Breaking Poles

[bambam]

Is it worth sending broken poles back to the manufacturer, or is it a losing battle?

Scenario -
MS 8th grade boy, 2nd year vaulter,112 lbs, around 5'6", and 13 second 100m runner
Just got to a high enough grip to where his pole started to bend on an 11'6 120, Pacer MyStic.
After a day off he was blowing past the coaches box on that pole and moved to the top of a 12' pole, same brand and weight rating.
After 2 attempts he blew through the 12' 120 MyStic
Moved up to 12' 125, first try and SNAP! and landed with face up, legs and shoulders in the mat and head in the plant box.

The pole was only used for pop ups and straight pole drills with no visible scratches or marks. It broke 4' from the base of the pole.

[CowtownPV]

Its hard to know for sure but often when a pole breaks that low it could be a couple of things. One is that it has been roughed up by hitting the back of the box during vaults or drills. That is whey many people tape the bottoms of poles. Also breaks at the bottom can occur when a vautler pulls down hard at take off causing the pole to bend in a spot that is lower than normal. If you think the pole was just bad ,it never hurts to talk to who you bought it from but they normally won't replace a pole.

[dj]

Good morning,

Absence of damage.. overloaded poles should break near the middle where the most “force” is being applied (the point where the COM is traveling “through” the pole.)

But, depending on the position and design of the sail piece, high, low, long “short side”, short “short side, the mandrel (diameter of the tube) and thickness of the glass based on the “hoop” (diameter of the tube) I have seen them break low when the sail is high and the grip brings the COM “through the pole below the corner of the sail, I’ve seen them break high when the sail was low and the grip was high, bringing the COM through the pole above the top corner of the sail, I’ve seen them break because of the “thickness” of the glass (thicker sides will “crunch” the glass together with no where to go so it “explodes”)on the compression side of a small mandrel pole. I have seen poles “bubble” on the inside and outside where the pole bent and became an “oval” (walls getting to close together) instead of a circle. None damaged poles break because of “overload” and the “two sides” getting to close together.. where they break is based off of construction and where and how the forces are applied… one of the reasons training poles didn’t break as easy was because of the foam inside to make the circle keep it’s shape and the stretching/flexibility capabilities of the “plastic”…

dj