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ok i have 3 questions today.... what is the advantage of having a high sail piece on your pole, And does having it higher make it harder to take off with?

My biggest question is what does the flex number mean!?

Can not think of any reason a high sail piece would be an advantage - at least in conventional pole vault pole design and production --

Could write a paper on sail piece but it is just one of the factors that go into the design of a composite strucutre like a pole vault pole

Flex number is a measure of overall sitffness -- pole supported near the ends - wgt in middle - more it deflects (higher the flex number) the softer or lower the weight rating of the pole

1. A longer tail on the top of the sail piece commonly mistaken as a high sail increases the energy return of pole in relation to how they were made example was Yellow cats use to offer sail piece placement for top vaulters.
Steve smith used a long tail to get his pole to come back faster.
IN today's world there is no need as decamouse has stated as it makes no sense or advantage when carbon is now the main ingredient for memory recovery of a pole!

2. A higher sail would be difficult for the less experience vaulter to manage.

3. A flex number is a relative stiffness number based on what each pole manufacturer has in the field. In an effort to maintain stiffness stability each pole is measured with supports at specific spans. With the use of a 50 lbs weight measured in the middle it provided a flex number. While many feel this is the last word in pole size a flex number is only a guide to move from one size to another within the same brand! Bigger number softer the pole and smaller number is stiffer. each flex number is a span between each eight size.
So no need to ask for a 14-145 which has a flex span of 22.5 to 21.1 and want the flex to be 24.0 it does not work that way.
But in my line (ESSX) it does work this way 14-145 22.5 to 22.1 14-147 22.0 to 21.6 and a 14-149 21.5 to 21.1 making a 14-151 a 21.0 to a 20.6