Reply to question in the vaulting pole section

[Bruce Caldwell]

The Essx design on the new 11'6" and 12'4" poles with a 5000 number or greater as well as the 13' 400 series on up are built to have a higher potential bend due to a stiffer butt design if the take-off is with the pole.

The visual is a high bend, but what is really the secret is the stiffer butt of the design of the pole.

1. The ESSX pole has less bending potential into the pit in the lower 1/3 of the pole, which we believe is why other poles return to vertical prematurely.

a. Low bending pole will make contact with the pit and force the energy you store in the pole, back up the pole creating a premature return, not allowing the hips to catch up with the pole swing. Our pole rolls the energy up the pole, timed with the jump rather than forcing you to rock back faster.

b. I am not saying other brands cannot do this , as if the plant is high and the pole does not strike the pit you can have the same action if you keep the pole moving.

2. A stiffer butt design helps the energy to roll the pole, moving thepole better, when in reality the pole is rolling over or bending over properly, giving you a visual of a high bend.

3. A pole that rolls better is easier to position yourself in the sweet spot behind the pole to receive the lift, in most cases you can clear bars at or above your handgrip more efficiently.

4. We design the pole to have the same feel and timing as you move up the line and to the next length. There is something Earl Bell has taught us in pole making that cost more to produce a vaulting pole, but is a World of difference in constancy from the vaulters point of view. A design system that allows us to stiffen the pole without changing the angles of the sail. I cannot go into much more of this at this time.

A vaulter who forces the plant, is under, or is driving to the back of the box rather than leaping at the take-off will find the Essx pole to provide less recoil energy and they may not like the pole.
OH yes I forgot one important thing; a 150 test pole will be marked 151.8 lbs or 154.0 lbs while the other brands will have a 150 lbs soft flex, medium flex, or a stiff flex.
You have to contact them to find this info out. with us it is what it is.

[Cpvault]

Thank you very much for the information. I noticed you were talking about poles between 11'4" and 13' feet. Do the same principles of the pole make-up apply to 15'-16'5 poles? I mainly have used Spirits, and jumped pretty high throughout my career (5.50 multiple times; once on a Pacer Carbon). Typically, I've always had trouble penetrating--many times because I was under. Now with my "comeback", I'm slowly correcting that problem. My final question: I really like the pole diameter and carry weight of Pacer Carbons, but, they are a little quick for my jump (considering I'm 5'9", and typically have a lower angle of takeoff they aren't very forgiving), so I've always used Spirits, but they're obviously much heavier and thicker. So, could the ESSX Carbons provide the best of both worlds, or do they run into the same problems as listed above? Thanks.

[Bruce Caldwell]

Some of your answers are in this post.
http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/vie ... highlight=

We do make the poles not to come back faster as we believe in the double pendulum action that blends.
As you move up the lengths more of what we strive for is built into many other special made brands. Spirit poles do have a less stiffer top and this does help to forgive a lousy plant.
On the other hand in my opinion when you use the carbon for a faster returning pole you sacrafice consistancy as it can take you higher.

Penetration is something you lose when you have a pole that returns faster and you will have some difficulty getting over the bar.

It is our opinion and from the years we built poles for Earl Bell that a more consistent pole will win over one that will get you the highest in the air sometimes.

That is one of many reasons why Earl Bell was the most consistent vaulter at 18’ and 19’ for many years.

We even made a pole for him that we called the Superman pole one that if he had it all together was the best performing for his style.
It was not forgiving he had to bring it every time, with no mistakes; he had to be right on every jump for the pole to perform. He gave it back to us and said there was no one who could do that walking on this earth LOL

[rainbowgirl28]

lol Bruce maybe you should say you built poles for Earl back in the day, since ESSX was only a glimmer in someone's eye back then

[Cpvault]

Thanks Bruce, I look forward to trying the poles here in the near future. And thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.

--Brad Pickett

[Bruce Caldwell]

lol Bruce maybe you should say you built poles for Earl back in the day, since ESSX was only a glimmer in someone's eye back then

To be politically correct the Fibersport poles were a version and similar to what we are doing today in reference to providing a stiff bottom.
Except the concept of the sail consistency was not born until Earl Bell became involved with our pole making in 1998-1999.
Prior to 1996 Earl Bell had an influence on Sky-pole designs with the Gill and I had seen some very great poles emerge back then.

We feel that the best poles we have made have a 4990 series serial number and above as this is when we went with our own formula resin system on the glass and moved the operations to Fort Worth TX.