Another reason to avoid tapping

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.break.com/index/polerack.html

[VaultPurple]

And how did tapping have anything to do with this girl letting go of the pole? If anything, had he not tapped she may have shot back and not even hit the pit.... Id have to argue more that the troubles in this girls vault come from how she was taught to vault (ie. the extreme blocking with the left arm).

[kcvault]

On the one I agree with VP.

However taping drives me crazy. If you can't be on a pole with out a tap then you should not be on the pole to begin with. What happens to the kids that gets a tap on the back every time in practice then goes to a meet. They get on to big of a pole and have a dangerous vault. I see coaches give taps all the time on you tube, some times the pole still does not get to vertical. I thought the goal was to pole vault high not get on big poles. Also I would think vault coaches would learn there lesson after 2005 or 2006 after what happened to the one kid as a direct result from getting a tap. The coach in practice would give the kid a tap almost every time once he got to a meet he tried to get on a pole he was always able to get on in practice with a tap but without the tap he landed on his head in a box. If coaches had understood the dangers of giving a tap that catastrophic injury could have been avoided. Also I though after that taping was made illegal for high school.

---Kasey

[rainbowgirl28]

If he hadn't been tapping he wouldn't have been standing there to get hit in the junk!!

[kcvault]

HAHAHAHA! can't believe I missed that.

[VaultPurple]

HAHA yeah i can't believe I missed that one too! They should have kept the camera running longer.


But as far as tapping I guess if a coach is going to tap then he needs to clarify to the athlete why he is doing it and how it is just in practice. I am a little biased because I was tapped all through high school and I found it beneficial. But I was also smart enough to realize that I could not start off at a meet on my largest pole that I was getting in on with a tap. I always rented 3 poles. I would take home the big pole I used (the one I needed a tap for), and two smaller than that. I had a small school pole i could use for warm ups, then I would switch to my long runs on the smallest of my rented poles, and then most likely compete or start a competition on my second to largest pole, but if I was feeling really good and blowing through my middle pole, I would have the big one to move up to. And almost every time I would end up being able to use the big pole, that i got tapped in on in practice, at the meet or by the end of the week in practice (I practiced with club coach every Sunday).

Athletes just have to use a little common since in the matter (yeah i know its not really that common). But from a club coaches perspective, you are coaching 20 to 30 pole vaulters a week and If one of them got hurt at your practice they could sue and end your coaching career. So if you stand on the side bun and spot the vaulters so that you know that they are going to land in the pit, then they are not going to get hurt under your watch... (you just may have to wear a cup to coach...lol)

[rainbowgirl28]

So if you stand on the side bun and spot the vaulters so that you know that they are going to land in the pit, then they are not going to get hurt under your watch... (you just may have to wear a cup to coach...lol)

I'd rather have a coach who stands back and can actually see my vault and keeps my grip low enough that I always land in the pit.

[KirkB]

If he hadn't been tapping he wouldn't have been standing there to get hit in the junk!!

I missed that too!

I'd rather have a coach who stands back and can actually see my vault and keeps my grip low enough that I always land in the pit.

Me too!

I never used tapping ... either as a vaulter or as a coach ... but I'm totally against it. When the coach taps ... the amount he taps will vary ... and you never know how much he'll tap ... or IF he'll tap ...

Besides, it's not a NATURAL swing ... it's "artificial propulsion" that doesn't simulate a real vault.

Before you know it, the vaulter will be TOO DEPENDENT on the coach ... causing hesitation ... and lack of SELF-RELIANCE.

If you look closely at this vid, you'll see that the coach walked in from the RIGHT side of the runway ... TAPPED ... and the girl landed on the LEFT front bun. Coincidence? ... or did the coach PUSH her to that side?

If you're going to tap, the least you can do is push the vaulter STRAIGHT AHEAD!

I also wouldn't want the coach too close to the box ... dangerous for both the coach and the athlete.

Kirk

[VaultPurple]

Ok lets call it "spotting" rather than "tapping". You would be amazed by the power of changing one word.

Ive looked through videos from practices in high school and it looks like every vaulter is being tapped on every jump, but if you look close you can see on almost all the jumps the coach either does not even touch the vaulter or just barely follows through with arm. But hes been coaching for a really long time and knows when a vaulter needs some help so they don't land in the box. so maybe its nothing for a new coach to do, and they should just leave their athletes on small sticks.

Besides, it's not a NATURAL swing ... it's "artificial propulsion" that doesn't simulate a real vault.

Any change in swing is hardly noticeable and I have videos of multiple pole vaulters swinging and coming off the pole quite nicely, all ranging from the very beginner to the top ranked high school American pole vaulter at the time...

but I do agree that its not something that an inexperienced coach needs to do by just walking up to the pit and trying to throw a vaulter onto the mats because he wants him on a bigger pole. (im guilty of trying this with other pole vaulters when i was in high school and i usually ended up face down in the box.. but i have not been coaching for years)

[kcvault]

What if the vaulter is under and you tap them? Wouldnt they be more likly to be ripped off the pole? I have given one vaulter a tap in my life and that was Dean Starkey and he was on a 16ft 180 from 3 lefts. Which I thought was insane at the time. Jan told me him and Scott Slover used to get on a pole they could not roll to vertical and clear the bar with huge hip height in front, and keep the bar on by Voltzing. I also know that Mel Muller used to always get taped hard on the back when she vaulted and I have seen 3 or 4 videos of her coming back down onto the runway. She was an amazing vaulter but jumped 15ft by holding 15ft. I can't say for sure if she would have jumped higher by being on smaller poles and learning how to stay tighter to the pole, but I think she probably could have. I believe If your coach puts you on the right pole there will never be need for a tap. I know Deon Gideon once saved someone from landing on there head in the box by spotting them. Though he was a great athlete and was able to react in a split second and tacle the kid in the air so I am not completely opposed to a spotter. Actually I think I saw Deon react fast enough to catch a couple of kids at clovis as well.

---Kasey

[rainbowgirl28]

. I believe If your coach puts you on the right pole there will never be need for a tap.

I agree with this. The only time a tap/spot is potentially justifiable is if you have a big gap in a series and you're not 100% sure if an athlete is ready for it but you don't have much of a choice.

[rainbowgirl28]

Ok lets call it "spotting" rather than "tapping". You would be amazed by the power of changing one word.

It may change the perception but it doesn't change the end result much. I've know tapping coaches that barely touch the kids and spotting coaches that are giving more push than they realize. Even a little touch by the coach makes a surprising amount of difference in the amount of energy the person puts in the pole. And it does not change the fact that the coach is now in a terrible position to observe the vault.