Sam Kendricks

When talking about famous pole vaulters, one that always comes up in Sam Kendricks. He is an american pole vaulter and is an absolute legion. He is a second lieutenant in the United States army reserves and  is a team Essex athlete.

Standing 6’1″ tall he is just about the perfect sized pole vaulter, which makes pole vaulting ever so slightly simpler. His best vault being 6.00m, putting him in a extremely exclusive club of vaulters.

Sam vaults the way every coach tries to teach. With what looks like near perfect form for the american style of pole vault sam competes constantly as one of the top 5 pole vaulters in the world. But what exactly makes him so good?

Sam uses a fairly average sized pole, 16 feet, but his push off the top of the pole is not so average. Holding the world record for clearance above his grip, Sam can push 4-5 feet off the top of his pole.

His take off is also something of a beauty to watch, and to an inexperienced pole vaulter it looks flawless; although, being human he has flaws, but he manages to make them as misicule as possible.

While swinging he always keeps his swing leg long, and his drive knee bent. Sam also has the timing of the vault to an almost science, managing to push upward just at the right time as the pole uncoils.

Putting all of it together, Sam is one of the best pole vaulters in the world, and continues to prove it. Going from placing ninth in 2015, with a jump of 5.65m, to being top three from 2016-2018. Ranging in jumps from a consistent 5.80m-5.95m. In 2017 Sam won first in both the Uk, and France.

Everything about Sam’s jumps are smooth and consistent, making him one of the great pole vaulters ever.