If you have a pole break what is the pole trying to tell U?

[pvu-hooligan]

a recent friend of mine broke his pole at the poway invite. He was using an old skypole, it broke in two pieces. he landed on the pit fine and the first thing he said about 2 minutes later "did i do a backflip?" hahaha funny guy. he ended up taking first place in the 2nd division vaulting 13 feet. at first he tried out a pacer but it was too soft then he used a ucs 14' 155. the skypole broke maybe a feet under his lower hand grip, he keeps that arm straight and pulls back with his top arm. at least thats why he thinks the pole broke.

[rainbowgirl28]

the skypole broke maybe a feet under his lower hand grip, he keeps that arm straight and pulls back with his top arm. at least thats why he thinks the pole broke.

Locking out with your bottom arm and pulling down with your top arm does sound like a good way to break poles

[Tim McMichael]

Poles can break for a number of reasons. It’s nothing to brag about, but I have broken every brand of pole in every conceivable way. I once had a pole shred on me. It split lengthwise and fractured into about a million splinters, some of which I still have in me. This says nothing about the quality of the pole brand in general. Since the invention of the sail piece there has been only one make of pole that broke regularly because of an inherent design flaw, and that was the Nordic Feather Lights. They had a pure carbon section in the bottom four feet of the pole that was somehow spliced into the rest of the pole. The stress point at the splice just would not hold.

I don’t think it is fair or accurate to automatically blame a pole breaking on the manufacturer. If I broke a pole that was working for me, I examined the break to find where the problem was. Usually it had dinged a standard or something like that. Then I called the manufacturer and asked for one as close to the same as the one I broke as they could make. (This was back when I was still sponsored.) I once broke a brand new Spirit pole right out of the case. This was not the fault of UCS, but of a forklift driver for Delta Airlines.

[hep5753]

I recently toured a pole manufacturing plant and our guide put a pole on the stress machine and bent it as far as it would go in an attempt to intentionally break it, it didn't break. Next, he whacked it 3 times with the sharp side of a pair of cutting shears, bent it again, and it still didn't break. So why didn't this pole break or that pole that you have been using for 10 years, that has chips, nicks, scratches, etc. all over it, not break? Most of it goes back to the maker, what quality glass was used. how well it baked, how experienced was the person making the pole. Sure, dropping it on the runway or letting it hit the standards is not good, but just because it passes the stress test at the factory, under most circumstances, shouldn't releave the maker from responsibility of a new pole breaking.

[Bruce Caldwell]

Why is it your windshield made of glass gets a nick in it and you continue to use it and drive with it for years until one day without notice it falls in your lap.??
Because a nick, a scratch, or spike is a weak area that in time can be used, but will weaken as energy passes through it. It is dangerous to recommend continued usage because it is a weak spot and why would you, as a weak spot dissipates energy and does not store it.
We all use that same quality glass and we all have the technology to produce a quality product. We have far too many QC check points to allow a faulty product out the door.
Ask the other manufacturers why they do not replace poles, and then take a look at my program and see who is helping those in need.

As I have said before I do not know who you are and do not remember selling a 14-187 trainer pole. The biggest that was ever made that I know of was 14-160 test. There must of been a reason I did not replace it. But we do not have enough info to provide why!

[Tim McMichael]

I also cannot think of a training pole that big ever being made by anybody. Greg Duplantis and I had what we called "the world championship training pole contest" It was a grudge match because we bragged for years that we could beat each other. Believe me, I used the biggest one I could find, and it was a 14' 160 that was made by Paul Richards - I think. It has been too long ago to remember accurately. Anyway, I have not seen a bigger one advertised anywhere since. If there is one that size, and it is one of the slow moving foam filled types, I want it for my own training. I called Bruce, and he doesn't have any.

[Tim McMichael]

There is a metal plate on most standards that sits between the screw and the body of the standard. This plate usually has sharp points that stick out just far enough to catch a pole that hits the standard and then runs down it as it falls. If a pole breaks just beneath your hands, many times that is what has happened to it. Any pole that hits the standards should be checked for damage in the handle section.

[OUvaulterUSAF]

There is a metal plate on most standards that sits between the screw and the body of the standard. This plate usually has sharp points that stick out just far enough to catch a pole that hits the standard and then runs down it as it falls. If a pole breaks just beneath your hands, many times that is what has happened to it. Any pole that hits the standards should be checked for damage in the handle section.

That's exactly what happen to me my sr year in a meet at Univ of Central Oklahoma. The end of the pole stuck into my head and I started bleeding.

[vault3rb0y]

i kno someone that has to start on big poles for him just because his take off is so bad if he starts on the pole he should he would sink too much and it would break so techneque is a reason y it could break or i should say lack of techneque

interesting, thats the opposite for me. I start on softer poles when i am just warming up, but then in competition i get on stiffer ones because i have better form, which gets me through the pit too easily with a softer pole. Im also more pumped up when i start jumping, and i feel a lot taller and more explosive.