Pole Vault: Deadliest Sport In America!

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CRITICALLY VITAL, THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE CANNOT BE OVERSTATED:

No mortal human being can safely learn to pole vault properly by starting out using flexible "COMPETITION" poles that are absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to BEND CORRECTLY applying dangerous "TRADITIONAL" pole vault teachings.

Looking at our images of "UNIFORM DIAMETER" vaulting pole examples below, you can see that we purchased several diameters of the FiberSport "MAXIMA" brand poles in the early 1990s. The application of multiple widths of uniform diameter poles is the SAFEST and MOST EFFICIENT method of learning HOW to properly BEND flexible vaulting poles and master "HORIZONTAL FLEXED POLE ROTATION" principles on all flexible "competition" poles. These LIFE-SAVING POLES were "BANNED" from use in the United States circa 1996. I've been informed that Coach Jan Johnson was integral in the "BAN" while putting FiberSport "MAXIMA" out of business.

Maxima Vaulting Poles

It is imperative that you realize "horizontal flexed pole rotation" CAN NOT be learned with maximum safety and efficiency UNLESS "UNIFORM DIAMETER" flexible vaulting poles are implemented. They are VERY STRONG, yet, EASY TO BEND. "Uniform diameter" flexible poles are crucial to safer and proper flexible "competition" pole vault execution in that, from the very beginning of applying "uniform diameter" flexible poles, ATHLETES CAN GET THE FEEL OF A BEND WHILE MOVING VERY SLOWLY AND SAFELY! Applying uniform diameter flexible poles, this procedure CAN even be completed WITHOUT EXPENSIVE POLE VAULT LANDING MATS!

no-mats-pole-vault-drill

One of Air Strike's major safety revelations is the elimination of "FULL-SPEED" approach runs. It is a proven "traditional" pole vault FACT that SPEED KILLS! Although, successful AIR STRIKE approach runs are much SLOWER than "traditional" expectations, the time it takes to penetrate the "Vertical Threshold" using our methods is much FASTER than primitive "traditional" pole vault tactics.

Within 12 MONTHS, we accomplished MORE to IMPROVE this event than “TRADITIONAL” pole vault “EXPERTS” have throughout entire careers!

Chris Toledo FSUChris Toledo Pole Vault
Chris Toledo Pole VaultChris Toledo Pole Vault

FLEXING POLES CORRECTLY TO VAULT SAFER, HIGHER & PROPERLY, DOES NOT REQUIRE "SPEED"!!!

"Traditional" pole vault methods drastically RETARD the forward horizontal TIMING of athletes being jerked backwards and forced to ASCEND DIAGONALLY while they are still way out above the runway. Besides the certainty of the "clotheslined" principle, the "BULL-PUSH" of the flexible pole also increases the risk of POLE-BREAKS exponentially. It's not just simple physics, it's also COMMON SENSE.

Air Strike vs Traditional   Horizontal Flexed Pole Rotation   Pole Break

Contrary to foolish "traditional" concepts that endanger pole vaulters, Air Strike's "HORIZONTAL FLEXED POLE ROTATION" immediately glides the athlete into "pull-over" position safely above the landing mats while the vaulter remains lower to the ground plane prior to Air Strike's "vertical launch."

Air Strike vs Traditional

Air Strike's "horizontal flexed pole rotation" principles allow the vaulter to DANCE with a flexing pole that naturally embraces the suspended vaulter's bodyweight while the horizontal rotation of the bending pole's top end carries the forward-moving vaulter into perfect vertically inverted body position. It is only after the recoiling pole is in the process of pulling the inverted vaulter vertically skyward, safely above the landing mats, when the LOWER portion of the flexing pole is FINALLY FULLY LOADED. This, FINAL LOAD, occurs based upon the fundamental physics principle that the vaulter's body mass is being vertically directed while the vaulter remains suspended at the top of the recoiling pole from an overhead position that is nearly perpendicular to the ground plane. The LOWER, most powerful section of the recoiling pole, can be seen BOWING OUT as it absorbs the resulting ANCILLARY energy of the vaulter's well placed mass.

Air Strike Pole VaultAir Strike Turbo Boost

After digesting the additional natural downward gravitational pressure produced by the vaulter's ideally suspended bodyweight, the STRONGEST portion of the flexing pole now adheres to its built-in "linear elastic behavior" by REACTING with EQUAL and OPPOSITE FORCE as the pole STRAIGHTENS even more powerfully due to the assistance of Air Strike's "TURBO BOOST."

