this now?

Kirk

[McD Vault]

Wow that is such a huge help. Thank you so much! I worked out the step today and have a meet tomorrow morning. I'll fill you in on the result but I can't thank you enough!

[Livininthepast]

Not to brag, but when I weighed 132, I used a 165 pound, 15'6" skypole, and I broke a 14'6" 145.
You do not have good speed or a good plant. You are hanging on the pole. this is dangerous. You must "blow" thru the pole, not hang on it. You are "old man" vaulting. In other words, you do not have the ability yet to properly flex vault.

[KirkB]

Not to brag, but when I weighed 132, I used a 165 pound, 15'6" skypole, and I broke a 14'6" 145.
You do not have good speed or a good plant. You are hanging on the pole. this is dangerous. You must "blow" thru the pole, not hang on it. You are "old man" vaulting. In other words, you do not have the ability yet to properly flex vault.

LITP, I don't understand what you're trying to say to McD that will help him.

He weighs 185 and is trying to get on a 185 pole. You say when you were 132, you used a 165.

You say you must blow thru the pole, yet McD says he blows thru his 180.

You say he doesn't have the ability yet to properly flex vault.

So other than telling him that "he's doing it all wrong" (paraphrasing), what is your advice to McD? Where does he go from here?

Kirk