FASTEST POLE VAULTER

[TreyDECA]

This is the info I was looking at...

Time Machine "Speed" Records

15m Fly (Time Machine) Mens Daniel Ryland 1.35 Seconds
15m Fly Womens Jillian Schwartz 1.61 Seconds
15m with Sled 35lbs Daniel Ryland 1.64 Seconds

But they may not have updated it

Let me tell you....Daniel IS fast!!!

well, maybe jill did break the women's record.

[jmayesvaultmom]

If I am remebering right, Jillian ran close to 2.00 dragging a sled with 25 pounds!!!!!

[Kirk]

Several posters have mentioned that your speed "at takeoff" is important, not your 100m speed, or your speed down the runway.

That's true, but I just want to give some hope to those that aren't blessed with blazing foot-speed.

It's not the speed of your last step BEFORE the takeoff that's critical - it's your speed TAKING OFF. This is the same as in long jump. You don't want to have a braking action as you prepare to take off. You want to aggressively PULL your takeoff foot under you as you THRUST your lead leg forward/upward.

This might sound subtle, but it's absolutely critical. So just because you may be a little slow down the runway, don't despair. Just make sure that your foot-speed AS YOU'RE TAKING OFF is lightening fast!

For some vaulters, it's likely that they may even have too much speed in their approach, resulting in "gathering themselves" for the takeoff - which is a braking action - not an acceleration action.

I learned this technique with 7-step runs, then transferred it to my long run. It's not a technique that's easily learned when you hit your takeoff point on your long run without having drilled it into yourself with short run drills.

My velocity was off the chart (supposedly impossible) for what was claimed I needed to clear my PR, yet my takeoff speed with this technique made it possible.

[PVJunkie]

Thus the age old line "RUN THROUGH THE TAKE-OFF NOT TO THE TAKE-OFF"

Your last step must be active not passive. If you are still in contact with the ground you can create energy.

[Kirk]

Thus the age old line "RUN THROUGH THE TAKE-OFF NOT TO THE TAKE-OFF"

Your last step must be active not passive. If you are still in contact with the ground you can create energy.

Exactly!

But at the risk of being repetitive, I'd like to stress this to any younger, less-experienced vaulters that still don't quite "get it".

I'm not just talking about just "running through" the take-off. I'm talking about TAKING OFF on the take-off. That's a redundant sentence - I know - but think about it.

It rang a bell with me after listening to the Women's Long Jump commentator yesterday. He said that Marion Jones is a sprinter that's trying to long jump (so it's not her best event), whereas most Olympic long jumpers are long jump SPECIALISTS. In other words, they're not necessarily fast - they're just good LONG JUMPERS.

I think what the commentator might have been trying to say is that you don't have to have good sprint speed to be a good long jumper. You just need a super-quick TAKE-OFF.

I relate that to PV athletes. Yes, most are good sprinters, and that helps a lot. But for the rest of us, you can still be a good pole vaulter if you realize your strengths and weaknesses, and leverage them accordingly.

I sincerely believe this, as I've lived it. I hope I can convince at least one young athlete to continue training hard because they CAN BE a good vaulter despite lack of natural sprinting ability.

I also agree with PVJunkie for stating that "If you are still in contact with the ground you can create energy." He's saying that once you leave the ground, there's nothing to push against to create more energy. So once in the air, your destiny is set for the vault as far as creating energy. You're in the hands of the laws of physics at that point. This is all true.

(As a side point, don't incorrectly conclude that you should stay in contact with the ground LONGER to create MORE energy. It doesn't work that way!)

However, it's only the SUM of all energies that is immutable after take-off. The amount of kinetic and potential energy varies greatly as energy gets stored into the pole and is then released. This is basic science that's indisputable.

But I think the physicists don't take this far enough. What's NOT discussed much is the significance of the LOSS of energy to other forms, such as heat loss caused by muscle "friction". The best high jumpers have the least amount of energy loss on take-off. So too with pole vaulters.

But I'm not suggesting that we should jump upwards like high jumpers rather than forwards. Far from it! That's a whole other discussion for another day.

What I am suggesting is that there's always going to be some energy loss on take-off - you should just try to minimize it. In fact, there's continual energy loss (to muscle "friction") throughout the entire vault! Fibreglass poles absorb and release energy very, very efficiently. The human body doesn't.

If you don't believe me, then explain why your upper-body muscles feel like they're "tired" when you land, and explain why you're sweating. It wasn't just because of your run! And explain why your muscular actions after take-off require you to "exert energy". That's energy loss! In my mind, those are all proof of energy losses within the human body AFTER take-off.

