This question is perhaps impossible answer. For decades people might have said Sergei Bubka or Maksim Tarasov. Training with the famous coach Vitali Petrov, Bubka’s form was a nearly perfect trail leg and drive knee up to vertical. The minimal downfalls in his technique could likely be attributed to his speed and the power of the poles he was on. On the other hand, the slightly taller and more slender Maksim Tarasov was a technician in every sense of the word. From the moment of the shift to the plant, Tarasov is an example to follow if you want to jump with a straight trail leg. In recent years though, it seems the ideology around pole vault technique has changed.

Pole vault is physics. It’s a rather simple equation that involves taking the height of your center of gravity, your horizontal speed on the runway, and the effect of gravity, to see how high you can get your center of gravity by converting your horizontal energy into vertical energy. In simple terms, the faster you go on the runway, the higher your center of gravity can go in the air. In history, there have been reportedly been a couple vaulter’s to “break” this equation. The first that comes to my mind is Bjorn Otto. To be transparent, I’m not sure if this is factual, but if my memory serves me correct, Bjorn is one of the people who have jumped higher than their speed says should be possible. But, there’s a reason this can be done. At the peak of the jump, when the vaulter is piked over the bar, their center of gravity could technically pass under the bar.

Therefore, the best pole vault technique is the technique that allows you to be as efficient as possible. For a long time, that was thought to look something like this:

Maksim Tarasov 6.05m

Sergei Bubka 6.00m

Every vaulter above has jumped over 6 meters. Renaud and Mondo have also been absolute world record holders at some point, and of course Mondo still is and will continue to break his record for years to come. Sam Kendricks is a top 5 vaulter all time with a PR of 6.06m and Shawn Barber is perhaps the vaulter who has held higher and used a longer pole than anyone else on record.

Here’s the thing, none of these vaulters have a jump that looks like the above - BUT they all follow core parts of their technique to follow what physics says is needed.

Checkout this video of Mondo clearing 6.18m below. Note: Listen without volume.

At 0:12 seconds, you can see that while Mondo’s drive knee is up at the start of the takeoff he relaxes it and let’s it fall.

Renaud Lavillenie’s takeoff is very similar. Watch as he drops his drive knee during his 6.16m attempt.

In this video of Sam Kendricks, watch as he almost kicks his right leg straight before tucking it back in.

And, watch Shawn Barber clear his personal best of 6.00m at the Pole Vault Summit. Look at how Shawn’s takeoff is well beyond 14’…and he’s still a little under.

It’s the one thing that’s markedly different. There are 7 videos in this post and one could argue it’s the largest factor of the jump the vaulters are purposefully doing different from one another. I’ve also had the fortunate opportunity of training under Coach Dennis Mitchell, the former coach of Shawn Barber, who can be seen in the video above in the navy jacket next to the pit - and I can assure you - it’s purposeful.

The advocates for the drive knee might tell you one of two things.

Let’s watch this video of Renaud Lavillenie again.

Check out how far his left hand is above his right hand in the frame after Lavillenie’s hips begin to move off the chord of the pole.

If you watch Bubka or Tarasov jump, there are frames early on in the vault where this occurs, but not nearly to the extent of the photo above. One reason for the increase in pole bend is the difference in the height of the vaulters. Lavillenie is approximately 5’9” while Bubka and Tarasov were both over 6’ and Tarasov a few inches taller than Bubka. This means Lavillenie’s center of gravity is starting off lower to the ground AND it means Lavillenie has a slightly longer way to go to push the chord of the pole to vertical.

Alright, so let’s compare a vaulter of a more similar height to Bubka - Mondo Duplantis. In the videos above, Mondo’s pole appears to have slightly more bend than the both of them while assumingly being on a pole relatively just as strong, if not stronger than they were on, considering it was a world record.

It certainly seems like it could work that way. In order to get your center of gravity of the bar, the vaulter must move the chord of the pole to perpendicular or close to perpendicular to the ground while having enough remaining horizontal energy to move over the bar and land safely on the mat.

A shorter pole is easier to move to vertical. It’s why straight poling holding 10’ is much easier than straight poling holder 13’.

In the video of Shawn Barber above, watch how his pole fully bends, with the most bend occurring towards the bottom two thirds of the pole. The pole bends so much so it almost appears in the video to pass under the bar. Theoretically, by having a greater pole bend, a vaulter holding 17’ could have the same length of chord as a vaulter holding 16’9”.

Here’s the thing. Bubka had the world record for decades before Lavillenie. Duplantis holds age group world records as young as like 5 or 6. It comes down to individual performance. On an individual level, vaulters will feel more comfortable and be able to perform one of the two better. What you do notice on all the vaulters is a long trail leg through the chord. Hit your takeoff on with a strong bottom arm, get that nice backwards C position, and swing a straight trail leg to the chord. From there, do what’s needed to rotate your hips to vertical without compromising the conversion of horizontal to vertical energy, like pulling on the pole.

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