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To be a good vaulter you need to be an educated vaulter. In the word's of Sergey Bubka:

"I love the pole vault because it is a professor's sport. One must not only run and jump, but one must think. Which pole to use, which height to jump, which strategy to use. I love it because the results are immediate and the strongest is the winner. Everyone knows it. In everyday life that is difficult to prove."- Sergey Bubka

As you already know, besides practice- it takes a lot of studying, watching video, visualization, and learning the technical in's and out's of the sport to be the best...or even close to the best.

So take a look around. We're working to provide a comprehensive pole vault knowledge database so every jumper can be safe and vault high.

Like a sixth-sense, this vaulter senses where the bar is and curves his body around it.

Sergey Bubka in 2007.

Carbon FX Weave pole: the cutting edge in vaulting pole technology.

Grip height and hand grip as demonstrated by decathlete Jeff Watry.

PR's are often followed by a fist pump or celebratory gesture...or in the case of Toby Stevenson, dancing.

Jeff Hartwig with a technically sound take-off.

Vaulter Brian Mondschein hitting a pretty nice vertical position at the 2008 Gill Athletics Factory Vault.

If you feel a little lost when chatting it up about the vault, check out these commonly used terms and phrases:

Bar awareness: An ability of a vaulter to sense where the cross bar is during a vault without necessarily looking right at it. Not utilizing this vaulter-sense may leave even the most seasoned vaulter with an' X' on the score sheet. Bar awareness requires a related skill: body awareness (see below).

Body awareness: A six-sense much like bar awareness but instead with your body (i.e. arms and legs). Body awareness helps a vaulter do several things: be aware of the body in relation to the cross bar (so they don't hit it by flailing about), have a sense of what your body is doing while in the air, and use that information to control the body to successfully complete the vault.

Bubka: Sergey Bubka from Ukraine is the world record holder in the pole vault with a jump of 6.14m (20' 1 3/4") set in 1994 and was repeatedly voted the world's best athlete.

"Bubkas" are also a common physical exercise used by vaulters to help muscle memory and technique for the correct positions. See the video below to watch a version of the bubka known as swing bubkas or sometimes just 'swing ups'.

Flex number: This number corresponds to the distance a pole bends with a weight (about 50lbs) suspended in the middle of the span-the span being the distance between the two supports. This very helpful little number is a more technical-and more accurate-way of determining how soft or stiff a pole will react when moving poles of the same length.

Full body wraps: A manufacturing term, this describes one of the layers of a pole vault pole. It is typically a rectangular piece of material that is the full length of the pole and is designed to achieve a certain number of complete wraps around the poles circumference when rolled.

Grip height: Grip height is how vaulters describe and remember where they are gripping with the top hand on their poles. One might say that they grip at 14'6" (if measured from the bottom of the pole) or a foot down (measuring from the top of the pole). A vaulter's grip height changes somewhat frequently especially when moving up or down in the length of the pole they're using. Grip height is colloquially measured in fists or fingers-as in the vaulter's hand-by many coaches and athletes.

Grip Height also can change how the pole will act with the vaulter. A good rule of thumb is that gripping down on a pole 6" adds about 10 pounds to the weight rating. (i.e. gripping at 12'6" on a 13' 150lb pole will feel stiffer-more like a 160lb pole.

Hand Grip: This grip defines how far apart the user's hands are when vaulting. There is no set rule for the perfect width of the hands-according to Vitaly Petrov. Each vaulter and coach must weigh the positives and negatives to having a wide or narrow grip. These factors can be found in his article, Pole vault-the state of the art.

Mandrel: This manufacturing term describes the rod on which the fiberglass is rolled onto before baking. These mandrels vary in length and size just like poles. Typically as poles get longer and stiffer the mandrel gets larger, and shorter softer poles have a smaller mandrel. Many elite vaulters specify length and flex rating, but also mandrel size because of how the pole feels in their hand.

Materials: A manufacturing term describing what the vaulting pole is made of. The most widely used materials are S-Glass and E-Glass fiberglass. The generic properties of these can be found on many web site. Most fiberglass used in pole manufacturing is resin impregnated. The resin melts during the cooking process and bonds the layers of glass together. At Gill, we specify the resin type and percentage. Gill is also the largest producer of carbon fiber poles. These carbon fiber poles are often lighter and strong than their S and E-Glass counterparts.

