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I hate to bring up this rule again!!!! But Louisiana state meet officials keep taking it to a new level. Stupidity that is. Since when the tape for the top hand and the tape for the bottom hand has to be one continues wrap and they insist that the national federation also states that it has to go from the bottom to the top. The only thing i read in the rule book is that you can't have more then two layers of tape in the hand hold area. So were is all this
other stuff coming from. I also had a vaulter dqed for wearing a religious medal on a chain, even when the medal was under his uniform and taped to his chest. I was told the he must take it off the chain and pin it on the underside of his uniform. That was the national federation interpretation that was given to our asst. commissioner, Mac Chauvin, so he says. Is there some secret rule book out there that i need to get my hands on so we can be in compliance with these rules?

Your state is just especially ridiculous

I would recommend getting an NFHS 2008 rule book and read completely all relevant sections. The whole key is trying to make sure you are at the rules interpretation meetings for whatever your organizing body is. That way you can at least try to have an impact on what is safe and legitimate as opposed to what officials that don't know pole vault believe is safe and legitimate. But if you have the rule book in hand and know how they are worded you can normally make a legit argument to an official and they should listen, best of luck, we have to deal with this every season. You know the old addage:
You Build A Better Mouse Trap...
They'll Build A Better Mouse.
You Make A Better Idiot Trap...
They'll Build A Better Idiot.

We just got rid of that rule in college. You can now put as many layers of tape on as you want, reverse it, tape top to bottom, bottom to top, whatever helps a particular vaulter feel confident in their grip. There must be a process for proposing changes to the high school rule. Someone just needs to make the proposal.

Already in the works... trust me.

The rule 7-5-2 states: the vaulting pole may be of any material and of any length and diameter. It may have a binding of not more tham two layers of adhesive tape of umiform thickness. However the bottom of the pole may be protected by several layers of tape................

The college rule now reads:

The vaulting pole may have protective layers of tape at the grip end and at the bottom end of the pole.

Competitors may use a glove or an adhesive substance on their hands or on the pole in order to obtain a better grip. The use of a forearm cover to prevent injuries also shall be allowed.