Oklahoma Pole Vault Manifesto

[Bruce Caldwell]

I think what DECANUCK was trying to convey
Was the speed of the swing and the power or ability to store energy in the swing are two entirely different things.
If the mass of a taller vaulter could be sped up to that of the speed of a smaller vaulter one could assume it would be more of an energy transferor.
Just the fact that a swing is fast or slow does not make it an energy conduit. As Altius is also saying that is dependent on the take-off
its angle, the direction of movement and it properties to continue to be efficient. ( Such as the way the pole is gripped the position and stance of the swing through and the timing of the pole and the athete.)
Bubka used a style that was the best and most efficient at energy transfer.
The power swing is what I named it when I stood at the base of the standards for the very first 6 meter jump in France. The jump was so fluid and so perfect and he was just getting it together then. AT the 1996 Olympic we observed his training at the practice site and was amazed at a few things he was doing. The thing that today still is amazing to me is all his poles where not scratched at the butt and he seemed to not need them taped at the butt to protect them. So that means on good jumps the pole never touched the back of the box think about that one!!

[master]

... The thing that today still is amazing to me is all his poles where not scratched at the butt and he seemed to not need them taped at the butt to protect them. So that means on good jumps the pole never touched the back of the box think about that one!!

That is pretty amazing.

- master

[Tim McMichael]

Here is another telling bit of information: In all the years I jumped with him, Joe Dial never ruined a pole tip. He used the softest rubber tips available, and never had to replace them - ever. He said that with an efficient takeoff all the energy goes horizontally into the pole, and there is no initial shock longitudinally down through the tip. For this reason, you can tell the quality of an athlete’s plant by looking at the end of their pole. If the plug is warped or damaged at all, that means some of the energy of their approach is being lost at takeoff.

[Tim McMichael]

Just imagine what would happen if actual tall people tried all of Tim's little tricks to make them even more tall. I'm going to make a huge generalization, ready...I think tall people are lazier at the take-off then short people. More so they take for granted that they are tall and the take-off is easier for them.

We calculated that an inch higher plant meant a three inch higher jump. Inhaling at takeoff gains almost an inch of reach. We also leaned very slightly to the left just before the pole hit the back of the box. This gains another inch. Having the heel of the takeoff foot off the ground before the pole starts to bend gains another four to six inches. That means that those two little tricks and a properly structured run and plant result in a foot and a half higher jump without any increase in athleticism. Try standing in plant posture with your lead knee up and then reach as high as you possibly can. You will find that you will instinctively rise up on your toe, inhale, and lean slightly to the left.

Another critical aspect of the last six steps of the run is that the hands move in such a way that the carry weight of the pole never comes into play. A sixteen foot pole can have a carry weight as high as thirty pounds. This means that if the pole tip ever slows or pauses in its downward drop, the vaulter might as well be wearing a weight vest at takeoff. They will automatically be under, with their takeoff foot practically nailed to the ground. In a good plant, the hands keep moving up in time with the pole tip as it falls freely into the box, and the pole is never heavier than its actual weight. In the last three steps of a precisely structured and well timed plant the pole weighs practically nothing. A tall plant cannot be achieved unless this dynamic is in place.

Also, in the pole vault, very little things can make very big differences. For instance, in my day, Madison Square Garden was a notoriously difficult place to jump. Everybody had trouble penetrating there, but that was where the national indoor championships were held, so you had to deal with it. The first time I jumped there I no-heighted. I could not penetrate on my smallest pole and everything felt mistimed. The runway was nothing but bare boards and was at least twenty years old, so everybody thought that the reason the facility was so brutal was that the runway was too slow. It was a little soft in spots, but it felt adequate to me. I was more concerned by something else I felt in the middle of my jump. The pole just stopped moving like it had hit a wall. I also noticed that the taller vaulters who did not bend their poles as much did just fine. Earl Bell thrashed everybody. So I began to investigate.

The pit was okay, and the box was the right depth, but it did not look quite right, so I measured all the other angles and found out that it was two inches too narrow at the top. This meant that the side angles were too steep. The next time I competed there I cut a hole in a tennis ball and put it over the tip of my pole. This held the end of my pole further from the bottom of the back of the box and allowed it reach maximum bend without hitting the top of the box too early. I jumped my P.R. with no misses and beat several 19’ plus jumpers the next two times I competed in New York just because of knowing that two inch difference in the box and finding a strategy to compensate for it. In one of those meets I made 18’4â€Â

[polevaulter08nw]

I like the insite with the boxes and stuff, and im also sorry that you had to deal with that, but think its great that you figured it out. Most boxes these days are standard size right so is that why vaulters now a days don't have that problem as much?

