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RIGHT NOW N O T H I N G E L S E VAULTER
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MATTERS TIME TO FLY
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CONTENTS ne
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12 FROM THE EDITOR
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BENEFITS OF UST-ESSX POLES
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LONG BEACH STATE: A TEAM IN NEW HANDS
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DEVELOPMENT OF POLE VAULTING SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY
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Cover photo by Brandon Hierholzer
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FROM THE EDITOR June is here, and here’s a toast to warmer weather and clear skies throughout the Nation!
For June, we have Long Beach State University of the cover of the magazine. Read more as Brandon Hierholzer the head pole vault coach goes from a Long Beach Vaulter to the coach. He’s the next in line to follow up on a legacy that already included 8 NCAA Division I All-Americans in just three years. This is a program to follow and a team that has what it takes to put up some high numbers soon. Kreager Taber writes about her experiences on her favorite pole, the yellow pole, and the one and only UST-ESSX pole vaulting pole. You can obviously tell that Kreager and others are very excited about this brand and the athletes that use
them daily. If you haven’t tried one, try one today and see the difference this pole can make.
For our three-part series, you have Eliah Memmel with the second part of his article from Indiana Institute of Technology about the Development of Pole Vaulting Safety and Technology. This article is sure to get you thinking and give you a better understanding of the history of pole vaulting and where most injuries occur in the vault. Thank you for following along, and we look forward to bringing you more articles, news, and information about the sport.
Doug Bouma Editor, Vaulter Magazine Vaulter Club Inc. editor@thevaultermag.com
Reaching for the sticky Spray
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BENEFITS
OF UST-ESSX POLES By: Kreager Taber With team members such as Sam Kendricks, Pauls Pujats, Morgann Leleux, Ruby Peinado, and Kayla Caldwell, it is not hard to see why UST-Essx’s poles have quickly risen in popularity for professional, collegiate, and high school vaulters alike. The company creates some of the lightest poles in the industry, and their poles have been shown to have just as much recoil (if not more) than other, heavier poles. This recoil was highlighted at the 2015 Reno Pole Vault Summit as Sam Kendricks set a world record for the highest “push off” of any vaulter. Kendricks set the record at 55”, an unbelievable height.
Tamera Bader on UST-ESSX Poles Indoor Meet
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UST-Essx’s poles, due to their smaller diameter, lightweight nature, and strong recoil, are perfect for unsure vaulters who have trouble taking off on heavier poles. For example, beginner high schoolers benefit from the confidence that being on a light pole brings. The light weight allows the athlete to run more quickly, which creates horizontal momentum that can be translated into vertical height. Additionally, the illusion of being on a
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softer pole gives the vaulter more confidence to plant correctly and chop their step to the right place. This same confidence can be seen in Sam Kendricks’s jumps. When he re-set the world record for the largest push-off at 55”, he jumped on a 15’9” UST-Essx pole. This 15’9” pole and Sam’s remarkable vaulting abilities gave rise to a 19’3” jump.
UST-Essx poles are also helpful for collegiate and more advanced vaulters who are working on moving up to longer poles. Especially for women vaulters, the lighter weight allows for a stronger plant and faster swing. For male vaulters, the poles could be helpful to develop the inversion and the push-off, and be used to strengthen the plant and takeoff phases. Since the poles recoil quickly, the speed of the vault is increased and the inversion and shoulder drop are sped up. When the inversion and shoulder drop quicken, less energy is lost between the run and the pushoff. The company makes poles especially for beginner, intermediate, and advanced vaulters. For beginner vaulters, the Poxer-X pole line boasts an especially small pole diameter combined with the power and speed of the larger poles.
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The recoil poles are designed specifically for intermediate vaulters, and have less resistance to the initial pole bend during the takeoff. This allows the vaulter to jump on a stiffer pole or a pole that is rated above their weight. Due to the lighter weight, the vaulter can generate more power during the approach phase. The poles are specially designed to be able to store a greater amount of energy and translate it into vertical height. For elite athletes, the recoil advanced poles combine the same light weight and small diameter of other poles with a faster return to help the vaulter with their push-off. The poles also are slightly prebent, which allows the vaulter to hit the takeoff more easily. In conclusion, UST-Essx poles present benefits for vaulters of all ages and abilities. The small diameter, lighter weight, and quick return are advantageous for beginner and elite vaulters alike.
