Vaulting into a Sawdust Pit

[KirkB]

Here's a 1968 pic of me bending the pole at my high school - Abbotsford Senior Secondary School - near Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

On the "broken pole" thread here: http://www.polevaultpower.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=16111&p=116556#p116556, Powerplant asked me if I ever vaulted into a sawdust pit. Well, this is our school's sawdust pit (sorry for the bad quality pic).

Under the tarp, there's old tires. They surrounded the pit to keep the sawdust from spreading onto the football field. Prior to 1967, we used 2x12 boards to keep the sawdust in, but we switched to the much softer tires after a "slight" accident.

1968 ---- Kirk Bending Pole.jpg (40.72 KiB) Viewed 12391 times

Unfortunately, you can't see the foamies in the fish netting. I wasn't actually vaulting that day - I was just posing for this picture. That's why I'm pushing with my bottom hand and driving my lead knee up. It was a few weeks before the start of my freshman year at UW, and the local paper insisted on an "action photo" before I left for Seattle.

You'll notice that the box was full of sawdust, as it hadn't been used all summer. I guess the photographer didn't expect that detail to get into the picture.

The track was loose cinder, and the runway was hard pavement (not rubberized). It was just drying out that day, after a heavy rainfall.

How do you like my free takeoff? Ha! Ha!

Kirk

[dj]

good morning

and don't forget the boxes were 90 degrees.. which kept the pole from penetrating as much, which limited the grip!

i have a picture of bob seagren from above the bar with a 90 dregree box... and a towel in the box so he could penetrate more.. not only letting him grip higher but also didn't damage the pole 8 inch from the tip as much.

i'll try to get the pic posted..

dj

[rainbowgirl28]

good morning

and don't forget the boxes were 90 degrees.. which kept the pole from penetrating as much, which limited the grip!

i have a picture of bob seagren from above the bar with a 90 dregree box... and a towel in the box so he could penetrate more.. not only letting him grip higher but also didn't damage the pole 8 inch from the tip as much.

i'll try to get the pic posted..

dj

I've been wondering for years why they put a towel in the box. I remember reading that Casey Carrigan did it. It all makes sense now!

[dj]

hello

yes, by having a "spacer" at the bottom of the box where the pole tip is, effectively "opened' the angle of the box...

i'm not sure who reccommended the box angle be changed to 105 degrees but i'm sure George Moore played a part in that piece of history.

there was a steady climb of the record, one foot every 10 years, untill 20 feet after that change. I'm sure if we 'opened" the box slightly more today we would have several new 20 footers.........

dj

[powerplant42]

Only if they stop tucking and shooting and dropping the lead knee.

[KirkB]

I used a towel at UW, but my recollection is that it was to see the box better. It was one of many ideas that Coach Ken Shannon brought with him from UCLA.

Besides the angle changing theory, another theory I've heard is that it was to absorb the shock of the pole hitting the box, but I'm not buying that one either. Even if that was true, I would consider that LEAKAGE - very bad. I think in practice, the pole slid up under the towel - but I can't be sure about this. It would depend on exactly how you placed it. But if that's true, then there goes the shock absorbing and angle changing theories.

Having a towel in the box was against the rules, but I never had that rule enforced against me until a couple of pre-Olympic meets in Germany in 1972. (Same goes for the "no more than 2 layers of tape on your pole" rule.) Once, the official removed my towel without me noticing, so when I was running down the runway and I finally noticed the towel was missing, it was too late and I ran thru. Funny story here ... I went up one side of that official and down the other, ranting and raving about him not telling me that he took my towel out of the box. I knew it was against the rules - I just wasn't used to that rule being enforced, so I thought I at least deserved some forewarning that he'd removed my towel. Well, the official got the last laugh after I finished my rant, when he said "No sprechen ze Eeengleesh"!

I have another true story about the 90 degree angle on the old boxes ...

There was a group of a half dozen or so vaulters from BC that toured to Victoria and the Okanagan Valley, as well as various venues within the Lower Mainland (near Vancouver). Well, without naming any names, we always kept a sledge hammer and a hacksaw with us, and we'd inspect the boxes the day before the meet. Invariably, the box would be 90 degrees, so we'd sneak into the track after dark, hacksaw down the 2 top corners of the box, and hammer them down to round the corners. And you know, the next day during the meet, not once did an official ever question whether or not the box was legal, or who the hell modified it!

Kirk

[ashcraftpv]

we always kept a sledge hammer and a hacksaw with us, and we'd inspect the boxes the day before the meet. Invariably, the box would be 90 degrees, so we'd sneak into the track after dark, hacksaw down the 2 top corners of the box, and hammer them down to round the corners. And you know, the next day during the meet, not once did an official ever question whether or not the box was legal, or who the hell modified it!

In high school, we always brought small flathead shovel with us in case the box wasn't cemented in. We'd pry up the box, dig it out deeper, then replace it. One meet we went to, the box was sticking up with a 2" lip in the front. As we're digging the box hole out deeper (to get rid of the lip, of course ), an official from the other school saw what we were doing and was going to have us escorted from the premises until our coach came over and spent 20 minutes explaining the safety hazard we were correcting and that it would cost him less in pride than it would for a lawsuit if any of use were injured by his substandard facilities.

[dj]

good morning

did you ever wonder why you could drop the box an inch deeper and grip four inches higher??!

the angle of the box is the answer.

dj

[ladyvolspvcoach]

i think its significant to note that all sawdust pits and even the fomies in a net pits all stopped at the back of the box...there were NO BUNS!! When you went up a pole it was a huge and significant event...you'd better bring all your attitude or you were slammed ...you got pretty good at avoiding the ashpalt runways and landing on the grass...with a 15' plus grip...aaarrrrggggggghhhhh!

[KirkB]

...there were NO BUNS!!

What do you mean, NO BUNS?

If you look at the pic of my HS pit again, you'll see the 2 front buns - under the tarp!

Kirk

[2-15-46]

we had a sand pit in the early 60's........................ back then putting the pit away for the season was raking up the sand burrs and putting them in a jar!!!!!!