The best spike for beginning pole vaulters...

[OH-IOvaulter]

I know I can't be the only one from the "owns way too many pairs of spikes" camp. I agree completely that beginners definitely do not need vault specific spikes. I have vault spikes and I love them, but I honestly rarely wear them, save competitions. I wear sprinting spikes most often as I train a lot more for speed. The fact is that kids will undoubtedly need to practice pole carries to become consistent and they will need to drill on a regular basis. Long story short a spike with a little bit more heel padding at a reasonable price is what I advocate, but when able to (i.e. when you see them on sale or you have the expendable funds) pick up a pair of sprint spikes and/or vault spikes.

[rainbowgirl28]

Every kid I have ever coached that vaults in sprint spikes gets shin splints

[OH-IOvaulter]

Perhaps I should have explained myself better. I don't want them to jump in sprint spikes. I'm just saying I like to train in them on speed days.

[bambam]

I found an old pair of tripple jump spikes that Adidas made that work great for pole vault. The heel was thick and it had the spike pattern of a long jump shoe.

[PPVgirl]

Every kid I have ever coached that vaults in sprint spikes gets shin splints

Everyone at my school that wears spikes for vaulting wears sprinting spikes and no one has complained about shin splints.

[BethelPV]

My honest vault... unless you are actually jumping in practice or a competition... wear regular training shoes!! The added weight will make you feel better on meet/jumping days and it will help prevent a lot of injuries!! A good pair of running shoes are hard to beat!

[vcpvcoach]

I tell my athletes to spend their money on training flats and go online to buy last years long jump spike. Most of our vaults are done in flats plus all our training. With first year vaulters, they only vault in flats to save our poles from being spiked thus making them 12 foot paper weights.

[golfdane]

I tell my athletes to spend their money on training flats and go online to buy last years long jump spike. Most of our vaults are done in flats plus all our training. With first year vaulters, they only vault in flats to save our poles from being spiked thus making them 12 foot paper weights.

??? Rule #1: Never let poles lie on the ground.
Use a rack, and learn the athletes the value of taking care of the equipment. Just as important as any drill you would do as a first year vaulter.

I wouldn't recommed my athletes to wear spikes on anything but full jumps (perhaps minus 2-4 steps, depending on level). I second the advice to look at last years longjump OR triplejump spike. Anything with a bit of heel and some support. For training, a light running shoe for competitive training/racing, is really nice. Like Asics DS Trainer or Adidas Supernova Competition.

[KirkB]

I notice that TJ spikes are popular with pole vaulters. Is this for training or for competitive vaulting? The reason I ask is that in a competitive vault, your heels shouldn't touch the runway, so why the need for a padded heel? Wouldn't the existence of a padded heel make it more tempting for a vaulter to use bad technique by taking off flat-footed?

Kirk

[Barto]

Your heel always contacts the ground when you takeoff.

[powerplant42]

Yes. I'm sure most vaulting spikes have tough heels as well, no?

[KirkB]

Your heel always contacts the ground when you takeoff.

Really?

Mine never did.

And according to Petrov, you should roll on the ball of your foot on takeoff. The ball of your foot is just behind your toes - nowhere near your heel. Thus, you should not be flat-footed.

I can understand that you do take off flat-footed if you're under, but if you do a free takeoff, you're not going to jump as strongly flat-footed - there's considerable leakage (loss of energy) if you takeoff flat-footed.

Kirk