[smokinvaulter1]

Boxes are supposed to be standardized but they are not I have ran into this problem alot and hate jumping at places like this. I have eliminated a street meet that has this same problem from my schedule this year. Dangerous and not fun. Everyone check your Boxes!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[MaxVault]

Thanks for the great posts everyone. This thread had great tone and content from nearly all contributors. Tim, thanks for sharing all the thoughts. I hope the thread continues...

[dj]

hey

tim mentioned the tennis ball on the pole...

in the late '70,s some of the vaulters training in gainesville (ie..mike cotton) would put a towel in the box... so i started to research why that and a deep box would give you more penetration...

i found out what tim found out... if you move the butt end away from the box... a 16' hand grip will penetrate 4" or so further...

so i designed a butt plug and patented it for that purpose.. bruce actually made some for me.. called a camplug.. he now has a plug with some of the same qualities..

but i don’t' think the pole hitting the back ..top.. of the box is a good thing.. and again i did a study while i was coaching at cal Northridge with tully and 14 other vaulters that involved lights and switches.. to find out what the vaulter and pole was doing .. #1 when the pole first hit the back of the box and second when the pole hit 8" up on the rotation.....

it gave me great insight..

the next year is when peter started his high film studies and I didn’t have to do my light show… even though I thought my lights gave some different ........... more interesting data…

the reasons i don't think the pole hitting is a good thing is two fold.. one… the vault (swing) from takeoff to max height is usually slower if the pole hits.. indicating energy loss... and two… if the vaulters body has not passed horizontal to the ground and ready to continue vertically up the pole the pole will “throwâ€Â

[Tim McMichael]

I have not talked about the second half of the drive vault in any kind of detail; I will attempt to begin to here. Think of this as an addendum to my manifesto.

The faster the swing finishes, the less the pole hits the back of the box. Ideally the tuck will be completed just before the pole finishes bending. This unloads the handle of the pole and allows it to run toward the bar without flattening out, even if the pole is bent a great deal. When the handle of the pole travels horizontally, it means the pole is grinding in the box and spinning to the side. This is an energy loss. When the pole rests lightly in the corner of the box and the handle runs right toward the bar without flattening, the vaulter has the energy to push off forever. Because kinetic energy is speed squared, this means that the faster pole speed means a tremendous amount of energy is available for the vaulter to exploit as they extend, turn, and push. The lower center of gravity during the middle of the jump with the tuck actually allows the pole to move faster to vertical.

Think of the difference between a catapult with the projectile set at the very end and the more sophisticated and powerful trebuchet with the projectile hanging down several feet from the end of the lever arm. Besides effectively lengthening the lever without much loss of kinetic energy, this position of the weight allows the lever to move faster to vertical. The exponential nature of the increase in kinetic energy allows the trebuchet to throw the projectile farther than the catapult even though the weight is initially farther from the target to begin with. This is why Buckingham and Dial could push off so far even though their hips were below their shoulders for almost the entire jump.

[dj]

well said...........

in 1983 i told mike that if he jumped like jeff buckingham.. with his height he would set a world record... later that night when bubka was jumping in LA... jeff came up and sat with us.. mike and he discussed the vault with jeff... i know that talk renewed mikes disire to be at the top....

notes..

one of the points i was going to make about bubka's pole bend was in 1983/84 he was bending the pole 30/31%... a 16' foot grip down to 11'2".. earl and mike was 28%.. 16' grip to 11'6".. bubka was in effect holding higher by just simply bending the pole more.. 4" higher.. tully started maximizing the bend before he went to a bigger pole... earl stayed at around 28%..

another factor was that bubka was "reaching" at the takeoff... the way tim explained what he and joe were doing... in effect giving him a higher takeoff point and greater pole angle... and tully and bell were 3/4" taller!!!

those were some of the changes tully started making in 1983... that helped him jump higher...

dj

[MaxVault]

What about the "low bend" vs "high bend" discussion that happens on occasion, and how that bend relates to grinding on the box? Is there even such a thing?

What do you think makes a "low bend"? Why? Do low bends grind more on the box?

Did Bubka and Bagyula have high bends? Yegorov? Dial?

If there is such a thing, is it pole design or takeoff angle or something else that primarily influences it?

Can a vaulter have a high bend one jump and a low bend the next jump using the same pole?

[Tim McMichael]

Did Bubka and Bagyula have high bends? Yegorov? Dial?

Joe Dial definitely had a high bend and a low sail piece. I may not be thinking about the right vaulter, but I think Yegorov had a tennis ball on the bottom of all his poles. He is the one I got the idea from. This would probably indicate that he wanted more bend in his poles, and a high bend definitely does that. With Bagula, I don’t think it mattered where his bend was. The higher the attack angle, the less the pole bends. He did not bend the pole enough for the design to really come into play.