Re: Safety Net for Vaulting
Posted by anyman on Apr 04, 2002 at 05:57
(202.110.178.139)Re: Safety Net for Vaulting (bobbapink)
that's interesting...i was unaware of fatalities associated with vaulting
as you approach the bar...where would you put such a net...if on the upward side (approach side of the bar) it would likely impede placement of the pole and the upward arc...
unless you made it somehow to spring into place, high enough up to be effective, after the vaulter had gained a given altitude
the only way that one would need a net on the upward side is if one failed to get the sufficient speed/pole placement/spring/pole bend/height combination to reach the bar
for the unintiated and less than proficient there would be more aborted vaults than completed ones...this is the place that i can imagine some danger
the skills and practice involved in reaching a level of even moderate proficiency (even at lower bar heights) is considerable...it's a lot more difficult than it looks and most imagine it would be
a lot of things have to happen within reasonably narrow tolerances just to get one of those poles to bend to the point where it will help you up...they don't bend easily
if the injuries/fatalities are on the downward side of the bar (it's hard for me to imagine someone getting hurt with the given athleticism and padding below, but...) then i don't see that there should be any problem placing a net above the mats...but it would seem to me that the mats would allow one to complete his turn and land in an appropriate position
if the problem is at the bar...say, the vaulter gets tangled in the bar and drops straight down...then again there should be a way of spring loading or laser activating a net that would spring into place high enough off the ground between the poles that would suffice
these folks are regularly in the high teens and sometimes very near or at 20' (men) and better than 15.5' (women)...that's like falling a couple of stories...and if you are tangled in the bar, it would limit the control you would have over the fall and landing that much more...this would probably be the time of greatest danger
it'd take a little work...but it should be doable
i think the downside here is that it would take much away from the grace and beauty that is the primary appeal of the sport as it exits today
i don't know if that helped any...but thanks for making me think
and welcome to the board