Pole vault technology
|
|
Competitive pole vaulting began with iron bars. Bamboo was then used. Today's pole vaulters benefit from poles produced by wrapping sheets of fiberglass around a pole template, to produce a pre-bent pole that bends more easily under the compression caused by an athlete's take-off.
As in the high jump, the landing area was originally a heap of sawdust where athletes landed on their feet. As technology enabled higher vaults, matts evolved into bags of large chunks of foam. Today's high tech mats are solid pieces of foam usually 1-1.5 meters thick. Mats are growing larger in area as well, in order to minimize any chance of injury. Proper landing technique is on the back. Landing on the feet must be trained out of the athlete as it reduces the risk of spraining an ankle by 100%.
Non-profesional mats (e.g. in schools) MUST be given extra length by facility managers as only recently (during the last 5 years) the number of deaths has aroused enough concern to cause a change in the legal requirements. Regardless, the process will take years, and everyone should add an extra meter of padding to the far side of the mats.
The pole vault bar (that must be cleared in a successful vault), is constructed to easily break in the event of a competitor landing on top of a dislodged bar lying on the mat during the course of a vault.