Of all of the track and field events that you may be able to get involved with, the pole vault is certainly one on the fringe. One of the reasons for this is simply down to the fact that it is so technically difficult, and potentially dangerous if you get your technique wrong. Having proper pole vault technique is crucial to any success that you might achieve, and there are many important parts and faces to any successful pole vault that you need to understand. In order to understand the different faces and the different factors that are involved with any successful pole vault it is crucial that you receive proper training. An experienced coach will be required to guide you through the process and without this you will never get anywhere.

As mentioned, pole vaulting is a potentially dangerous discipline unless you have experience in it and you are trained properly to get yourself over the bar and safely onto the mat. Injury can occur on a frequent basis unless you take the entire thing seriously and gain the proper training and technical know-how. There are many different phases to the pole vault, as mentioned. The first phase will be to select the proper pole and grip. Where you take off from is crucial as well and your run and how you hold the pole, leading to the take off, will also be very important.

Once you make it into the air there are still several phases to complete in order to get over the bar and onto the mat. You will also need to push yourself off your pole and hang in the air in addition to being able to swing and extend, turn and then clear yourself over the bar. All of these phases require a great deal of technical experience, training, and proficiency. All in all, without training there is no doubt that you can ever hope to succeed, or even get yourself off the ground, when trying to pole vault.

The pole vault is a variation on the high jump that allows competitors to get more height through the use of a fiberglass or carbon fiber pole. This flexible pole replaced the earlier solid poles as it allows for greater heights. Pole Vaulting was part of ancient Greek, Cretan and Celt competitions and has been a staple in Men’s Olympic track events since 1896, but did not enter the Women’s competition until 2000. As with almost all Ancient events, the reasons for the challenge were military. Poles were used to clear natural obstacles throughout Europe. In those days, the vaults were measured for distance, not height. Areas around the North Sea, where poles were used to get across marshy areas by laymen and soldiers alike, still hold distance jumping competitions.

Modern pole vaulting was first seen in the 1840′s in Italy and Germany, but was honed towards the end of the 19th century in the United States. The competition for pole vaulting is similar to the high jump, as both are large vertical jumps. Participants don’t need to begin at the first (lowest) height; all vaulters can choose the height at which they enter competition. Each vaulter has three attempts to clear the bar. At the end of each round the bar is raised, and competitors repeat the process. After an athlete fails to clear the bar in three attempts he resigns competition, with the last cleared height being his official score.

One confusing rule about pole vaulting: Athletes can choose to pass onto the next height without clearing the bar, but they must pass the second height taking on the failures from the previous round (if an athlete has two failures at the previous height, he must clear the bar on his first attempt to avoid elimination.) The competitor who clears the highest bar is the victor. If there is a tie for clearance and number of misses, there is a sudden death jump-off.