Fractured Skull or Headache? Your Call!
In regard to the pros and cons of pole vaulters wearing protective headgear I would like to present several observations and scenarios that will hopefully answer all the questions that one might have. Keep in mind that I have been coaching vaulters for nearly fifty years and in the last fifteen years I’ve worked with thousands of vaulters from all over the USA and many other countries as well.
After having received several phone calls from distraught parents and coaches whose son or athlete had been killed or suffered serious brain damage, I knew that something must be done. Demanding bigger pits and putting limitations on pole usage has not proven to be the answer. Missing the pit is seldom the cause of head trauma. It is usually a result of rolling off the back or the side of the pit and falling three feet or so. We must also remember that the plant box is solid and not padded. Many skulls have been fractured or severely damaged in the box and most often as a result of using a pole too stiff for the vaulter at his or her present stage of development.
This points out a serious problem for female vaulters. The existing rules require vaulters to be on a pole rated at or above their body weight. These weight ratings are based on the average male vaulter and do not take into consideration the fact that the average female is not as fast or strong and cannot hope to bend as stiff a pole as he does. This spring, many of the girls at the Texas state meet had their poles impounded and had to borrow poles from other vaulters that they could not bend effectively. As a result, several vaulters did very poorly and many came up short of the pit into the plant box. I believe that something should be done about that rule before next year to hopefully avoid serious injuries in the plant box, which is another good reason to wear helmets. It would be simple to figure a formula based on the average differences in strength and speed of males vs. females and rate the poles accordingly for girls. I believe that there should be at least a ten or fifteen pound differential on each pole.
Now let us examine some of the arguments against using helmets.
1. Wearing a helmet will give the vaulter a false sense of security and cause him to take unnecessary chances.
Answer: Not true at all. The vaulters aren’t aware that they have a helmet on when vaulting. If the vaulters feel more secure it should result in more aggressiveness which is needed to affect a successful vault. Anxiety is a serious detriment in vaulting.
2. A helmet increases the risk of neck injuries.
Answer: In the first place we aren’t talking about neck injuries. Our concern is brain damage. Secondly, there is absolutely no evidence that a helmet could cause worse neck damage in a fall. Conversely it seems that the helmet would actually cut down the distance the head moves at the end of a fall. I had a vaulter come down on a hard track surface headfirst from 14 or 15 feet with a well-padded helmet on and he jumped right up and continued uninjured. I’m sure that we would have taken him to the hospital had he not been wearing a helmet.
3. There is no designated or approved “pole vault” helmet on the market.
Answer: Any helmet that pads and protects the skull from hard surfaces should work fine. Some are better than others. Shop around and find the toughest, lightest, most streamlined and functional helmet on the market. If they work for bikers or skaters, they’ll work for vaulters. Bicycle helmets are not recommended, but are better than none at all.
4. Some legal professionals have said that by requiring helmets you are opening yourself up to liability and possible lawsuit.
Answer: What is this country coming to if you can be sued for trying to save a child’s’ life? It’s like saying we’ll sue the state of Texas if our child is injured in a car wreck and is wearing a required seatbelt. Certainly, a serious injury or death can occur with a helmet, but it would be rare indeed. I would think that a coach/school/state would more likely be held liable if they do not do everything reasonable to ensure the safety of their athletes, and that would surely include requiring helmets to protect their heads.
5. What we need are better coaches. Coaches who will teach safety to the vaulters and proper technique so that accidents won’t happen.
Answer: Sure we need better coaches and better technique taught but to think that we can eliminate human error is absurd. Even the best vaulters in the world have made mistakes and miscalculated causing serious injuries and near death experiences. I have been asked to serve as an expert witness in several large lawsuits and the plaintiff most often attacks the coach, the school, or the equipment manufacturer. Human error on the part of the vaulter was usually the cause of injury in each case.
We need to close the gate before the horse gets out! I am dreading the day when I get a call from a dad whose precious daughter is lying in a coma knowing that if she had been wearing a helmet, she would probably have only suffered a less severe injury.
I’ve had numerous vaulters tell me of falls they had and their helmet minimized the pain and the extent of injury. One of the best stories to illustrate my point is Adam Juroska, a 9th grader at Alvarado High School, and an above average vaulter. I worked with Adam as an 8th grader and he was doing very well, winning first in all his meets that year. Just before the state meet in April that year, I received a letter from his father Chester who is the Superintendent of schools at Alvarado. He told me that Adam had rolled off the back of the pit and had struck his head on the asphalt. Adam suffered a concussion that required surgery and is now back to normal. The doctor stated that without doubt the helmet Adam was wearing saved his life. If requiring helmets saves only one child’s life every year, then it seems our duty to make a ruling to require all vaulters to wear helmets. We would certainly not let football players play without helmets or allow baseball players to bat without a helmet. Why then are we waiting? We have a duty to try to preserve the lives of our athletes. I never let my athletes vault without a helmet and I have no complaints or regrets.
Sincerely,
Coach Don Hood
4073 Caldwell Road
Abilene, TX 79601
(915) 677-9677