ONLY from our correct VERTICAL END-OVER-END POSITION, can a cocked flexible "competition" vaulting pole recoil in a direction nearest to perpendicular above the ground plane. Air Strike's "horizontal flexed pole rotation" is the only method humanly possible to achieve PROPERLY "COCKED" flexed pole POSITION.

pole-vault-mechanics

AIR STRIKE'S "horizontal flexed pole rotation" completely eliminates lethal "traditional" pole vault predicaments in which vaulters are jerked backwards above runways and plant boxes. Properly applied "HORIZONTAL FLEXED POLE ROTATION" always MAXIMIZES the energy of the vaulter while correctly utilizing the THICKER lower portions of flexible "competition" vaulting poles.

pole vault stepsjump-higher

By allowing the bending pole to properly spin away from the vaulter's forward path, the critical pole-bend now occurs in the UPPER (easier to flex) portion of the pole, while the harder to bend LOWER portion of the pole pivots to the outside of the vaulter's lower hand-position. During that same instant, the vaulter's upper hand position travels horizontally above the ground plane directly forward, towards the safety of the landing area.

3 Views of Air Strike

In 1991, 42 years after the first fiberglass "Sky Pole" was introduced, I concluded that "traditional" FULL-SPEED approach runs are a disastrous FAILURE. Sergei Bubka was, at that time, the MOST SUCCESSFUL "traditional" style pole vaulter in history. Stated more precisely, Sergei Bubka was the world's greatest at executing DANGEROUS "traditional" pole vault methods that naturally result in vaulters being immediately and violently JOLTED backwards by powerful INCORRECTLY FLEXED vaulting poles. It is a proven ugly fact that the same "traditional" pole vault misconceptions, successfully performed by Sergei Bubka, have killed and maimed countless "wannabe" athletes who've proven to be far less adept than Mr. Bubka. Limited by "real" physics, "traditional" pole vault methods reached their PEAK (CEILING) in 1991, when Sergei Bubka surpassed the 20 foot mark proving "SPEED" has NEVER been the solution but has ALWAYS been one of the most lethal PROBLEMS at the core of deadly "traditional" pole vault.

Only ONE other "TRADITIONAL" vaulter has consistently "officially" out-performed Sergei Bubka, using SPEED to PUSH a flexing pole forward duplicating the heights Bubka achieved using DEADLY "traditional" pole vault methods. Bubka was actually capable of vaulting much higher but he "fizzled out" while breaking his own records ONE CENTIMETER at a time as he pocketed a minimum of $100,000 for each new setting. Renaud Lavillenie's world record was a "fluke" that served to Mr. Bubka nature's "just desert" (KARMA). Armand "Mondo" Duplantis, who was LITERALLY born with an ENTIRE pole vault facility in his BACKYARD, has recently matched Bubka as the BEST at consistently executing deadly wrong-way "traditional" pole vault methods. Bubka and Duplantis have each succeeded at performing an action that is completely WRONG simply because they had "PRIVILEGED" access to the use of equipment that others did NOT! See Duplantis in the video below.

Pole Vault Miseducation

Please, watch the 2017 video below to again see real-life AVOIDABLE consequences of combining DEADLY "TRADITIONAL" SPEED & PUSH misconceptions together with a very expensive UCS Spirit flexible "competition" vaulting pole. After noting the "UCS Spirit" BROKEN POLE and "UCS" landing mats, you might even join with me in concluding that THE ONLY CERTAIN BENEFICIARY of this INTENTIONALLY LETHAL POLE VAULT EXHIBITION is UCS SPORTS EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURING. "Follow the MONEY!"

The indisputable root cause of avoidable pole vault deaths and injuries is the purposeful negligence of athletic "Establishment" lemmings who continue to propagate archaic "FULL-SPEED" approach runs and the lethal forward "PUSHING" of flexible vaulting poles as vividly displayed in the video directly above. These deadly methods have been irresponsibly endorsed and approved by the sorely ignorant academics involved in publishing the "IOC Medical Commission, Summer Olympic Games of Barcelona 1992, Biomechanical Analysis of the Pole Vault Event." My own conclusions are further substantiated by the "Barcelona" study itself, which unintentionally reveals and confirms the obvious reasons "TRADITIONAL" flexible "competition" vaulting pole PROBLEMS ALWAYS occur while vaulters are still dangerously ABOVE plant boxes and runways.

HURTING PEOPLE IN ORDER TO PROFIT FROM THEIR VICTIMIZATION IS WRONG, DOING IT ON PURPOSE IS CRIMINAL!

THE "IOC MEDICAL COMMISSION" REPORT: Click the following URL (Uniform Resource Locator) to see the detailed illustrations and lethally misguided IOC conclusions for yourself. Please, examine the "Cover page" image along with figures 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, 3.5, which are excerpts from the "study." - https://www.cs.indiana.edu/~kinzler/pubs/pvfigs/ - These intricate illustrations expose the fact that lethal "traditional" pole vault recoil is actually dimwittedly INTENDED to occur while vaulters are still directly above the runway and plant box. NOTE: In the "IOC" study, "TRADITIONAL" parlance for the term "cocked" pole is applied as "MPB" or "Maximum Pole Bend." If you simply look at the illustrations in the "study" for a brief moment, you will see the evidence that still, as of 2019, ALL "traditional" pole vaulters, including world class vaulters, DO NOT BEND flexible poles correctly.

