As a pole vaulter, I've always felt it's my responsibility to help promote this sport as much as possible. I want to bring awareness and understanding to help it grow in popularity. My goal for my blog is to be relatable to all people, pole vaulter, athlete, or not. In order to achieve these, I feel I must explain my sport in the most basic way. I forget that most people don't understand what I consider obvious terminology, let alone understand the complexities we face while competing.
So without further ado, this is my attempt at explaining the pole vault for those that know absolutely nothing about it.
I've broken it up into sections:
Basic Vocabulary
In The Jump/Technique
How A Competition Is Run
In a “perfect” jump, in its simplest form, the pole vault is about transferring energy as efficiently as possible. The reason the best in the world look effortless when they do it is because they are transferring their energy very smoothly and efficiently.
Basic Vocabulary:
Bar- What the vaulter tries to go over/clear.
Pole- What the vaulter holds in their hands and uses to go over the bar. Poles are made of fiberglass or carbon fiber. Poles vary in length and flex (stiffness). A vaulter's goal is to get on the longest, stiffest pole safely (landing in middle of the the pit). Stiffer poles and higher grip can be riskier, but also more of a reward as it helps them to jump higher when executed well. The stiffer the pole they're able to bend, the faster that pole will unwind (similar to a spring, the stiffer the coils are, if you're able to compress it, the return of energy will be much greater/faster). The higher they grip, the higher they can be in the air.
Vaulters have many different poles they practice with and bring to a meet. Softer and shorter poles are used for warming up. Stiffer and longer poles are used as they get warmed up, run from further back on the runway creating more speed, feel good with adrenaline, have a strong tail wind, etc.
Elite women are usually on poles that are 14’6 (4.45m)-15’1 (4.60m) long, but it’s all relative to the athlete’s height, strength, weight, and ability. It’s about what they are able to do with the pole, rather than whose pole is bigger. It's about who can jump the highest, not get on the biggest stick. What might be too soft a pole for me may be too stiff for another athlete to handle. This is why we each have our own sets of poles, and sharing for a competition is less than ideal.
The highest jumps for a vaulter often happen on poles they've never been on before. Those poles are too stiff to practice on, and often the athlete hasn't worked up to that pole in a competition until that day.
Plant Box- What vaulters stick the pole into on the ground. It's much bigger than people realize. It's 8 inches deep and 6 inches wide at the base, but has over a 3 foot long slant into it that starts almost 2 feet wide. It's not just a small hole in the ground, it has a lot of space and room for error, so missing the box doesn't happen often.
Pit- The big mat vaulters land on.
Standards- What the bar rests on. The vaulter can have them moved farther back or closer up based on where they think their hips will peak. Typically vaulters choose to put them between 45 cm behind the plant box to 80cm behind the plant box. 80 cm is the farthest back one can place them. Most people keep them here in practices for safety reasons to land farther into the pit, and will adjust accordingly in a meet.
In the Jump/Technique:
Run- The vaulter has a certain number of steps they take in their run. For women, full approach (or what they do in a competition-longest run up) is typically 16 steps or 8 lefts (rights if you're a lefty vaulter). For reference mine is 16 steps (8 lefts) which is about 114-115 feet. Men you’ll see 18-20 steps.
A vaulter wants to generate as much speed as they can, and hit max speed as they hit the takeoff, so as to put as much energy into bending the pole as possible. This speed is what helps them get on stiffer poles. If the run is too long, they risk slowing down or coasting into the takeoff. It’s like an airplane on a runway, it should be taking off at max speed.
In practice, in a competition warm-up, and even sometimes during competitions (if a vaulter is coming off an injury or not ready for the speed full approach generates), vaulters will jump from a shorter approach. This can consist of anywhere from 2 steps (1 left) up through their full-approach. This allows them to work on things with the same intensity of full approach, but without the max exertion full approach requires. It's similar to a runner going 50-60%. An athlete can get a lot more jumps this way while working on technique. Because the run is shorter, they’re not bringing in as much speed, and therefore on smaller poles.
