The tap

[altius]

Has every US coach and athlete eliminated the tap - they should!

[MightyMouse]

No, My coach still uses it when we transition poles. He wants to make sure we get in the pit.

Though I do think it is bad to use it on a regular basis

[illmatic3]

what is the tap?

[CHC04Vault]

A tap is when u plant and take off, and some1 assists u by pushing ur back so u can get into the pit. It was made illegal like 1 or 2 years ago and for good reason, i helped tap my friend, and the added energy snapped the pole. He broke his fingers and thumb and the bottom piece hit my leg and cut it up something feirce.

[illmatic3]

dang, lol....

[distancejumper]

my coach only does that when we do like 4 step approches and he has us hold high up on the pole....he also does it with beginners

[altius]

If you cant transition poles without a tap - you are not ready for the transition! It should not be used from any length run up because it just encourages a poor take off. The whole point of taking away approach speed by vaulting from 2/4/6/8 steps is that this forces you to jump at takeoff and not just get pulled off the ground by your run up velocity.

From a full run a tap just papers over cracks which will almost certainly open up in the cauldron of competition.

[rainbowgirl28]

From a full run a tap just papers over cracks which will almost certainly open up in the cauldron of competition.

AGREED

[skyin' pimp]

i like to have our all american shot putters come over and give the taps.. i put my 107lb girl on a 14'6" 165.. it was great.. at least watching the look on her face when i swear to god.. she saw the grim reaper.. yeah.. you can't be afraid of death if you're a pole vaulter

[altius]

You should never be afraid of death because it is inevitable and part of life. On the other hand you should not try to speed up the process by being STUPID when you pole vault.

[skyin' pimp]

yup.. relax.. i've coach 3 girls 3.97 or better (meet bests), and the oldest was 20.. i just think that sometimes we get a bit too serious about our sport and think that we should overcomplecate it.. this ain't tough.. if you run faster than the other vaulters, and continue your speed through the takeoff.. you're gonna beat the other vaulters.. sadly, it's that simple

[MightyMouse]

If you cant transition poles without a tap - you are not ready for the transition! It should not be used from any length run up because it just encourages a poor take off. The whole point of taking away approach speed by vaulting from 2/4/6/8 steps is that this forces you to jump at takeoff and not just get pulled off the ground by your run up velocity.

From a full run a tap just papers over cracks which will almost certainly open up in the cauldron of competition.

I am a big fan of your book, and have read it front to back multiple times. And this is the only thing I found a reasonable disagreement on. (isnt it great that you can run into an author in the pole vault community!)

There are many phycological factors that will come into play when a vaulter moves up poles. Which may negate what Bruce Caldwell called "confidence bending the pole 5-10 lbs". So the first time you get on a pole the amount of force you will put into it will be highly variable. And it is nessecary to take a few trial jumps on a new larger pole to build up that 5-10 lbs to find your "typical energy" on the pole.

This is when I believe the tap comes in handy, I think of it as more of a spotting tap, to build the confidence of the vaulter. Of course if used on a regular basis the tap will lead to improper jumping. But I believe It can be helpful for safety reasons.