The wedge-shaped box anchored in the ground at the end of the runway, where the pole is planted. About three-quarters of severe pole vault injuries are connected to it.
In the box, horizontal speed becomes vertical height — it is where the vault and landing phases interlock, and where severe injuries cluster. The typical mistake is trying to learn the plant at full approach speed. The progression runs the other way: first the drop-in, lowering the pole into the box from standing with no run-up, then a short approach over three lefts with the grip at standing height plus 60 cm and no bar — that comes deliberately last. Approach and grip only grow with your coach's sign-off, because every increase shifts your flight path and landing point. The target of every landing is the centre of the mat, flat on your back, never toward the box or the edge. What gets missed: padding protects less than technique. In an observational study of over 1,000 athletes and more than 6,700 vaults, optimal landing technique produced no injuries at all.