taping a protective coat on a pole: HS rules?

[Barefoot]

It doesn't increase the weight if you take off the old tape first. And if you're using thin packing-type tape (like what Spirit uses) as opposed to thick vinyl tape (like what Altius uses) it's very light. And I disagree that the tape can't help with scratches... I think it provides a small benefit.

More importantly though, it looks cool and makes your poles less likely to be "accidentally" stolen.

And those old scrappy looking poles that kids didn't want to jump on suddenly become someone's favorite stick! Never discount how a young vaulter feels about their pole... I'm still partial to anything sporting a proper "catapole 580+ green"... wonder if I can get a truck in that color?

[wavjr]

As the parent of a H.S. vaulter, who has just purchased a new pole, I see most of the poles at our school have a very thick wrapping at the bottom of the pole. Our Vaulting Coach is 87 years old and while he does a great job with the vaulters, most of his ideas are as you might expect, very "old school". I'm not sure if the bottom taping is a result of his starting to vault prior to even having metal poles much less fiberglass. At that time it might have been neccessary to tape the bottom to prevent the tips from shattering.

Is this strictly protective? Is it neccessary? Are there any restriction about tape at the bottom of the pole?

[Barefoot]

The bottom taping is legal and protects the pole from getting dinged by the edges of the box. This practice was vital with the old straight back box, but is still a good idea, especially with vaulters who are heavily bending or blowing through poles.

[rainbowgirl28]

If the vaulter has a good takeoff, there is no need for the bottom tape. The pole only rubs HARD against the back of the box if the pole is bending low, almost always the result of a crappy takeoff.

However, in the HS world, you're not going to get a good takeoff from the kids every time. I don't tape the bottom of my poles, but I probably should with some of them, they did start to rub more last year.

I would say if a coach is regularly wearing through bottom protectors, they need to reevaluate their coaching techniques, but it's not a bad idea to have a little something there.