So my point is that pole vaulters, high jumpers, and long jumpers can improve their performances if they recognize where these energy losses (friction, or inefficiencies) are in their jump, and modify their technique accordingly.

Sorry for the long post, but as I said, I hope some young vaulters can benefit from this insight.

[opalkak]

one of the fastest girls at takeoff is probably Andrea Dutoit. At a meet on July 1st this year in Flagstaff, a speed trap was set up about 10m from the box, and I think she ran as fast as I did on my slowest . I know her times were much faster than Stacey's. I wish I knew who had all the results. K. King, Dason Phelps, Adam Keul, Chris Chappell, and a couple of others competed, as well as Stacey, Andrea, Connie Jerz, April Steiner, and some others.

[eleazar]

Trey Hardee's 10.48 makes him the 8th fastest U.S. performer ever in the decathlon 100, and the second fastest ever by a collegian...That has to make him one of the fastest vaulters ever. Anybody know of any faster 100s recorded by a vaulter

I just decided to browse this site and this subject caught my eye, i havent read through them, but i am pretty sure this quote is not right...as a sophmore decathlete, i ran a 10.47 and a 10.46 and i know chris huffins has the collegiate deca record at 10.40...my name is not trey hardee, so i do not think trey has the second fastest collegiate 100...at least not yet.

anyhow, i think there should be a catagory for what you consider a vaulter, in this case, i think we could congratulate trey for probably being the second fastest 16' vaulter (bryan clay has ran 10.39 and jumped 16-8), i am pretty sure bubka is the fastest 20' vaulter (since he is the ONLY 20' vaulter)...probably dan o'brien is the fastest 17' vaulter 100m pr of 10.23...

as far as elite US Vaulters, there have been some really fast guys...
I hear Jan Johnson was blazing fast, don't forget about Dean Starkey, also Dave Volz was a part of a sub 40 second 4X100 up in Indiana and i've heard he was the fastest guy on the relay. Russ Buller is probably the fastest guy currently vaulting in the US (although if he was smart, he would soon be a canadian...).
Just take the past a present Louisiana Vaulters...Greg Duplantis ran 10m/s in 1996 trials, of course Russ Buller, also Daniel Trosclair is really really fast, Lon Badeaux was also a pretty fast guy, dont think he ever ran a 100, but he ran a 1.47 or 1.46 through a 15m time machine, which i think matches what trey hardee ran...I am from Louisiana and I am a fast Pole Vaulter...also Chandler Rice was super fast, although i think he only jumped 17-2 he did run like 10.6

So trying to figure out the fastest woudl be pretty hard, but how about who has the fastest mile or 1500m PR...that would be interesting!!

[TreyDECA]

So trying to figure out the fastest woudl be pretty hard, but how about who has the fastest mile or 1500m PR...that would be interesting!!

so what's yours???? mine's 4:44 or 4:42, but i'm pretty i'd run a bit faster in the open 1500. but i'm never doing that. huffins record is going down.

what did you score when you ran that fast? was it in a dec? cause i know to be valid, you have to finish a dec. i think the number in close to 7500, bbut that may not be for college.

[vaultin chris]

Trey Hardee's 10.48 makes him the 8th fastest U.S. performer ever in the decathlon 100, and the second fastest ever by a collegian...That has to make him one of the fastest vaulters ever. Anybody know of any faster 100s recorded by a vaulter

I just decided to browse this site and this subject caught my eye, i havent read through them, but i am pretty sure this quote is not right...as a sophmore decathlete, i ran a 10.47 and a 10.46 and i know chris huffins has the collegiate deca record at 10.40...my name is not trey hardee, so i do not think trey has the second fastest collegiate 100...at least not yet....

I posted this quote and it is correct (or at least correct when I posted it.) The 100 had to be competed in a decath that scored around 7500. Next, since we don't have 100m times for all the vaulters you mentioned or any other speed measurements it is hard to say how fast they were running with a pole. This post never said that he was the fastest on the runaway it just said he was ONE of the fastest vaulters.
SO i'm pretty sure your quote isn't right.

[~jj~]

From what i've heard markov is blazing fast. Probably one of the fastest bald guys of all time.

The world Famous Marty Cruley is the fastest bald white guy of all time,
10.02 to win Mt Sac relays back i the late 80's or early 90's. He also claimed vault 15'

[~jj~]

Greg Duplantis and Bubka are the fastest I have ever seen in person.
jj~

[vaultmd]

From what i've heard markov is blazing fast. Probably one of the fastest bald guys of all time.

The world Famous Marty Cruley is the fastest bald white guy of all time,
10.02 to win Mt Sac relays back i the late 80's or early 90's. He also claimed vault 15'

Did you know Cruley lives about two miles from me?