altius wrote:"Anyone unfamiliar with tapping should definitely be smart enough to avoid giving one."
I started this topic to stir things up a bit but this comment sums up the problem. How do folk who are unfamiliar with tapping KNOW they really are not good enough to use it? If they see it done by experienced coaches and it APPEARS to be a good idea ,why shouldnt THEY do it? So they do! And so it continues to be used to teach many ahletes bad habits at take off.
This "problem" you have can be applied to almost any situation where a new idea/technique is acquired. THEY should have the sense to see that some technique is involved in the execution, just like THEY shouldn't move their grip up 15" and go to a 40lb heavier pole and try taking off (although some people just don't know any better, and would do it anyway).
Bottom line, if you have never given a tap before, don't give one without proper training from an experienced "tapper." "Proper training" is obviously a subjective grey area, but common sense would apply here - a seasoned coach who has been around the vault for a number of years and who routinely taps would have a better idea about the timing and vectors involved than a couple of high school athletes out catching each other's steps.
I also disagree with your assumption that taps teach bad habits. With a tap, you have an opportunity to run relaxed and hit the takeoff tall, knowing that you'll have enough momentum to make the pit safely. I would call that good technique. When you take off scared, you are low with the hips and hands, and probably overstriding too. I would call that a bad habit, and that almost always happens when you first make a big transition.
Had I not grown up getting taps, I doubt I would ever had made the transition to 5m poles . . . just too scary. Plus, had I not seen numerous elite coaches and elite jumpers giving and getting taps over the years, I wouldn't be as comfortable with it.
I'll give you this, though - taps can be dangerous, they can send a jumper off the end or side of a pit, and your post at least serves to point out that they should not be taken for granted. Consider this - vaulting is also dangerous. If you do it wrong, you can get hurt . . . bad. If you do it right, you'll always be fine. And guess what - people want to outlaw it. What side of the fence would you be on then?
Creed
So this is another topic I am out of. 
