Date 4/29/15
Box Collar with wings
The front of the box is 23” wide; if the box collar is set perfectly in place it will take 2-3 inches away from the target area (total area that the pole tip can connect to) at the front of the box. This is about 13% of the target area. When the box collar shifts in 1” per side, the target area is reduced by 22%, and when the box collar shifts in 2” per side the target area is reduced by 31%.
At the very back of the box the width is 15.5”and where the wings stop on the box collar the width of the box is about 17.” At this point the box collar reduces the target area about 3” from each side or 35% of the target area. When the box collar shifts to the center 1” per side, the target area is reduced by 47%. When the box collar shifts 2” to the center on each side, the target area is reduced by 58%. In many pole vault plants the tip drops in to the middle of the target area or towards the back of the box.
Pole vault pits are designed to sit on a flat surface. With the addition of a 4” thick box collar, the front extensions of the pole vault pit now sit on top of the collar which continually adds pressure to the box collar causing the wings to move toward the center of the box. These shifts in the box collar wings will continue to reduce more of the target area for the tip of the pole to hit.
The hazard of the box collar is not only that it takes away 13% - 58% of the target area, but it also decreases the angle to which the pole hits the box. If the pole vaulter misses the target area and hits the top of the box collar the angle of the pole decreases so much that it looks like the vaulter is about 3 feet out from their normal take off spot.
As the videos show every outcome is about the same, the vaulter is hanging on for their life. The target area of the box should let the tip go down and give the vaulter a chance to increase the angle of the pole. This enables the vaulter to jump up and make it into the pit. However, with the tip hitting 4” above the normal surface area and not allowing the tip to drop into the box that drops about 8”, the vaulter is now vulnerable to major accidents. There is a difference in depth from a normal vault of 8” below to 4” above for a total of 12” difference in regards to where the pole tip hits. Not only is the tip 12”above in relationship to a normal tip drop into a 100% open box, but also, the tip accelerates across the top of the winged box collar and lands onto the front of the foam pit. This is about a 4”-12” distance that the tip travels before it stops in relation from where the normal pole tip would stop if able to hit the normal box target area before the addition of winged box collars. 12” high and 12” long = major accidents.
In the summary of Patent 8,444,531 B1 the inventor has stated: One general object of this invention is to provide an improved vault box safety collar. A more particular object is to provide a vault box safety collar that reduces the risk of catastrophic injury if the pole vaulter lands directly onto the vault box, but “DOES NOT MAKE IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE POLE VAULTER TO PLANT THE POLE INTO THE VAULT BOX.”
These videos show that a vault box collar with wings CLEARLY “MAKES IT MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE POLE VAULTER TO PLANT THE POLE INTO THE VAULT BOX” which IS a DANGER to the sport of pole vaulting and needs to be recalled and redesigned so that the box target area remains open and unobstructed. At the very least, these box collars need to be recalled and redesigned so that when they are installed they cannot move or shift from side to side or back and forth.