Here is one more URGENT WARNING: If you choose to use "TRADITIONAL" pole vault methods that FIGHT AGAINST the flexible vaulting pole, as illustrated in the 1992 "IOC MEDICAL COMMISSION" study, I ASSURE YOU, a day will come that YOUR MISUSE OF THE FLEXIBLE POLE WILL CAUSE YOU SERIOUS HARM! (PLEASE, watch the SELF-EVIDENT 2016 OLYMPICS video clips below.)

Video Evidence of Thiago Braz da Silva, Sam Kendricks & Renaud Lavillenie:

Thiago Braz da Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2016 Olympics gold medalist, is shown below relying completely on RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" his flexing "UCS Spirit" vaulting pole forward. The consequences are completely predictable as the "UCS Spirit" pole reacts to being "pushed" forward! Watch the video as Thiago forces the bending pole forward and the pole "pushes" back. As a result, Thiago descends awkwardly, landing extremely close to the lethal plant box. You will also see below, "TRADITIONAL" vaulters Sam Kendricks and Renaud Lavillenie doing the same.

Below, the first video reference begins at 41:10, the second at 44:00. You will see the results of Sam Kendricks, 2016 Olympics bronze medalist, relying on his RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" the bending pole forward. If proper Air Strike technique was being applied, there would be NO NEED for Sam's lethally excessive approach SPEED. Sam Kendricks is completely THWARTED as a consequence of his attempting to "BULL-PUSH" the flexing pole. Clearly, when the pole reacts to being "pushed" forward it "pushes" back against Kendricks, which forces him to wrangle with the crossbar and land dangerously near the plant box. (On the first "play" each of these two videos should begin automatically at their previously referenced times.)

 

During Kendricks' seemingly innocuous landings (shown above) you can see for yourself that Sam Kendricks, 2016 Olympics medalist, injures his neck when his head is "whiplashed" due to the self-inflicted consequences of ill-conceived "TRADITIONAL" vaulting methods.

SUCH DEADLY "TRADITIONAL" POLE VAULT STUPIDITY SHOULD NEVER BE VIEWED AS HUMOROUS!

In the next two videos, Renaud Lavillenie, 2016 Olympics silver medalist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, relies on his RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" his flexing "UCS Spirit" vaulting pole forward. Renaud Lavillenie is a phenomenal acrobat applying atypical physical skills to veil deadly "TRADITIONAL" pole vault dangers. Numerous near catastrophes for Renaud, that he views WHIMSICALLY, are not so FUNNY for the victims killed and maimed attempting to emulate Renaud's lethal "traditional" pole vault methods. There is NO NEED for Renaud's deadly excessive SPEED when proper Air Strike technique is applied. Lavillenie has SQUANDERED his sensational talent as a result of his application of RUNNING SPEED to "BULL-PUSH" the bending pole.

At 48:03 of the first video below, you can see how the pole reacts to being "pushed" forward when it "pushes" back against Lavillenie causing his DIAGONAL ASCENT above the runway and plant box. Because of his misguided diagonal trajectory, Lavillenie ends up desperately in a battle with the crossbar as he descends to land dangerously near the plant box. Once again avoiding catastrophe, saved by his own unique special access to acrobatic training since childhood, Lavillenie laughs in the face of danger after surviving unscathed. (On the first "play" each video should begin automatically at its referenced time.)

  

The second video above, at 46:45, displays Renaud's extraordinary ACROBATIC skills that he applies to minimize the potential of his disastrous "traditional" pole vault execution. ANY LESSER acrobatic athlete attempting Lavillenie's misguided methods is clearly exposed to a much higher risk of death or catastrophic injury than the extraordinarily acrobatic Renaud Lavillenie.

WITH OR WITHOUT AIR STRIKE SOLUTIONS, LETHAL "TRADITIONAL" POLE VAULT TEACHINGS MUST BE STOPPED!!!

As the last five videos above vividly demonstrate, the world's TOP THREE 2016 Olympic pole vaulters are nothing more than "daredevils" without the slightest idea how to apply FINESSE to their vaults. UNCONTROLLED RUNNING SPEED WILL NEVER PRODUCE THE FINESSE REQUIRED FOR PROPER POLE VAULT RESULTS! Video documentation of today's "world-class" vaulters makes it obvious that SPEED KILLS while it is also the avoidable cause of needless injuries suffered by exploitable athletes in this INTENTIONALLY MIS-EDUCATED DEADLY track & field event. Please, watch the short video below (I personally documented in 1992) that will confirm for you the many years my warnings have been purposely ignored by corrupt track and field "insider" profiteers.

CAN YOU NOW COMPREHEND HOW HORRIBLY CONTEMPTUOUS THE "TRADITIONAL" POLE VAULT "ESTABLISHMENT" IS? AGAIN, I REPEAT: HURTING PEOPLE IN ORDER TO PROFIT FROM THEIR VICTIMIZATION IS WRONG, DOING IT ON PURPOSE IS CRIMINAL!!!

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