The Weight Rule

Why Weight?

There’s a lot of recent social media commentary about the pole vault weight rule.  Here’s an explanation of how we got the rule, and why it’s still important today.

Since the mid-1990’s, school and youth pole vaulting have been governed by “the weight rule”.  It’s simple:  poles are rated by the manufacturer for a vaulter less than or equal to a certain weight.  That weight is listed near the top of the pole.

But the theory of vault is more complicated.  Manufacturers took a “model”, of the average male athlete; within a given weight range, with average speed, strength, and vaulting technique, and applied that model to the force that would go into the pole.  Then they choose one single factor, weight, to balance between overbending and potentially breaking the pole, or not.

They could have chosen vaulter’s height, technique, strength or speed as the critical factor.  But (other than height) all of those factors were variable.  The “constant” was the weight of the vaulter, and so the “weight rule” came into being.

Most Dangerous Game

Why was there a need for the rule?  Pole vault in the 1980’s and 90’s was dangerous.  The rate (injury per participant) of catastrophic and fatal injuries was the highest of any sport, including football.  A big part of that danger was in coaching.  Many coaches in the 80’s and 90’s, if they had any pole vault coaching education at all, learned from teachers from the transition era, when pole vault went from rigid poles (aluminum) to flexible poles (fiberglass).  

The “goal” of some of those coaches was to use softer poles that bent way-too-much, and have the athlete hold as high on the pole as possible. That put their athletes in dangerous positions – the “grip and rip” school of pole vault.  You might go high, but you might land in the box, over the back of the pit, or on the runway.  It wasn’t unusual for a good high school program to break five or six poles a year. (Full disclosure: the program I coached in that era did exactly that).

Better educated coaches who had an understanding of pole construction and function saw the danger in this.  And there was a stark choice for many:  either find a way to make pole vaulting immediately “safer”, or risk losing the event for good.  Several states banned pole vault as an event.  Ohio came one vote away from banning middle school vaulting.  Iowa and Alaska have never reinstated the event even in high school.

Saving the Vault

So the “leaders” of pole vault, including the leading manufacturers, determined to simplify the event.  Instead of allowing coaches to “choose” the stiffness of the pole, they proposed to the National Federation of High Schools (the rule making body for High school track and field) to require vaulters to use poles equal to or over their weight.  This had two effects.  First, it limited how much “over-bend”, and therefore pole breaks and athletes going off the back of the pit.  Second, the practical effect was it forced less technically sound athletes to go on shorter poles, so they could penetrate into the pit from a lower hand grip.  It made them safer.

Sure, there are other ways to make vaulters safer.  Here in Ohio, we developed a safety program required of all High School and Middle School pole vault coaches, which emphasizes the basic theories of safe and successful vaulting. There are other National programs that do the same.  And nationally, equipment changed to make the event safer. But, in order to reach even those coaches who aren’t technically educated, there is a “rule” barrier:   the kid has to weigh less or equal to the pole rating.

Safer Vaulters

Pole vaulting has changed radically in the past two decades.  The number of vaulters doubled with the addition of women’s vault in the early 2000’s.  And we are now in an era of “club vaulting”.  In the 1980’s, 1990’s, and mid 2000’s; good vaulting “schools” existed because they had good vaulting coaches.  While some of them remain, it’s likely that many good vaulters are privately coached by the few club coaches scattered throughout the state.   These professionals are well aware of all of the speed, strength, and technique that make up the equation of pole selection.  And because they are, their kids are generally vaulting on poles twenty pounds or more above their body weight.  

The “pros” know, and it’s not an issue.  They follow the rule because their kids are coached well enough to be on poles over their weight.  But, for them and other folks out there trying to vault, there is a hard and fast rule.  NFHS 6-8-15 states: “The competitor’s weight shall be at or below the manufacturer’s pole rating.”  It’s the safest place to start.  With that rule, coaching education, and equipment improvements; pole vault is not only safer, but isn’t even the most dangerous event in track and field, much less high school athletics.