Chalk dust hangs in the air as Jordan Scott takes an attempt during the National Pole Vault Summit elite vaulter exhibition. Scott would eventually clear 5.50m to earn a 2nd-place tie with Mark Hollis. Both trailed Jack Whitt of Oral Roberts University on misses.
3 comments:
Is he holding his breath?
Yup. A lot of vaulters (myself included) hold their breath because keeping high internal pressure helps you maintain posture. For one, it makes it easy to pre-load your muscles, so that they deflect less with the sudden applied force of the pole hitting the back of the box. Also, I imagine the greater distance between the tension and compression sides of your loaded torso means you have more leverage to fight the torque that the pole applies to your torso (about the CoM).
Fighter pilots also hold their breath during high-G maneuvers for similar reasons — it's a more stable position.
World-class 100m and 200m sprinters will _also_ hold their breath for the same reason — it's easier to stay close to ideal running posture when you're not breathing.
Oh wow. This is the exact moment where the vaulter looks amazing but I'm half afraid he's not going to make it. That chalk puff off the end of pole is great.
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