Another Giant Step Forward (and Upward).

The women's pole vault achieves stardom; and the four battles that remain to be fought

ONE OF THE SENSATIONAL developments of track and field in 2000 was the emergence of women's pole vaulting as a mainstream event.

Three happenings conspired to produce the miracle: Stacy Dragila's world record 15'2.25 vault at the U.S. Olympic Trials, her gold-medal performance at the Olympic Games, and the adoption of the event by the NCAA and 25 state high school athletic associations.

The main battles still waiting to be fought involve the 25 state high school associations that still haven't ratified the event and the few high school leagues or individual schools within the 25 adoptive states that are still holding out for a variety of reasons.

Unfortunately, many of the issues remaining to be addressed are clouded by dated information and uninformed traditionalists just as it once was in girls basketball, soccer, lacrosse, and distance running, when the conventional thinking was based solely on the perception that girls and women were too gender handicapped to compete in vigorous "male" sports.

We know, of course, how dramatically these concepts were demolished, especially since the introduction of Title IX in 1972. Yet the women's pole vault continues to be dogged by the archaic and non-valid prejudices of the past, the outright disregard for women's capabilities in the event, and the general lack of coaching knowledge.

Let us look into the four well-founded areas of concern that must be addressed to ensure the evolutionary progress of the event.

Concern 1, Element of Time

The amount of time required to run the event in dual and invitational meets can make it the most time-consuming event on the program. It actually can double the time required to run a meet. Any remedies, however, can't alter the nature of the event, decrease the margin of safety, or reduce the performance levels.

One debatable solution is to limit the number of vaulters in both the men's and women's events. Though this would speed up the event, it would also decrease individual participation and technical improvement.

An equally dubious solution is to decrease the number of consecutive unsuccessful attempts from three to two. While this would accelerate the pace of the event, it would adversely affect the event strategy and compromise safety. You would have athletes consistently attempting to make minor adjustments in technique.

A less drastic modification is increasing the height increments in the early stages of the vault from six to nine or 12 inches in both the men's and women's vaults. After a predetermined height is reached, the increments would revert to six inches.

Finally, it is essential for our vault officials to conform to the time-limitations in the warm-up, scheduled run-throughs, and the placement of the standards.

Concern 2, Pole Weight

A modification is recommended in the relationship of the body weight to the pole flex weight in National Federation Rule 7-4-3. The designed stiffness of the poles has generally been based on a specific weight for a male vaulter.

Novice female vaulters bound by the Federation rule that requires them to use poles that are rated for use by male vaulters are placed at a disadvantage. While the designed stiffness of the various brands of poles is fine and should not be changed, the Federation rule (7-4-3) that forces high school girls to compete with a pole weight at or above their body weight must be reviewed.

Prior to Rule 7-4-3, the high school male would use whatever pole was available or whatever size he could bend, even without correct mechanics. Male vaulters routinely vaulted with poles 10 pounds or more under their body weight. In an attempt to eliminate over-penetrating and missing the back of the landing mat, as well as reducing catastrophic injuries, the National Federation adopted the current body weight-to-pole stiffness rule (7-4-3).

Physically, most average females are not comparable to average males in speed or average reach height. Furthermore, their body weight naturally fluctuates during their monthly periods. It may increase by five or more pounds due to the water retention. As a result, their running velocity may slow down a little during their monthly cycle as their body weight increases.

Consider a female vaulter who is normally one pound under the designed weight of the vaulting pole, but who adds three to five pounds during her monthly cycle. Current high school rules dictate a move to a stiffer pole. If her ability and technique are well-matched to her regular pole and she is then forced to comply with the pole stiffness rule, she could develop a serious safety problem.

Current high school rules must be modified to account for the slight variations in the female physiology by using the female's average weight during her monthly cycle for rule compliance. The use of special female poles must not be considered an option.

Moreover, most high school budgets will not allow for a special set of poles for women. The extra expense, incidentally, would also give the athletic and school administrations a valid reason to stonewall the girls' pole vault.

Concern 3, Bending Action

This area concerns the lack of knowledge and understanding of the bending action in the flexible pole. The importance of the bending action is overemphasized by both novices and experienced vaulters. This misconception is understandable. Doesn't the bending and unbending action literally launch the athlete into the air?

