I have been coaching for 17 years and have seen many times where vaulters have overly worried about their weight due to the weight rule. I have seen kids take off extra clothes under their uniforms, go to the bathroom, and run laps between the two times stepping on the scale at weigh in. And not eat breakfast or not eat well days leading up to meets. It sends the wrong message to kids in many ways and gives them unhealthy habits. Most of them also don’t hold at the top of the poles anyways. The rule makes vaulters vault on poles that are too big for their ability just because they are even half a pound over the pole weight label. It should be up to us as coaches to decide what pole is safe for them to vault on. The biggest part of being a pole vault coach is worrying about safety. If the pole is unsafe, either too stiff and they can’t get in the pit or too soft and over bending, we should see that and change the poles accordingly so they are vaulting safely. Even a pole over the vaulters weight can be unsafely bending. We talk about this problem a lot within our district and collectively we have increased our pole selections so that we have more shorter heavier poles for the constantly growing vaulters to be able to move up if needed. But we don’t always have the pole and instead put them on taller poles holding down to achieve the same goal, but when it comes to the State meet at the end of the season, a 180lbs boy holding one foot down on a 175 isn’t “legal”. One solution a coach had years ago was if we must weigh then instead mark maximum hand grip on poles to correspond to the vaulters weight. As public high schools, we don’t have endless amount of money to have every possible pole we could ever need. Personally I feel we should get rid of the strict weight rule and use it more as a guideline to selecting safe poles or grip height of an athlete while also coaching safely. I have seen less vaulters getting hurt from over bending and breaking poles and more vaulters getting hurt due to the unsafe pits (small, old, falling apart), landing on their feet, or using poles too big that they come back on the runway. If we want to talk about safety, the bigger problem in most high schools is the landing systems.

We write weight on card at state and poles that are above weight are marked with a sticker that has vaulters name and coaches initials on it in Texas. I watched a girl at regionals come out of weight room and go run bleachers before going back. She came out smiling this time. I noticed the next day she was holding 10” from the top at least. Pole was plenty safe. Sad she had to go through that.

Every year, weigh-ins are a source of stress for both myself AND my athletes as w approach the post season – and they needs to stop! Like clockwork, I get asked about whether or not weigh-ins will take place at a certain meet, and my answer is always the same: “let me worry about the poles you’ll jump on at the meet.” Even still, I know they go to sleep worrying about what will happen at the meet. You can see the change in their demeanor after they’ve made weight, so it’s frustrating that we’re putting so much undue stress on them… and for what?! I have a vaulter who, in their mind, feels like they “must” be on a specific pole that matches/exceeds their bw, but they’re simply not at the skill level yet to safely move that pole and it has hindered their progress significantly (e.g. gripping way too high to force pole bend).

This is another element that also gatekeeps pole vault. What if I have a gap in my pole line that doesn’t accommodate an athlete who outweighs the proper pole for them by 3 lbs? What if my school only has 6 or so poles altogether for everyone to use? These athletes now could be publicly shamed and told they can’t compete because they outweigh their poles. Even if a weigh in is done privately, ppl can see whether or not an athlete competed and can draw conclusions about what happened, especially amongst Pole Vaulters.

This isn’t boxing or wrestling where bodyweight matters in the spirit of competition and fairness. It’s athlete vs crossbar, and even halfway decent coaching will have taken the necessary precautions to ensure their athlete’s own safety by putting them on THE RIGHT POLE for their skill level. Otherwise, they have no business being a coach. At the meet levels where these weigh ins are taking place, I doubt we really have many ppl who are jumping on poles under their weight anyway, as we all understand that bigger poles generally mean higher heights. We also understand that gripping down a foot on a pole of a certain weight instantly makes that pole much “heavier,” thus eliminating the bw-to-pole rating risks.

Let the state and the games committee put the onus back on the coaches and programs to confirm they’re keeping their kids safe and STOP THESE WEIGH INS! Any PV coach worth their weight in salt will NOT let their athlete vault on a pole that isn’t right for them, regardless of the weight rating.