Lord of the Poles wrote:1. The 13'155 was not available...it was supposed to be in our pole bag, but it wasn't...and none of the schools there didn't have one I could use...not even the school who was hosting the meet (Tufts).
2. My grip height was probably the same I hold it on the 13'155 (12'6"...around there)...and my run was the same (6 lefts)
It's no surprise that you couldn't get in on that pole. Have you heard the saying, "If you keep doing what you've been doing, you'll keep getting what you've been getting."

I hope my post makes since to you.
Using the same grip height and the same run will only put the same amount of energy into your vault. With normal bend, if you were getting where you should be on the 13' 155, and not blowing through, when you moved up to the 14' 145 (holding at the same height, that's moving
"Up" about 10lbs with a slightly higher sail piece) you set yourself up to fail.

Figure 20 lbs per foot, so if you hold down on the 14' 145 at say 13' it makes it 165 lbs+/-. You said you were holding approx 6" down on the 13' 155, so it became effectively a 165 lb+/- pole. The 14' 145 holding at the same height would be 18" down making it a 175 lb+/- pole. If the pole is 10 lbs stiffer, you have to put more energy into your vault to get to the same spot in the pit. To generate the extra energy, assuming you can continue to build your speed with an efficient takeoff, you can generate an extra 5 lbs+/- for each extra two lefts you back up. So if you were at 6 lefts, go to 8 lefts. It wouldn't hurt to move up a finger or two on your grip also.
Now let's say you were overbending. Because the 14' 145 is effectively 10lbs bigger at the same grip, if you back up one left and move your grip down about a fist (3") it should get you pretty close to the same spot in the pit. In other words, to move up 10 lbs in this senario: Back up one left = 5 lbs, and move down one fist = 5 lbs. This way even though your grip is lower, the pole will be moving much faster, you'll probably get more blow off the top, and jump higher.
Without actually seeing your vault it makes it hard to coach "Online". These adjustments should get you in the ballpark though. And don't forget Rule #1:
"Never let go of the pole until you know where you are going to land!" Pit soft - ground hard. Also, find someone to coach you if you can. There are great coaches scattered around the country. You may have to drive a ways but it will be worth it if you want to vault high. Good luck with the adjustments!
