By Gary Mihoces, USA TODAY

No. 3 on USA TODAY's 10 hardest things to do in sports is pole vaulting at heights of 15-plus feet. Here's why it's so hard, from a scientific perspective, from an expert athlete's perspective and from an average joe's.

The men's world record in the pole vault is 6.14 meters, set by Sergei Bubka of the Ukraine in 1994. The women's record is 4.81 meters, set by the USA's Stacy Dragila in 2001.

But enough about meters. That's 20 feet, 1 3/4 inches for Bubka and 15 feet, 9 1/4 inches for Dragila.

"The average person just wouldn't even know where to begin. The idea of going up almost 20 feet on a stick is astonishing. How could you pull that off?" says Louis Bloomfield, professor of physics at the University of Virginia.

But Bloomfield, who teaches a course called "How Things Work" and wrote a book with the same title, knows how it's done. It's all about energy conversion, transferring energy from one form to another like a baton passed in a relay race.

Standing at the end of the runway, the vaulter is ready with chemical potential energy in his muscles. As he runs down the track, his energy converts into kinetic energy, the energy of motion.

When the pole, made of fiberglass and carbon fibers, is planted, a pivotal exchange takes place.

"They bend the pole, and the bending transfers energy to the pole in the form of elastic potential energy," Bloomfield says.

"In effect, it's like a bounce ... but they're not bouncing back. They're bouncing up."

The bounce comes as the elastic potential energy in the pole is transferred into gravitational potential energy in the vaulter. At the top, the vaulter bends his body as he passes over the bar.

"It's a great maneuver, which takes enormous skill," Bloomfield says.

"But people who have really good control of their shape can do seemingly impossible things."

Expert's view — Stacy Dragila

The USA's Stacy Dragila is the 2000 Olympic women's pole vault champion and the outdoor world recordholder at 15-9 1/4.

Q: In the world of sports, how hard is pole vaulting?

A: "It was terrifying at first, as a junior in college, and I'm sure the bar was only 6 feet. I thought, 'How am I going to get turned up and get my butt over this bar?'

"A lot of kids are overwhelmed with (that initial fear of going up and committing to bending the pole). There's a sense of risk-taking, and you have to develop trust with your coach. There's always that fear the pole is going to snap. It takes a lot of time to figure out. You have to have a lot of patience."

Q: What's the most important thing about pole vaulting?

A: "The most common mistake by beginning vaulters results from a last-second panic attack as they prepare to plant the pole. Instead of pressing the pole up ahead of them, like swinging on a high bar, they pull the pole into themselves."

Q: What secrets have you learned about pole vaulting?

A: "The pole vault is the one event where I have to have a coach with me. You have to have a trust with that person that you might not have with anyone else.

"Gymnastics training is a key to developing the agility the (event) demands. It doesn't mean you have to join a class. There's stuff you can do on the grass, tucking and rolling, handstands. Or just finding a high bar at a local park or at a school and trying to turn over."

Average Joe's view — Tom Weir

My high school track coach, Bill "Stubby" Thompson, was a great guy. Except for his sadistic streak.

Every spring he made the entire team go through all 10 events of the decathlon, just to make sure we didn't have some undiscovered talent performing in the wrong event.

At 5-8 and 124 pounds as a sophomore 2-miler, it seemed a little ridiculous to have me try to heave the shot or discus. But the really imposing event was the pole vault.

Everybody who has held a fly rod says, "Gee, fiberglass is really light."

Believe me, when it's shaped into even just a 10-foot pole, it's heavy, cumbersome and not the ideal shape to be carrying on a sprint down the runway.

But you see those Olympians bend it like a piece of just-boiled spaghetti so it must be really flexible, right?

Hah.

The only way to make a pole bend is with total body commitment. You have to fling yourself into the air, and then you're at the mercy of the pole.

Mine put me in the dirt twice. On the last try, I considered it a moral victory when I at least somersaulted into the pit, well under the bar. And that bar was set at the minimal height of 8 feet.

Coach Thompson loved the pole vault because he knew a good vaulter could be plugged into just about any other event on short notice.

I remember him preaching that "pole vaulters are almost always the best athletes on a track team."

And I remember responding, "Well, coach, that ain't me."

USA TODAY sportswriter Tom Weir vaults to the top of the list in brutal honesty.

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