Monday

A hoop pole is used...

to plug loop holes!

;^)

Re: Monday

No google yet.... my guess is that it is what they used to roll wheel hoops with. The modern version... street hockey?

No, but perfectly logical and (hint)

some were turned into hoops, but not this application. Think (arguably) summer sports for modern day application but not using wood today as the material. Also remember that hoops are made not born.

Re: You thinking of .....

basketball: the peach basket on a pole?

Re: Monday

Simple one. It's another name for the equator. There is a North Pole, a South Pole and in the middle is the "Hoop Pole". I'm pretty sure that Admiral Byrd discovered it.

Tom

Not basketball . Hint

Much earlier than American schoolboy games England's Henry VIII almost drowned doing this.

Sadly, no. But when the answer is

provided you will see how important the middle is.

Re: Monday

OK, I looked it up. Has to do with shooting arrows into a rolling hoop.

Re: Monday

Must admit I googled.

Poles used for vaulting streams, or when it was pole-vaulting time, just like marble time or top spinning time.

They called them hoop poles because the hoop-pole man used such saplings from which to cut, with his drawing-knife, the long, limber strips of wood and bark used by the coopers to make barrel hoops.

Good on ya! Gold Star

Re: Monday answer (Long)

Monday. The answer is a pole for vaulting. Whoo Hoo Sharon. The answer was harder to find than I originally thought. A hoop pole is the common term used in the 1800�s for an ash or hickory sapling that is straight and has straight grain end to end. The hoop poles had to be the right diameter and length, and were cut green then shaved to form the hoops for barrels of different sizes. But for school boys in the 1800�s a hoop pole was cut and kept straight. It was cared for with great diligence.

Dan Beard (edited slightly) �The Boy Pioneers�The Sons of Daniel Boone�, 1909 �really good book with sections like �How to Throw a Tomahawk�) but from the net. �In the olden time, when the boys had a regular calendar of sports, these poles were much used; but you must understand that they are not in any way related to May-poles or are decked with flowers and planted on the green for the boys to caper around. Each boy carried his own pole when pole-vaulting time came, and it used to come as regularly as marble time, top time, kite time, and stilt time.

Each lad in those days, as he sped on his way to the little log or frame school-house, made a short cut, and by the aid of his vaulting-pole cleared the brooks, ditches, and even the fences that barred his path. It is a fine and exhilarating exercise, and you boys of today must not let it be forgotten or relegated to the athletic contests alone.

The boys' playground vaulting-pole is not the big stick still used by athletes in their record-breaking leaps over strings, but each rod is made in proportion to the height of the boy using it. Formerly the favorite pole was made of a hickory sapling which was then known as a hoop pole. This was not because the pole was bent in the form of a hoop; on the contrary, the straighter the pole the better it was for our purpose. They called them hoop poles because the hoop-pole man used such saplings from which to cut, with his drawing-knife, the long, limber strips of wood and bark used by the coopers to make barrel hoops.

Hickory poles today are sometimes difficult to procure, but ash or any tough wood that will not break easily will answer the purpose. If you make your vaulting-rod of dressed lumber you must be sure that the grain runs parallel with the outside of the pole, that is, runs lengthwise with the pole, for if it runs crosswise or diagonally it may break and give the vaulter a bad fall.�

The sapling �hoop pole� was used in contests where distance was determined to be the winner. The pole was �planted� in the middle of a field, ditch, or stream and the boy rode the pole from one bank to the other. A misplaced plant and someone fell or got wet--if the sapling broke, same thing. Henry VIII as a young man tried to jump a muddy channel/ditch using such a pole. The pole broke and he landed face down in the mud. Darn near drowned and history records that he was sucked into the sticky mud (as he had no purchase and could not extract himself) for so long before being rescued, he was brain damaged forever after.

In the old days distance, not height, was the victor in pole vaulting. The pole was planted on the ground (no box) and the person literally hand climbed the pole to get greater distance. The cartoons where a person attempting to vault a stream is hung up on a pole in mid channel could be all too real.

From the net: �History of Pole Vault.� Pole vaulting was known to the ancient Greeks and the Cretans used long poles to vault over bulls. The Celts used to pole vault - but for length. This event became a vertical jump in Germany around 1775, during gymnastics competitions. 1850 saw the first competition of "running pole leaping". The heavy, rigid poles were made of ash and the athletes climbed them as they jumped. In 1889, the Americans banned the movement of the hands along the pole and invented the technique of reversing the legs upwards, clearing the crossbar with stomach facing down. In 1900 lightweight bamboo poles were used for the first time, remaining in use until 1942, and the receiving 'box' for the pole was also introduced. In 1957 Bob Gutowski used an aluminum pole to set a world record of 4.78m which was broken again in 1957 by Don Bragg (USA) who used a steel pole to clear 4.80m. This period also saw the introduction of landing mattresses which meant improved safety for competitors. The fiberglass pole, which permitted flexion and has revolutionized vaulting technique, saw the light in the USA in 1956. The first world record using this material was set in 1961.

If you have interest and want more go to: �How Stuff Works�, look up Pole Vault or go to �The Physics of Pole Vault� and you will find that the math of the vault is relatively simple and the max height possible for any person following the rules are very close to being achieved. For the really serious look up �Pole Vaulting for Engineers.� This is why things like running shoes, pole manufacturing, and clothing are so important to world class athletes. The pure human physical limit of the vault is pretty well achieved.

alternate answer?

HOOP AND POLE GAME

Many of the tribes on the plains practiced this game for enjoyment as well as for the development of archery skills. The object of the game was to shoot at a small moving hoop. The game was usually played in the spring, when the ground was still hard.

EQUIPMENT

4 arrows per player

A bow for each player

A hoop about one foot in diameter, made from willow branches, leaving a small hole in the center.

If Native Americans called their target

a hoop pole then fine with me. I didn't find that answer, but if it's so, it's so. Good on ya.