Most Of You Pole Vaulters Who Have Been Vaulting For A While Should Be Able To Relate To This Post

That irrational fear that your pole will break...

1. When you are passing your record at practice over the bungee but then you don't get even close at competitions with the bar...

LIKE COME ON NOW!!!! It's all the bars fault. Like let's say the persons record is 9'6", and while practicing, they are passing 11'0". Then, at their competition they jump 9'0" but were jumping 2 more feet just the day before!!!!!!

2. When you are doing so good and passing the bungee, you decide to take a water break, and when you go for another jump, you suddenly look like a fish out of water.

Just a minute before, I was doing so good! My coach was proud! Now, you look like you've just started pole vaulting. So annoying.

3. Or even worse, you don't even take a break, and you suddenly can't pole vault anymore!

When did I get this bad??? I was doing so good until now!

4. And this embarrassing situation... Similar to the 2 above, you are doing so good, and then you start missing the bungee. You tell your coach you are probably tired, and then they say "Oh no! You are not a bad vaulter, I just raised the bungee! You still know how to pole vault!"

COULDN'T YOU HAVE SAID IT EARLIER????

5. When you just completely miss the box...

How was I an entire foot off?

6. When you move to a bigger/different pole, and the rocket science of figuring the perfect way to make it work for you.

Hmmm... So this is the best way to bend it, but my handhold is not high enough. Should I move my step back? Is this pole legal for my weight???

7. When you don't vault for a few months, and when getting back into it, you think, "Wasn't I just jumping 9'0"? Why can't I jump 6'0", this should be easy for me!!!"

Good tip: Practice away from judging eyes when getting back into it.

8. Every time you go to plant the pole into the box, you think, "Is this how I die, will my pole break, I HAVE TO MAKE THIS OMG THIS IS MY LAST ATTEMPT!!!!"

And then the blissful relief when you pass and realize you are still alive.

9. When you tell people you pole vault, they say, "OMG that looks so scary, I could never!" or "Aren't you scared?" or even "That's so dangerous, you could hurt yourself!!!"

UHHHH! It's scary for the first few times, but you get used to it. No, Im not scared ANYMORE! Yes, but in a way everything is dangerous, but there are mattresses and people supervising. I know what I'm doing!

10. And finally, the feeling of breaking your record.

Its so awesome, but at the same time you're thinking, "Well, now i got something harder to beat!"