Moving to bigger pole drills

[theflyingkorean]

I'm having a dilema. What should I do?!? Okay, I'm vaulting 15' holding 13'8" on a 14'-80 Spirit 14.4 flex. I weigh 158lbs and I am 5'8". I'm vaulting with the standards at 75-80 during meets. I can't get onto a 15' pole! I've been trying for a week and the timing and everythign is so off and different I'm getting very frustrated

Does anyone have any advice on waht to do next to try and get on a 15' pole? Drills, things to think about before/while jumping, where to hold on my 15', what pole to use. (I was trying a 15'-65).

Anything would be much appreciated!

[vaulterpunk]

try to start by holding at the same place you did on your other pole. then inch your hand grip up as you feel confident.

[bjvando]

try to start by holding at the same place you did on your other pole. then inch your hand grip up as you feel confident.


i agree with that. and one more thing, im not sure if your in HS or college, but just watch out for that 13 8 grip on a spirit, i konw that the weight label is placed 6" down from the top of the pole... "Some" officials might DQ you for holding above the weight label......

g'luck, and be patient, moving to a longer pole will take some time, if you get it in two weeks consider your self blessed, becasue it took me a while to get used to longer sticks...

[nolevault]

Here's a tip to help with the 15' conversion. When you go from a 14' pole to a 15 foot, holding at the same place, there is about a 15 lb differential, give or take dep on flex #s. So if you were vaulting on, let's say, a 14' 180, you would need to go to a 15' 165 for the same relative stiffness. You may need to go lower than that to make the conversion. Also the sailpiece is higher on a 15' pole so you have to load it a little longer at the bottom or it will get away from you. Good luck and I hope this helps.

[nolevault]

i agree with that. and one more thing, im not sure if your in HS or college, but just watch out for that 13 8 grip on a spirit, i konw that the weight label is placed 6" down from the top of the pole... "Some" officials might DQ you for holding above the weight label......

14' spirit poles aren't 14' long, they are actually listed at 14' 1.5" give or take, seem some 14'1, seen some 14'2. Therefore 6"'s below that could be alright at 13'8" and not a handhold violation.

[jhesch]

i bet that he calculated that handhold grip with the assumption that its a 14 foot pole, in other words, four inches from the top, so either way it's still possibly going to get caught as illegal (in other words i assume he didnt measure 13 8 from the bottom of the pole but instead say approx. four inches from his top hand grip, thereofre i assuming a handhold of approx. 13 8 of 14 instead of 13 9.5, in both cases still 'illegal')

[theflyingkorean]

I hold right under the pink label, I just figured it looked about 4 inches from the top not trying to fudge anythign here

[nolevault]

If 6 inches looks like 4 inches, then 15 feet would only look like 10 feet, that ought to take out the fear from this sport.