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Fuzon Club Girl on UST-ESSX Poles
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LONG BEACH STATE: A Team in New Hands By: Samantha Kaplain
When a legacy is placed into a new pair of hands, anything can happen. Often times, this much sought after change fails to deliver, but in the case of Long Beach State pole vault, a set of fresh eyes only propelled an already successful program further ahead of the game.
From 2012-2014 Brandon Hierholzer was a pole vaulter for Long Beach State. After battling constant injury, Hierholzer finished out his collegiate career a 5.20 jumper, but wasn’t nearly finished with his involvement in Long Beach pole vault. The following year, Hierholzer transitioned from athlete to coach, taking over the vaulting legacy that already included 8 NCAA Division I All-Americans in just three years. The young
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blood did not disappoint, and in his first year coaching, put two vaulters above his own personal best, Conner Rouse at 5.25 and Michael Montgomery at 5.41, and coached Jodi Lambert to a PR of 3.91. And it wasn’t just beginner’s luck. In the 2 ½ years Hierholzer has been coaching, he’s had five men over 5.20 and three women over 3.90. Hierholzer has proved himself over the past few years, but he’s just getting started, “I am in my third season as a coach and I still love every minute of it.” Coach Hierholzer may be the up and coming vault mentor the program needs, but he gives all the credit for the program’s and his own impressive foundations to Head Coach Andy Sythe, who developed
and coached Long Beach pole vault since 1989. “His experience and knowledge has laid the ground work and structure to what the program is today,” says Hierholzer, “I have just come in and put my own twist and finesse on everything.” Coach Hierholzer reminds his athletes how lucky they are to have a head coach so dedicated to and supportive of the vault, an expensive, nuanced, and often times difficult to prioritize event. “It’s an ideal situation to be in and his support benefits our program, the athletes, and my vision of what we must do to reach an even higher level in this sport.” Long Beach State vaulters reap some of these benefits through the quality of equipment they practice with. The
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Bo Haddock
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facility, furnished by Gill Athletics, houses two Maximus PV Landing Systems, two sets of ADX M4 Standards, parallel runways set up in both directions to account for the rare winds the campus experience, and a full series of Carbon FX poles. Head Coach Sythe and Long Beach State supply vaulters with everything they need to be successful, and the vaulters show gratitude by putting in 100% each and every practice.
The Long Beach State pole vault squad is pretty substantial, consisting of five men, four women, and four decathletes. Xander Cooper, Paul Thenard, and Bo Haddock are all over 17’, while Lauren Bartsch and Kennedy Krueger were tied at number 5 on the Outdoor Top 10 List this past season. The team is chock full of high flyers, but what gives this group a unique team dynamic is the fact that there are no captains. “I wouldn’t say that there is just one specific captain, as I believe that they all share the leadership role. Each one of them has had their time to shine and lead, but they have also each been humbled by the sport on occasion. I can rely on any one of them to lace up on a given day and step into those shoes.” As of now, the vaulters are away from school and each other for the summer. After a year of both indoor and outdoor seasons, Coach Hierholzer likes to give them a little break. “I will typically give them about 6 weeks to rest and recover before summer training begins.” Summer training for Long Beach vaulters is not specialized for the event, but designed to keep the athletes in shape for fall pre-season workouts, put together by 2016 Rio Olympic Coach, LaTanya Sheffield. On her Olympic experience, Coach Hierholzer says, “Coach Sheffield returned hungrier than ever, ready to take the whole Long Beach squad to that next level.”
