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There are HS level jumpers up my way that have used the black tape with the fluid. Makes one hell of a mess ot the hand hold band not to mention the blacken hand shake at the end of the meet.. Yuk!.

If you really want to stop the tape curl.. Tape your poles the opposite way. It's that simple. Start taping from the bottom on up. Ridges will not form.

Just because you have ridges doesn't mean a DQ. If bad taping is found during pre-event inspection, you'll have to fix it before starting . If found during the event itself AND that pole was initially found to have been ok, you'll have a chance to correct it. If you don't fix it, then that's a different issue.
Good luck to all in their conference and state meets.

Just throw this in for a . Right at the change from ridged to flexible poles we had steel poles with a piece of rope tied at your grip and then tape over it. Did not need any sticky stuff then

Also, in college we sometimes used so much sticky stuff we could not get rid of the pole and took the bar down with us.

Dan

drcurran wrote:Also, in college we sometimes used so much sticky stuff we could not get rid of the pole and took the bar down with us.
Dan

lol i had that happen to myself once... too much stick'um.

when we have had kids just starting out that have minimal hand strength I have done the "rope under the tape" trick to help them keep their hands from slipping. Also if no rope is available - just unroll some tape and twist it into a "rope" and then wrap this around the pole before taping in the normal manner. (these methods only work for practice NOt to be used during meets)

Vaultref... that is part of the problem I don't like to use the sticky stuff but I
do like the ridges...so why am I being pentalized? What unfair advantage do I have if everyone can tape their pole however they like? This rule sounds like it may have came from the East Germans in 1972 along with the Bob Seagren ruleing!! It didn't work for their vaulters so it's illegal!!

If you want to avoid grip problems in the future, just get stronger hands and forearms. Go out in the backyard, pick up a 12 or 15 pound maul and use the time you spend complaining about taping rules splitting logs. After a few weeks you won't need ridges, chalk, or stick'um. Its also a great way to strengthen your back and shoulders.