What`s the key to success in the pole vault? Approach

Male and female pole vaulters engaged in fierce competition Tuesday at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics at Daegu Stadium.

The pole vault originated from European shepherds in the Middle Ages who jumped over fences or obstacles using poles.

As both the power of an athlete and the pole affect performance unlike other track and field sports, improvement in pole quality has helped a jumper’s performance as well.

Poles were first made of wood but the material has changed over the years to bamboo to metal and to fiberglass. Accordingly, vaulters have broken records.

The development of a fiberglass pole in 1956 was officially accepted by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 1961. The breakthrough boosted the world record from 4.80 meters to 6.14 meters.

Pole vaulters are now allowed to use poles made of any material with no limitations in length and thickness.

Unlike the long and triple jumps that require jumping on the ground, pole vaulters jump into the air like vaulters in gymnastics. A vaulter uses approaches to store energy for a take-off and turn the energy into a vertical movement.

In other words, the pole vault involves energy changes. A vaulter turns kinetic energy accumulated from the approach into elastic energy and again into potential energy by bending a pole. This is why the skills to conserve and deliver energy are important in this sport.

The speed of the approach is particularly important in this regard. Taking a close look at how Choi Yoon-hee (SH Corp.) set the Korean record of 4.40 meters in June shows the importance of the approach. The distance used for the approach is about 30 to 40 meters.

From early this year, Choi’s average speed in the final 5-meter section was recorded 30 times.

Even the number of strides should be made during the approach to strike a balance between the left and right legs. Normally, men make 18 or 20 strides and women 16 or 18 strides.

In January and February, Choi took six steps but increased the number of steps to 16 from late March. When taking six steps, the average speed in the final 5-meter section was 5.81 meters per second. This increased to 6.99 meters per second for eight steps, 7.04 meters per second for 10 steps, 7.42 meters per second for 12 steps, and to 7.66 meters per second for 14 steps.

When she took 16 steps in late March, her speed grew to 7.72 meters per second, stabilizing to 7.80 to 7.90 meter per second from April.

When Choi jumped 4 meters at the National Clubs Athletics Competition in April and failed to reach her record of 4.25 meters, her average speed in the final section was 7.72 meters per second. This grew to 7.81 meters in the Colorful Daegu Pre-Championship Meeting in May.

In June, Choi broke the Korean record of 4.35 meters set by Im Eun-ji by jumping 4.36 meters and set a Korean record of 4.40 meters at the Korea National Track and Field Meet.

Her speed in the final 5-meter section was 7.86 meters per second at the time. The same month, Choi set her personal best of 8.10 meters.

Though Choi failed to advance to the finals of the IAAF event Monday, she tied the Korean record of 4.40 meters thanks to improvement of her approach.