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Just received the notice below from Stanley Underwood.
Dan


Just a heads up - the NFHS rule book for 2008 inadvertently omitted the language banning the use of a bungee on competition days. The Federation will probably post an emergency update re-instating the ban within the next few days.


In the meantime, play safe - do NOT allow a bungee to be used during warm-ups at a meet. With the upcoming VTC, KIL, TSSAA, and other high school championships it is important that we monitor this.


I will advise as soon as the Federation posts the update, but I repeat, do NOT permit the vaulters to use a bungee during warm-ups at a meet.

that is the most idiotic rule I've ever heard. They gonna put a bar for every warm-up jump?

i agree, i believe we should be allowed to warm up with a bungie. A general warm up where everyone gets a bungie, there is nothing wrong with that.

Wow that's crazy...and dumb! We have to be able to swing for something haha. Until it's written in a rule book they can't really enforce it right? Becca, do you know anything about this? Is this legit?

Just curious what the reasoning is for this rule. Is it considered a safety issue?

What the heck?? Is this for everywhere? I've never heard about this!
It might be a safety issue getting tangled in the bungie, but it's safer to land on a bungie head first than a bar...(don't do that, I know from experience )

I'm ticked off now, going over bars during warm up would wreck my confidence levels unless I went over more bars during practise.
Grrrrrrr!

It is much safer to have a bungee up there than no bungee. Especially for high school vaulters, we need to have a reference point when swing on a pole. A lot of high schoolers dont have the experience you "feel" when they wont make pit, so a bungee with the standards on 80 will get them reference if they need to bail. There is no safety danger with getting caught in a bungee either... the worst that happens is a little rubber-burn! What a stupid rule. In simplot they put a bar up for all of nico's warm up jumps and no one complained.

I can't imagine any scenario during warm-ups where a bungee would be less safe other than if the standards were not bolted down.

This note was sent out by the MIAA (Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association - our governing body) to all the member coaches - they receieved it driectly from the NFHS :

I don't know what the NFHS thinking behind this rule is, but I'm confident that it isn't safety. If the NFHS were concerned about pole vault safety, it would not have adopted the idiotic rule change that allows a vaulter to blast off the ground in a full blown attempt, come up short and then either dive for the front bums or slam back to the runway and not have it count as an attempt. All that was needed was a change that said that if the vaulter clearly attempts to abort the attempt and both feet leave the ground it's not a miss. For the NFHS it's more important to be consistent with the high jump than safe.

There are a few instances where a bungee might be ok. Warm ups is one of the last. I made a comment to a vaulter critiquing his jump at a bungee. I usually will bring in Bubba to "check my coaching work". Here is my comment to the vaulter and Bubbas comment to me. After you read it you'll understand why I'm not a big fan of bungees for the most part. I hope this might open some eyes.
I wrote;
"Bungees in my opinion promote laziness at the top. You can cream the bungee and it stays up giving you a false sense of accomplishment".

Think about it, the last place you would want a false sense of accomplishment is right before you have to jump for real. Using a crossbar instead of a bungee in warm ups might also save the vaulter from a "no height".

Bubba sent this back to me;

Sorry to be a sourpuss but SO many kids are petrified of the crossbar. I have no problem with beginning the practice with a bungee just within their reach but that's it. What's worse is when they think they can jump that height. That's the part that bothers me the most. The rule of thumb is 2' for a tight bungee - so a 10' bungee jump is equal to an 8' bar clearance. I’ll start a bungee at 9’ or so with the standards all the way back and then move up 6â€

I don't ever see bungees used in HS meets around here, but I would be 100% behind a rule that allowed them. It is safer for the kids if they have something to swing for. It promotes better awareness of where you are in the air.

The issue is probably speeding the meet up. Just get your two kids who are going to be putting the bar up to stand there on the standards and raise/lower. If a kid doesn't want the bungee, just put it high enough that their poles won't hit it.