For going down the runway with the pole styles differ. Some vaulters hold the pole well up over the chest, while others (like Mr. Buchholz in the accompanying illustrations) hold the pole well down. The novice will find it better to keep his right or higher hand well up under his head. The athlete starts down the runway at full speed, and when he reaches his take-off he plants the pole firmly into the ground with all his force, and springs straight for the cross-piece. The moment his body leaves the ground, the right arm stretches taut (illustration No. 4), and his body swings towards the pole. The motion of the body as it rises is a turning one, the object being to twist and face the pole, so that when the proper height is reached the back will be towards the bar, that the heels may be lifted over. The fifth illustration shows the vaulter half-way up from the ground to the bar, which in this case was placed at nine feet. He has turned half around, and by the time he has nearly reached this height he is still further around. Illustration No. 6 shows the beginning of the working of the arms and of that twist which is so necessary to carry the body over at great heights. The working of the arms begins just before this twist is made, and consists of pulling with the right arm, and pushing with the left. This lifts the body, and the twist carries it over, together with a strong push against the pole at the last moment, when the athlete feels his upward motion is changing to a fall. After the pole has been let go, all is plain sailing. You have either made your vault or you have not, and all you have to do is to fall free, or bring down the bar with you. No effort that the athlete can now make to avoid the bar will avail him, as the motion in mid-air is practically uncontrollable after the pole has been abandoned. It is easy to learn how to fall limp into the soft earth below, and there is never any danger attending this drop. It will be noticed in the illustration that the twisting motion imparted on the hither side of the bar turns the body so that the athlete falls with his back to the posts, having performed one complete gyration in mid-air. This is not by any means a necessary element of the event, however, for many men drop facing the runway. It is not permissible in vaulting in America to move the upper hand on the pole. The lower hand may be brought up, and Hoyt, the Harvard athlete who won the vault at the Olympic games of 1895, usually does this. In England, "climbing the pole" is allowed, and athletes there frequently bring the lower hand up above the other. Some of them manage to make better records by this method too.