Typically a vaulter won’t jump as high from short approach, but it is crucial to our training and getting consistency for a full approach. It's easier to focus on technique and jump technically well when speed is taken away, but taking away the speed a full approach generates can make it more difficult to jump higher.
Takeoff/Plant- That first moment the vaulter jumps off the ground with the pole in the plant box, bending the pole.
Step- The exact spot the vaulter's foot is at when they jump off the ground at takeoff. This is very important for an athlete to know, and this is why vaulters need someone coaching or videoing them. This step tells them a huge amount about the entire jump.
An “on” or good takeoff step is when the vaulter's body (while jumping up and holding the pole straight up over head with the tip in the box), the pole, and the ground/runway make a right angle triangle (picture below). The hands are at a fixed point on the pole, so if the athlete is too close or “in” (making the triangle obtuse) often they are unable to jump as dynamically. As a result they get “picked up” off the ground by the pole or “get ripped”. This can cause them to land short or come down on the bar. It also can put strain on their back and shoulders. Too far away or “out” (making the triangle acute) and there can be too much lag time. The athlete can sink on the pole (pull the pole down) before rising back up.
Both in and out takeoffs can create a hiccup in the flow of energy. They can result in injury as well, sometimes landing in places the vaulter doesn’t intend to.
These are of course not the only results when the vaulter's step is in or out, and it’s not always a bad thing being a little too close or too far away. As long as there is a smooth transfer of energy into the pit, that’s the most important thing. But it is crucial to know where their step is to make the correct adjustments jump to jump. For example if they're a few inches too close at takeoff, they may scoot back their starting point a few inches.
Drive Knee/Trail Leg- As the vaulter jumps into the take off, their legs create an almost lunge-like position. Their front knee (drive knee) is at about 90 degrees, and their “trail leg” is the leg they've jumped off the ground with. As they jump, resulting in a drive knee, the trail leg stays long and straight out behind them.
The drive knee is a result of jumping aggressively. There are many vaulters without the biggest drive knee. It’s true, they don’t need one to jump high, but the more aggressively an athlete (in any sport or event) jumps off one foot, the more you’ll see the knee come up as a result. The trail leg then swings through as the athlete inverts (gets upside down).
Top Arm/Bottom Arm- The arms in the pole vault are what keep the energy going from the takeoff until the athlete releases off the top of the pole. I've had athletes ask me how to get upside down or swing faster, and I tell them it's really the arms that are the most important, especially the top arm.
As a vaulter's takeoff step hits the ground, the top hand (the one that's closest to the end of the pole) punches straight up overhead (bicep hitting the temple for a reference point). The bottom arm (holding about a shoulder width down) extends out forward and upward to push the pole away to create space (help bend the pole).
Many people think they need a super straight bottom arm as they takeoff the ground. While it's true they want to push the pole up and away with the bottom arm, it's more about creating space to get the chest through, rather than keeping that elbow perfectly straight. Brad Walker (2x World Champion) is a great example of this, as his bottom arm elbow would bend at the takeoff. He opened the pole up enough though, that his chest and head were able to come through super aggressively, and then the top arm pressure continuing to move the pole forward, cranking to the shins, is what straightened out the bottom arm as he got upside down.
The arms are what most effectively gets vaulters on bigger poles. Speed on the runway is a huge part of it, but you'll always be limited if you don't move the arms the right way. This is the thing I struggle with the most. I let my bottom arm collapse to swing upside down faster. While I am fast on the runway, this hinders the size of poles I can get on, ultimately keeping me from jumping higher.