O's: An 'O' on the score sheet represents a successful jump or make at the height. Sometimes followed by clapping, cheering, and smiling from the audience or vaulter...especially the vaulters parents/coaches.

PR or PB: This little acronym stands for Personal Record or Personal Best. Many vaulters and coaches use this term. Instead of saying "What's the highest you've ever jumped?" they would say "What's your PR?"

Sail Piece: This manufacturing term describes a section of fiberglass shaped like a sail or a trapezoid. The size and shape of this sail piece has a major impact on how and where the poles bend when used. The piece varies between pole models (i.e. Skypole and CarbonFX) and also pole manufacturers (Gill Athletics and those other guys).

Spiral wraps: An exclusively Gill Athletics patented process by which fiberglass is cut into narrow strips of fiberglass and wound around the mandrel. The number, type of glass, and how it's wrapped have an impact on pole properties.

Standards: Put most simply: these are the metal thingys that hold the bar up. There are many rules that apply to the design and function of pole vault standards. They must be able to adjust 32" or 80cm forward and backwards. They must also be able to adjust to the greatly varying heights needed for a pole vault competition. The pegs on which the bar sits must be a certain length-longer for high school competitors and shorter for collegiate vaulters and above. Each competitor gets to adjust the standards to his or her liking-within rule: 15-32" (50-80cm).

Sticky addiction: "Sticky" such as 'GRRRIP' lotion or spray is used by vaulters for a more solid feeling grip on the pole (chalk is also often used). A sticky addict is a person who must reapply this stuff to their hands before every jump and feels unconfident if they don't have it...they may even develop a nervous tick when the product is unavailable.

Swing: The swing is the part of the jump where the vaulter transitions the rotation from the hands to the shoulder muscles and swings their whole body upward quickly. The vaulter's body should travel upward with the hips and downwards with the shoulders (drop the shoulders), the goal of obtaining a vertical position.

Take-Off: The take-off describes the part of the vaulter where the vaulter jumps off the ground and starts the aerial portion of the vault. To reference Vitaly Petrov's (Coach of world record holder Sergey Bubka) Pole vault-the state of the art article, he makes four recommendations for the take-off:"

1. Begin the pole acceleration for the "push" from the swinging leg.
2. Before the take-off leg contacts the ground, the vaulter needs to create a maximum space between himself/herself and the pole. The arms must be stretched, and the right arm continues the line of the body, whereas the left arm is at a right angle to the pole axis.
3. Before the vertical position, the vaulters should try to increase this space to the maximum. During and after take-off he/she must aim to 'rush' as far upward as possible, trying to reach the left elbow with his/her head.
4. The foot should be placed for the take-off firmly with a quick roll-up on the ball of the foot. The vaulter must pay more attention to the swing with the right (left) leg bent to a maximum in order to move the hips forward, trying to keep the shoulder in the front position, until the end of the hang."

Vertical Position: "getting vertical" or "going vertical" is a tough area for a lot of vaulters. All the elements beforehand such as the run, plant, take-off, and swing must come together to allow the vaulter to hit this position. The shoulders are dropped and hips have swung up tight to the pole.

Volzing: Named after 1992 U.S. Olympian Dave Volz who was know for the practice, Volzing is holding the bar or pushing it back onto the pegs during a vault. This practice takes a lot of skill and bar awareness while in the air, but is illegal now-a-days and will get counted as a miss- even if the bar stays up.

Weight Rating: Poles are rated in 5lb increment by most manufacturers because there are a range of flex numbers that will be grouped into a weight class. An example is a 14' 170lb pole; it could have a flex of anywhere between 15.5-16.5 and still remain in the same weight rating, variation beyond that requires the weight rating to change. For high school vaulters and younger, it is required that the vaulter must jump on a pole weighted higher than their body weight (i.e. a 135lb girl cannot jump on a 130lb weight rated pole). In college and above, though generally a good idea, it is not required to vault with a pole weighted higher than their bodyweight.

X: This represents a miss on the score keepers sheet. Get three of these at any one height and the vaulter is outta here.