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2016 Big West podium Michael Mongomery#1 and Xander Cooper#2
When the vaulters complete their revamped preseason, they move into vault specific training. Long Beach vaulters are split into groups to jump either Mondays or Thursdays, with multis jumping on Wednesdays. Each jump day consists of two or three jump sessions, with no more than five vaulters per session. This unique approach to time management allows the vaulters to get in ample jumping time, without taking multiple days per week to do it. “I transitioned to a Monday/ Thursday schedule because it gave
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us the ability to work more quality on a Tuesday,” says Hierholzer. “Tuesday is typically a drill day, so we do not have to worry about its impact on a Wednesday jump session.” Apparatuses for drills include the rings, bars, mini hurdles, slide boxes, platform vaults, and the swimming pool, so vaulters never run out of new drills to help them. The vaulters’ workouts need to be both tough and deliberate, because Long Beach State is part of both the Big West Conference in Southern
California, and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, which includes the schools from the notorious PAC-12 Conference. Long Beach State vaulters do not fall short in the big leagues. “As of April, our Men’s vault program is currently ranked number 6 in the nation, and scored a combined 78.5 points at the Big West Conference since 2013.” This makes Long Beach State pole vault the strongest single event at the conference year after year, surviving and even thriving through the coaching transition.
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Any vaulter looking to jump for Long Beach State should know a few things. First, as long as a vaulter is a hard worker willing to make changes to improve, they have a shot at Long Beach State. “The best part of coaching, for me, is the development of the jumper,” says Coach Hierholzer. “I would choose to take on a hard-working 4.70 jumper and push him to 5.35+, as opposed to the 4.90 jumper that thinks he is the best thing since sliced
bread and does not bring the work ethic.” Second, every athlete earns their scholarship not only through their sport, but in the classroom as well. And finally, Coach Hierholzer’s most essential piece of advice is to reach out to him, or the coach of any prospective school. “Put yourself out there! If you do not make an effort to contact the schools that you want to jump for, you may just be another result and name on a page.”
The Long Beach State pole vault community is one rich in history, but not nearly done making it. With its multigenerational coaching, high-class facilities, and the belief that “every vaulter brings something different to the table,” Long Beach State pole vault is a team to look out for on the Division I scene.
Michael Montgomery
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DEVELOPMENT OF POLE VAULTING SAFETY AND TECHNOLOGY By: Eliah Memmel Indiana Institute of Technology Part Two
I. Injuries Injuries have been a serious concern in the sport of pole vault throughout its history. There are many things that can and will go wrong which lead to catastrophic injuries which are sometimes fatal. According to research data from National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research (NCCSIR), from the fall of 1982 to the spring of 2012, there were 43 catastrophic injuries associated with high school pole vault.
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Since there are about 80,000 to 90,000 pole vaulters in high school, the catastrophic injury rate per 100,000 is 1.79. Pole vault is considered the most dangerous high school sport based on this data. Around 2.0 catastrophic injuries happened each year with 1.0 death on average in that time frame. Most of these injuries occurred when athletes landed or fell off the mats and hit mainly their head on the surrounding area. High school coaches and officials should be aware of this and
keep trying to eliminate injuries caused by accidents like this. In 1983, there were three fatalities in the sport and it caused the National Federation of State High School Associations to act and implement new safety rules and guidelines. When a pole vaulting fatality or serious injury occurs, more people begin to question why the sport is in existence and why it is still offered in high school. Most of the opposition comes from the amount of liability involved with pole vault and the lack of
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qualified coaches to teach the event [7]. Other studies used the research data from 1982 to 1998 gathered by the NCCSIR to conduct their own studies. One of the studies found people related to the 32 catastrophic injuries that happened in this period and asked them questions to receive further data. In most cases the coach was interviewed but in other cases it was the athlete, a family member, trainer, or athletic director. In all the catastrophic injuries studied, they were all sustained by male vaulters with an average age of 17.5 years (14 to 23). 78 percent of the injuries happened in high school and 9 percent occurred in college. The other 13 percent of catastrophic injuries were sustained in junior college, junior high school, medical school, and one by a high school coach. Of all the injured athletes, there were only three means by which they sustained their injuries. Figure 2 shows how most of the injuries happened. 53 percent of the time the pole vaulter landed with his body on the edge of the mats and his head coming off the pad which would strike the surrounding hard surface. Most of the time it was unprotected concrete or asphalt which caused the injury. The second most amount of injuries had a 25 percent occurrence. This happened when vaulters released the energy in the pole too early or did not have enough momentum causing them to land in the box. In the remaining cases, the athlete completely missed the landing mats and hit the hard-surrounding surface. Of the 32 injuries recorded, 31 of them were serious head trauma/injuries and one thoracic spine fracture which resulted in paraplegia. Other injuries and complications could have been sustained by the vaulter but the main data only includes catastrophic injuries [8]. One study was completed by the Medical College of Wisconsin that looked at injuries of high school pole vaulters over a year. The data was collected during the 2005-2006 season from 140 athletes. The injury rates in this time was found at 26.4 injuries per 100 athletes. 70 percent of the injuries were to
the lower extremities. Figure 3 shows where the injury occurred and figure 4 shows descriptors of how and where the injuries were sustained. The injuries in high schoolers are expected to be high due to the inexperience of many vaulters [9].
