Coaching and Care of Athletes

CHAPTER XXII THE POLE VAULT THIS is one of the most spectacular events in the whole range of athletics, and certainly the one that calls for the highest degree of courage upon the part of the athlete. It requires both steady nerves and supreme self-confidence to precipitate one's body I3 ft. to I5 ft . above the ground upon the frail support of a hollow bamboo pole with an average circumference of 2! to 3 ins. The sport is said to have had its inception in the English fen– . lands, the pole being used as an aid to crossing dikes. Pole-jumping for distance was at one time practised as a competitive sport, but modern pole-vaulting is purely and simply for height. The first English Championship was won in I866 by J. Wheeler at IO ft . In America, when championships were instituted in I877, G. McNichol, of the Scottish-American A.C., became the first title-holder at g ft. 7 ins . Up to I879 American vaulters used various styles, pulling only with the top hand and using the lower hand merely as a prop. In I879 V. J. Van Houten, also of the Scottish-American A.C., took the American title at IO ft . 4! ins., using the same style, minus some of the finer points in technique, as is being used by the vaulters of to-day, who are exploring the present I5-ft. ceiling. From Van Houten's retirement in r882 until R . G. Clapp, Yale University, took the American title in r8g8 with a new record of I r ft. rot ins. the now recognized style was never' used. Meanwhile Hugh H. Baxter, New York A.C., had remained the American champion, and had held the record of r I ft. 7 ins., which he established in I887. That record was equalled two years later by Tom Ray, of Ulverston, England. The Lakeland style of pole-vaulting must certainly be mentioned. The tradition was established in r874, when E. Woodburn, of the · Ulverston Cricket Club, won the English title at IO ft. 7 ins. It was carried on by Tom Ray, E . L. Stones, R . D . Dickinson, R. E. Forshaw, and J. Poole, until Poole won his last English title at IO ft . 3 ins. in r8g8. The style used by these men caused a sensation when Ray and, gi8