2010 NFHS Rules You Should Know for Pole Vault

[master]

My guess is the official was referring to a publication for USATF certified officials titled High School Pole Vault Pre-Meet Procedures available here:
http://www.usatf.org%2Fgroups%2Fofficia ... -Sep09.doc
In it there is a "chart" that describes to officials what to expect from various pole manufacturers. The first on the list is UCS Spirit and it says:

UCS Spirit: All top hand hold labels are pink with white numbered weight ratings on the label located 6” from the top of the pole. .....

I know this to be true for UCS Spirit poles as I had to request new labels for a couple of poles and with those labels came instructions about where the label must be placed. However, the next manufacturer is Gill and it has a different situation that should have applied in your case.

Gill Products (Pacer, Carbon, Mystic, Sky Pole, Rocket, Big Stick): Gill has changed their marking or labeling procedures several times in the past 10 years. Some top hand hold labels are white with orange numbered weight ratings on the label located near the top of the pole. The newest labels are yellow and are located at the very top end of the pole. There is no required location of the top hand hold label, however, the engraving or paper informational label must be visible and readable and must match all information (weight and length) on each pole. ...

[rainbowgirl28]

Tom, the official was incorrect. Many years ago, poles w/o labels had to have the coach make a max handhold band 6" down, but that's been off the books for years.

Master, the USATF publication is a little disturbing, because Gill no longer uses engravings or paper labels, they use bar codes and the information is also printed on the label. Those paper markings they had quickly came off, most poles that once had them no longer do.

[master]

Master, the USATF publication is a little disturbing, because Gill no longer uses engravings or paper labels, they use bar codes and the information is also printed on the label.

Becca, please don't shoot the messenger. I was only trying to present a possible source of the official's thinking.

[pv161]

Tom
the official checking poles isn't a regular vault official so I'm sure what John said is correct. In the future if there is any rule question you or your vaulter can come to me or any of the other actual vault officials.

[tsorenson]

Thanks!
I had a feeling that this was incorrect. If I had been there I would have asked some questions, but no worries, I don't think it affected the outcome of the meet, except once the bar got high he tried to get on a bigger pole which he isn't quite ready for yet.

It's all a learning experience! Hope to see you guys soon at some of the masters meets. I'm still trying to figure out if we are having a full-on masters track meet or if Jesse and I are going to organize a "vault-only" all-comers meet in Bend this summer. We'll show you guys our "river-vault" spot...
Tom

[grubbs.randall]

Thanks

[grubbs.randall]

Tom,
Please don’t misinterpret my inquiry, I was only looking for clarification on a rule brought forward by another coach.
The pole vaulter in question is an excellent vaulter and will go on to shatter the record.
It’s was contentious situation sitting with the coach that caught the violation.
Pertaining to my vauter,I always check my vaulters for jewelry, The official did a great job observing a hair clip that I missed just before her jump. This would have resulted in disqualification which would have cost her the 1st place finish and the county record.

[grubbs.randall]

The individuals/officials running our county meet did a great job verifying every height change.

- the point at which all relevant distances are measured is from the top of the back of the box. 7-5-13 (the standard settings, the location of the "vertical plane", etc. (e.g., it's not the lowest point of the box))

.- Technically, for record attempts, the height of the bar is supposed to be measured from the point of takeoff. 7-5-28 I'd be willing to bet there are very few actual "official" records, at least at the HS level.

- The base of the standards and other hard unyielding surfaces around the box and pit must be covered with a minimum of 2 inches of padding (7-5-9)

[rainbowgirl28]

Here in WA, the larger three classifications are at one location, the smaller three at another. The school I coach at now, and the school I used to coach at (also my alma mater) are both in the same classification.

I did not sign up ahead of time to help at State, because my team only qualified a few athletes, and I wasn't sure if I could count on being able to get the the facility to help the whole time. I did manage to get there nice and early for the warmups of the girls competition in my division (I only had a boy competing) which was good because I was loaning poles to several schools.

Anyway, they ended up being really short staffed on officials. The main pole vault guy did a good job running the clipboard (and actually broke ties correctly, unlike last year's official). I ended up helping check in poles and weighing in vaulters while the preceding group finished jumping. Felt really bad DQing a tiny school's only pole (older Gill pole with no weight label), fortunately people are very nice about sharing. I even had to check in poles for the division my kid was competing in, one kid had a Spirit pole with no weight label, but I realized that I had the exact same pole (except with a weight label), so I let him use ours.

Anyway, it seems like no one has been enforcing the two layers of tape rule... like ever in the past five years. I had to make a ton of people retape their poles, or at least remove the extra tape. I tried not to be too anal about it, but a lot of it was super bumpy and ridgy, and judging by the trouble coaches had getting it off, it had been a few years. No one was complaining about it, they all knew the rule, and we were dealing with it before the pit was even open for warmups. I did feel kind of bad for the few schools that had to redo a whole bunch of poles, but the rules are what they are...

[drcurran]

Becca - We see this all the time. Rules are not enforced all season then when athletes get to the District, Regional, or State meet and the rule is call we hear "We been allowed to do this all year". It really is not fair to the athletes. OK my .02

Dan

[grubbs.randall]

Record jump clarification Please.
In high school, is there a height limitation a bar can be raised for a new record?
Example: If the previous record is 10’ and the jumper elected to raise the bar 10’1/4 and clears the height.
Would this be considered a new record? I was told you must beat the old record by ½” but I can’t find this in the rule book.

[rainbowgirl28]

Record jump clarification Please.
In high school, is there a height limitation a bar can be raised for a new record?
Example: If the previous record is 10’ and the jumper elected to raise the bar 10’1/4 and clears the height.
Would this be considered a new record? I was told you must beat the old record by ½” but I can’t find this in the rule book.

It's up to whatever agency the record belongs to. I've never heard of a requirement that it has to be by a certain amount, but I suppose some schools could have that as their rule.

For national records, they can beat it by a quarter inch. I guess a quarter inch would be the minimum, since that is the smallest increment of measure used. Generally if it's a school/meet/league record, most people choose to go at least an inch higher.