To see if experience has a difference on injuries, the same group conducted a study on the injury patterns in collegiate pole vaulters. The same process was used but this time with 135 collegiate vaulters. The data showed that college athletes experienced more frequent injuries at 41.5 per 100. This increase can possibly be attributed to longer seasons and higher training intensities. The same data collected for high school vaulters was collected for college pole vaulters. In figure 6 it shows location and type of injury and in figure 5 it shows how and where the injury happened [10]. Following rule changes in 2003, data was kept to see how the rule changes helped. From 2003 to
Figure 3: Location of injury on body and what type [8]
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II. Pole Vaulting Poles
Figure 4: How injury happened and in what situation [8]
Pole vaulting poles have advanced greatly throughout the sport’s history. They were first made of hard-woods like ash or hickory. These poles were extremely heavy and rigid which means they would not bend and were hard to maneuver. Their rigidity also did not allow the transfer of energy from horizontal to vertical easily. This limited early height because so much energy was lost during the vault. From the hardwoods, poles transitioned into the bamboo era. These poles were hollow so they were much lighter. They also had some ability to bend when stressed. Both these factors allowed more energy to be created and transferred upward in the vault which allowed
Figure 5: College vaulter injury occurrence and situation [9]
2011, there were 19 catastrophic injuries but there were fewer deaths. The death per year rate fell from 1.0 to 0.22. Most injuries changed from falling off the back or side of the mats to falling in or around the plant box. This remains a huge issue in the cause of injuries [11].
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Figure 6: College vaulter injury location and type [9]
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them to go higher than before. The highest height achieved on a bamboo pole was 4.77 meters. Poles shifted to being made from aluminum during the 1950’s and 1960’s but the next advancements of poles came quickly. The new poles were made from fiber glass and carbon fiber. These materials revolutionized the sport [12]. Many factors are considered when designing poles: strength and rigidity, carry weight, mandrel size, stiffness and safety, and plenty of others. Engineers use formulas and calculations to determine what size and patterns to use to make different poles. The way poles are made is that a pattern is cut from fiberglass or carbon fiber. These layers are wrapped around a metal mandrel and then baked in ovens with heat and pressure. This melts and cures resins in the pole so that it gains all properties. Poles then enter a cooling process which hardens and solidifies them. They are then flexed on a machine to determine the weight rating for the length pole created. After this they are wrapped in a protective tape and given labels and are ready for sale [13]. These poles are stronger, lighter, more flexible, and more responsive than previous poles that were used. They are continually being refined today
Figure 7: First pole vault mat system at National AAU championships in Oregon in 1970 [15]
by various manufacturers. Although they are continued to be refined, pole vaulting poles have led to the sport reaching a plateau. The heights have not increased greatly over the last 20 years because of the limit in technology and athleticism [12]. Pole vault poles are a
costly item that range from around $300 to over a $1000 for specialty poles. There are many manufacturers related to the sport of pole vault which include: Altius, UST-ESSX, Gill Athletics, VS Athletics, MF Athletics, Nordic Sport, On Track, and UCS Spirit [14].
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