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On my full approach i run 7 lefts. How many steps in would i have to start lowering the pole because whenever i rewatch my video it seems like i lower the pole and just carry it in the down position untill i plant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YG74ZvKa1c

The most important things regarding pole drop are as follows:

The dropping of the pole does minimally affects running form

And that your pole is parallel or lower to the ground before you begin your plant


Both of these seem to be met in your run so I would say that you should stick with what your doing. Essentially the pole should slowly be dropping throughout the entire rune until the shift step.

The pole should begin a free drop(controlled) at 6 steps out, any later and you could be(probably would be late) anu earlier and you will be holding the pole up for a bit before the plant. The pole drop will affect your plant position and take-off efficiency.

I watched your video. You look comfortable while running and efficient while planting, so really I wouldn't worry about the drop and the level unless you feel that your getting pulled forward or pushed back during your run/plant. The question I had was what was the lenght of the pole?
One tip: Something I always did a lot of was plant drills and pole runs (when my legs worked...), but instead of using the poles I would jump on, I'd find the bigest, heaviest, most rediculas thing I could. For instance at camps I could usually find an old black cat or fibersport or old carbons in the 16+/180+ range, hold these out as far as I could, and do plant drills all day. That will really expose the part of your run and plant thats inefficient, and when you switch back down, the smaller poles will seem like nothing and you'll be that much improved. When I coached, I found kids had a real hard time with planting and running with 12,13,14' poles, mostly because their too light(small poles float while you run, big ones almost plant themselves), so I made them drill with 15's and 16's and it really helped their comfort level and technique.

Fishman4 - I think I know the answer but want to clarify - six steps and 3 lefts are equivalent, correct?

Yes three lefts and six steps/strides are equvalent