Swing/Invert- The moments after the takeoff where the vaulter gets upside down on the pole as it’s straightening out. You’ll see their arms (mostly driven by the top arm) come back forward towards the pit initiating the swing, and the trail leg swing through to get the athlete upside down. Some athletes tuck or ball up and shoot up with the pole as it unbends. Others have a long, straight trail leg and as they get upside down the drive knee straightens out next to it. Neither way is right or wrong, it’s just what the athlete prefers.
Turn- The athlete starts to turn while upside down around the pole as it unbends to go over the bar on their stomach.
Push-Off- The moments after the vaulter has inverted and turned around the pole, where they're coming off the pole over the bar. The name can be a little misleading-the push is actually created from energy through the jump and the speed of the pole unbending. The pole is what launches (pushes) the athlete, rather than the athlete statically pushing themselves off the top of the pole. The push-off is more a result and reaction of the work done earlier in the jump. The harder they work throughout the jump, and the more energy generated with the arms, the more push-off they'll have.
Usually the men will float off the top because they’ve created so much energy on stiffer poles. They let go of the pole and continue to rise before clearing the bar.
Blow Through- Knocking the bar off on the way up. The vaulter is putting good energy into the pole, it’s too soft and does not lift them high or fast enough before hitting the bar on the front side. The athlete will land farther back in the pit because their pole moves past vertical too fast. This is an indication that the athlete needs to get a stiffer pole or raise their grip. This is typically a GOOD way to miss a bar-to blow through usually means they’re doing a lot right, and as I said earlier their goal is to get to the longest, stiffest pole they can.
How A Competition Is Run:
~Vaulters get an hour of warmup on the runway before the competition starts. This allows them to get their step on and get on the right pole for when the competition starts.
~There is a set height progression for each meet. All vaulters must jump these heights. Only when someone is the last vaulter left can they choose to put the bar at whatever height they want.
~Vaulters have one minute from the time the bar is set, and they're called up, to start their run. Once there are 2 or 3 vaulters left, they each get 2 minutes. The final vaulter left gets 5 minutes.
~Vaulters have 3 attempts to clear each height. They are out of the competition when they miss 3 attempts in a row.
~Vaulters can opt to "pass" heights. What this means is that they won't jump that bar, and it's considered a clearance so long as they clear the next bar. The times you'll most likely see a vaulter pass bars are:
1. At the beginning of the competition if the first bars start too low, and the vaulter doesn't want to waste energy on those lower bars. So long as they clear the bar they choose to come in at (in the set height progression), it's like they cleared all of those previous bars on a first attempt. This pays off nicely, but can be a risk. If you don't clear your opening height, then it's considered a "no-height" and you're out. Usually if a vaulter no-heights, however, it's not that they came in too high, but that other things were off that day.
2. Later in the competition when there are only a few competitors left. For example, you're sitting in 3rd place, 1 of 3 vaulters left. You're guaranteed a medal. The first 2 vaulters clear the height on their first attempt and you're up. It would make sense to pass that bar since wasting your energy on it wouldn't move you up in the rankings, and missing the next bar wouldn't lose you a medal.
~A vaulter can also pass attempts. Similar to my previous example, let's say you're the first vaulter in the order with 2 other vaulters left. You're guaranteed a medal. You take your first attempt and miss. The next two vaulters clear it, putting you in 3rd place. It would make sense to pass your next two attempts to the next bar (but you would only get 2 attempts at it, as you have to make a bar in 3 attempts).
~If two vaulters finish with the same height, the ranking is determined by the number of missed attempts. If a vaulter cleared the previous bar on a first attempt, and another cleared it on their second, the one that cleared it on their first ranks higher. If they have the same number of misses it goes to a jump-off. Both jumpers get another attempt at that same height. If they both miss the bar drops to a lower height until someone makes it. For example in the 2016 Olympics, Kat Stefanidi and Sandi Morris both jumped 4.85m but because Kat jumped an earlier bar on her first attempt, whereas Sandi cleared on her second, Kat was the Champion.
Thus concludes my intro to pole vault. Class dismissed ;).