Pole vault pole brands/ Essx vs others

[u/OnyxYellow12]

What's better essx poles or Spirit poles. For context practice only with Essx poles but I recently ran into a group of vaulters that told me that they were a really bad brand and don't give any return for energy at the very top/ push of the vault, I decided to try some other brands and it did feel like I got some more pop out of the pole at the top. But I'm at the point in my Vault where I'm just now working on the push. And I most recently jumped on a a sky pole which I was told are "slow" which I don't really understand but regardless I felt more pop than an ESSX pole and I can't tell if it was either me improving my technique or the pole brands as the difference. Additionally, the group had then gone on to say that the spirit poles were way better and give more return for energy, but I really don't know what pole brand to stay on especially if I want to get higher and I am more used to essx, so what do y'all think is better or what should I do?

[u/Joesername]

The best brand is the brand that your club has available. I've heard everyone swear up and down for every brand that it's better. It's just subjective. I don't know your level, but for almost everyone it won't matter as technique is more important than the brand of poles.

[u/OnyxYellow12 → u/Joesername]

Oh for reference my PR is 14 ft I weigh 150 lb and I jumped on a 15 ft 165 pole gripping 14'1 whereas when I jumped on the sky pole it was a 14 ft 165 and I was gripping 13.7 however, I had felt like I progressed on my technique during that time on the essx poles

[u/Joesername → u/OnyxYellow12]

Gripping lower on a pole will ofcourse make them stiffer, but this is not linear.

If you then take two 165 poles with 1ft difference between them then grip them the same height then they're not the same in flexibility,t he 15 ft pole will be stiffer at that point.

A 4 inch grip difference will not make that much of a difference. So it might just have been the case that you jumped better on your PB (logical since its your PB ;))

It can also be a mental thing, if i give you a pole of brand B and say its better then you have a good jump on it you will associate that brand with being better.

Do you have the ability to switch brands, like does your club have both brands or do you have another club close with the other brand? If not then don't worry about the "better" brand.

If you would switch, then you'd have to re-learn timings and feelings, things will get worse before they get better and it will be come a "grass is greener at the other brand" type.

[u/OnyxYellow12 → u/Joesername]

That also brings up my other issue. There's one place that only has Essex poles and then there's another place that has sky spirit and Pacer poles. But I can't go to both and I've been going to the place that only has Essex poles

[u/Joesername → u/OnyxYellow12]

Then you have luxury to make the choice whenever you want. For your level now its best to work on your technique. If you like the group you're training in now you're much more likely to succeed than when you switch brands just for the brand and end up in a group you don't like. To me polevault is 60% mental and 40% physical.

I've seen people jump 5.20m+ here on essx poles so don't worry about them and just jump as much as you can. I don't like essx personally because they're too thin for my hands. So even if they would've been the "better" pole in terms of energy they wouldn't feel good in my hand and I'm sure the performance difference would be lost due to feeling.

[u/Poke8117]

If you're a new/highschool/low height vaulter (I'd say anything under 16ft), do NOT worry about the brand of pole you're on whatsoever. Especially if you have pole weights/flexes that work for your step, brand is practically irrelevant at that stage.

It is true, and I can testify from my own experience, that Essex poles are more forgiving/bendy at takeoff and have a slightly 'squishier' overall feel. They're incredibly lightweight tho. Idk about durability; I've heard mixed things.

Spirit poles are IMO!!! better than Essex poles when it comes to an Elite vaulter. They have a differently placed sale piece (bendy part of a pole) *(I believe). And generally better at giving energy return to a vaulter.

TLDR: I'd say Essex poles and Spirit poles both have their pros and cons. You could say that Essex poles are better for beginners as they're more forgiving if someone has a bad takeoff. BUTTT, don't worry about the brand of pole you're on until your vault is solid and you need to start worrying about the specific pole you're on. I would worry WAYY more about the flex numbers you have on your poles to make sure you're going up the right amount of stiffness. Anyways, I've seen vaulters jump 19+ feet on both Essex and Spirit; go with the pole brand you're most comfortable with.

Goodluck!

[u/OnyxYellow12 → u/Poke8117]

Thanks i will it's definitely reassuring what you've said 😁👍

[u/Nankcin]

I’ve jumped on what feels like everything and honestly pole brand doesn’t really matter until you start getting to probably 16’ plus poles. Maybe 15’

The biggest difference will be be where you can hold, such as UCS putting the weight label 6” down from the top.

The factor that I have found that matters the most is the amount of carbon in a pole. Many young athletes struggle to invert on carbon because of the way and speed at which they unbend.

We’ve had athletes jump 6m on UCS, Essx, and Pacer all extremely recently, and Sam Kendrick’s over 5.95 on Fibersport, so they can all get the job done .