PoleVaultPower.com

Hi,

Long time lurker, fist time poster. I recently suffered a head injury (minor concussion) and my doctor advised me that I should begin wearing a helmet while pole vaulting.

I did a quick search on helmets, but found mixed results. As there are no pole vault specific helmets (at least none that I'm aware of), I'd like to know what type of helmets other vaulters use, and where one would find them.

Thanks,

Zephyr

There is the first pole vault helmet in production (some other member will have to tell you where to get one)
But from what I have heard and read a helmet is usually not the answer to pole vault injuries. Factors such as an undersized pit, improper tequiniqe or lack of coaching are often the main problems in serious injuries. The fact is if you learn how to jump correctly bail safely and have a good coach you should land some where in the pit 100% of the time. At the pole vault summit in Reno many coaches/doctors made a good case that a helmet can actualy do more harm than good, forcing your head farther into your chest if you land on your head. check out Coach Hannays article from pvei.com http://pvei.com/vault/viewtopic.php?t=58 .
What a helmet does do is protect you from impact forces on an unyielding surface, but if you have regulation size pits and no hard surfaces around it that should not be a problem.


Obviously I am slightly biased on this issue so In the end you should go with what makes you feel comfortable, but make sure to get as much information as you can before making a decision.

Hope this helps
Stephen

our school used to require us to wear helmets last year, but now we have a choice whether or not to. if you're having trouble finding the new pole vault specific helmet, you might try a skateboarding helmet, which is what we used. hope that helps!!

Thanks for the advice Mighty Mouse,

I agree that a helmet likely will not protect against a catastrophic head injury. Instead, proper technique and good coaching should be of utmost importance. Nevertheless, even the most experienced vaulters get hit in the head by falling crossbars or poles, occasionally drift into the standards, or bail in a poor manner. Because the effect of concussions are cumulative, and because its easier to get a second concussion, I think that a helmet would likely be beneficial for me.

Anyone know where to get a pole vault specific helmet?

Zephyr

http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/ ... ult-helmet


I know that is a long one, but it is what u are looking for

Read this post and you should be set for your pole vault specific helmet.

http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/vie ... ght=helmet

Zephyr wrote:Thanks for the advice Mighty Mouse,

I agree that a helmet likely will not protect against a catastrophic head injury. Instead, proper technique and good coaching should be of utmost importance. Nevertheless, even the most experienced vaulters get hit in the head by falling crossbars or poles, occasionally drift into the standards, or bail in a poor manner. Because the effect of concussions are cumulative, and because its easier to get a second concussion, I think that a helmet would likely be beneficial for me.

Anyone know where to get a pole vault specific helmet?

Zephyr

You can get a helmet that is designed for pole vaulting at http://www.polevaulthelmet.com/

That helmet is designed to be more helpful in catastrophic falls than a skateboard helmet. The problem with that helmet is that it has a lot of padding in the back. Several doctors have raised concerns about the possibility of neck injury due to increased hyperflexion of the neck.

Since you are really just looking for something to protect your head from falling crossbars and the like, I would recommend going with something smaller like a skateboard helmet, or something like Toby has.

Do a search for "helmet" on this message board, and you'll see lots of good discussion on it, and you can find what some doctors think about them.

I will say that they are useful if you are prone to concussions and risk serious injury if the bar hits you in the head hard, or if you land on the bar with your head.

They're just not as useful as many people seem to think if you dive head first off the pit onto an exposed hard surface. Solution to that: teach kids how to land in the middle of the pit, and don't have any hard exposed surfaces around the pit.

As can be seen, I wear a helmet and have for about 1 1/2 years. I have listened to the experts, made my personal analysis and decided the potential benefits outway the potential consequences. It is true that you have more of a propensity to hyper extend your neck if you land on the back of your neck/head. However, if I have a bad plant and get rejected or thrown toward the standards, I want to have a bit of something between my head and the standard or any hard object that might be around the pit. I'm only jumping about 12-6 presently (in Masters 55-59) so that in itself minimizes some of the risk that higher vaulters might have to consider. Additionally, I believe I have read that more head injuries occur when person lands on the edge of the pits and is deflected to the ground as opposed to coming down directly to the ground. This could have the net effect of making the fall be as if it were from a lower height.

Another "concern" brought up in discussions I have been a part of is that the helmet might be a distraction from being able to concentrate on the vault. I thought that might be the case but I decided to try it to answer that question for myself. For me, that turned out to be a non-issue. Now I put it on, do some pole runs and after that I am not even aware I am wearing it.

In any case, it is a personal choice, and I have made the choice to use a helmet.

Master like u said its a personal prefrence (totally agree with u) and i think it should be optional. My confrence required us to wear helmet after my teammate landed in the box and fractured his neck. This however was totally illogial because a helmet wouldn't have nor ever will protect from a neck injury. Secondly, most people who do not wear helmets wear them improperly and those is useless and probably more dangerous. It should be or perogative just like how our standards are set and what pole we use.

zephyr...

if you want answers, contact me ...toby@tobystevenson.com

distancejumper...you posted in bold letters that helmets are useless....can you intelligently explain why they are USELESS.