The perception that the unbending action is solely responsible for lifting the vaulter is only partly factual. Equally important is that the flexible pole enables the vaulter to grip the pole higher. (A bending pole actually decreases the linear distance from the vaulter's top hand to the tip of the pole.)

During the days of rigid or near-rigid vaulting poles, the bending/unbending pole-energy storage system was negligible.

The kinetic energy of the vaulter's run-up was largely stored in two motions. Approximately 50 percent of the vaulter's energy was stored in the vertical rotation ("the swing") of the vaulter's body, and the other 50 percent was stored in the vertical rotation of the pole.

The world record for men in the rigid pole was set by Don Bragg at 15-9. Today, the flexible action accounts for the nearly four-and-a-half foot increase in the indoor world record of 20-2 set by the great Ukrainian vaulter, Sergi Bubka.

It has been scientifically established that the energy storage in the "flexible pole era" is evenly distributed among (1) the bending/unbending pole, (2) vaulter rotation, and (3) pole rotation. It is therefore unwise and unsafe to concentrate solely on the bending action of the pole to develop skill in the event.

Grip heights, takeoff angles, takeoff points, takeoff velocity, takeoff mechanics, experience, and confidence are all factors that directly contribute to the proper bending of the flexible pole. As proper body positions, pole positions, and takeoff actions are established, the pole will bend naturally.

The average female novice vaulters are at a slight disadvantage when learning to bend the pole. This disadvantage is due to their slower average approach velocity and lower average pole-grip height (low pole angle/takeoff ratio).

However, as the vaulter's confidence, technique, and experience increase, his or her grip height will improve. As a result, the pole angle and takeoff angle components will improve and the confidence level and takeoff velocity will increase the potential for an efficient pole bend.

Concern 4, Overcrowding 

As pole vault programs develop and become more successful, overcrowding can become a significant obstacle. If not given suitable attention (as received by the veteran vaulters), the young prospects may become bored and migrate to other events.

Unfortunately, the event often requires a great deal of coach supervision, and most programs simply do not have the kind of staffing that would enable a coach to assign an assistant strictly to the vault.

Well-planned practice sessions are thus essential to get the most out of the coaching staff, athletes, equipment, and facilities. Solutions must also be found for drill time, pit/runway time, coaching/spotting time, and safety concerns.

Most training and motor-skill drills can be achieved by dividing the vaulters into groups led by a reliable squad leader. Running-type training can be accomplished with short-distance sprints, and many non-vaulting drills can be simultaneously performed into the back, front, or both sides of the landing mat.

Runway work can be accomplished on the track or in the school parking lot rather than on the actual pole vault runway.

On actual vaulting days, a split schedule will work well.

The more experienced vaulters (male & female) could warm up and work on motor-skill drills led by the best pole-vault technician (squad leader), not necessarily the best vaulter, while the novice vaulters could vault with the vault coach/spotter on the actual vaulting mat.

At the conclusion of the first session, the more experienced vaulters can rotate with the novices in vaulting under the coach's eye during the second rotation. Any athletes involved in other events can then work in with the second rotation of vault specialists.

This solution requires a coach to focus on the pole vault on the actual vaulting days. Squad leaders can run the workouts on the non-vaulting days. Split-session ability grouping will also minimize the element of intimidation inadvertently imparted by the experienced vaulters.

Without question, the pole vault has its share of functional and administrative obstacles. But it is also without question a superbly valuable "point machine" when it comes to winning track meets.

For a variety of strategic reasons, the event is a difficult to overlook. It culminates late in the meet, yielding large point swings that are difficult to counter. Teams with structured pole-vault programs frequently sweep the event in dual meets, capturing a 9-0 point swing.

Established programs with two developed vaulters can generally count on 10 or more points in invitational meets.

Furthermore, it is a dynamic crowd-pleasing and athlete-recruiting event that helps generate interest in the sport.

Obstacles in the vault are often due to an unwillingness to change or an inconvenience on various administrative levels. Most of the obstacles have simple solutions for dedicated, open-minded, and persistent coaches.

Stacy Dragila's attitude was directly on target with her world-televised statement made immediately after winning the pole vault in the 2000 Olympic Games: "Girls, get out there and vault."

I will take her statement one step further: Girls and boys, get out there and vault. Coaches, find viable solutions to the minor obstacles and promote the vault. It's a majestic event for both genders and it is good for track and field.