Jessie Graff on why pole vaulters excel on American Ninja Warrior

Pole vaulters seem to have some kind of innate ability to navigate a Ninja Warrior course.

Jessie Graff was a pole vaulter. So was Meagan Martin. Kevin Bull and Geoff Britten also have pole vaulting backgrounds. That’s quite a collection of some of the biggest names in American Ninja Warrior.

Taylor Amann is a top ranking pole vaulter for the University of Wisconsin. On the latest episode of Team Ninja Warrior: College Madness, Wisconsin shut out Maryland and Michigan for seven wins in a row.

After, Taylor and Jessie discussed why a pole vaulting background lends a helping hand on the course.

The key: It’s all in being prepared to hang on to and control a moving object. Which makes perfect sense once you think about it.

Most athletes have worked with stationary bars, but less have trained themselves to master something in motion that requires so much strength to control.

On the course, that leaves them a little more prepared for an obstacle like the Pole Grasper, ready to handle the vibrations and swaying that can cause others to slip too low to hang on.

It also helped that the University of Wisconsin also had their confidence game on point.