Top hand hold mark

[HHSPVCoach]

I'm looking for input to back me up on this one, or perhaps a word from someone at UCS Spirit.

At our regional meet today, there came up a question about where a vaulter was holding his pole. He was vaulting on a UCS Spirit and was clearly holding on (covering about 3/4 of) the pink weight/top hand hold marker.

Now it just so happens that a meet referee was over there since this involved a jump off for first place, so i called the kid out on the grip. The referee saw him do it on his next jump and said he'd have to check his book to verify what the ruling was. So, he reads from rule 7-5 (NFHS) that the handhold must be "at or below" the top hand hold marker. (I'm currently trying to find the exact rule, but i have a book that is a couple years old.) His interpretation of "at or below" was that he was allowed to be "on" the marker. I believe he was incorrect in this interpretation. My understanding was that you cannot be on that band at all. "At or below" to me means up to the bottom of the band and that's it.

So, what is everyone elses interpretation of this rule? And what is UCS's intention when they put that label on there? Is the max hold at the top of the label or the bottom???

[bayouvaulter]

Rule 7-5-29-i states that it's a foul if a competitor grips above the top hand hold band. So according to the rule gripping on it is ok as long as you are not above the band. So he was legal.

[Rhino]

You must have been crushed. Maybe next time you can gig him on a uniform violation.

[OH-IOvaulter]

I agree with bayou, at or below = not above = legal jump. My question back, If it is that much of a gray area, why call a kid on <1" difference? If the kid can jump then the kid can jump and he's taking every advantage he can. Maybe its the fact that I have a great working relationship with most of the coaches I coach against on a regular basis, but I rarely if ever call a kid on something like that, I only call on safety related conditions. If their kid legitimately out jumps mine, I congratulate them and their coach, and on the whole, they do the same for me.

[rainbowgirl28]

I've always interpreted it as holding below the label. Don't the Gill labels specifically say to hold below it?

[HHSPVCoach]

Yes, the gill labels do. Well, at least the Rocket pole labels do anyway, which is what I grabbed that day as an example.

Now, I did not pick on this kid just to be mean as you guys seem to be implying. I did not want him to be disqualified or lose his place either. In fact, this particular vaulter is coming to vault for me at the college level next year. But after last weekends invite when we had a coach blatantly breaking rules, I've been keeping a closer eye on things. In addition to this, this was the qualifying meet for the state competition where they will get dq'ed for such things, even for "uniform violations." So, don't you think it's better that they know and understand the rules before going into the state meet?

[bayouvaulter]

I agree and I think the intent of the rule is not to grip above the manufactures recommended grip. But like many other rules in the NFHS book, it's poorly worded. Leaves room for different interpretations and the high school athletes are the ones that will suffer from it. But as the Federation rule is written I would still have to say that by rule he is in compliance with it if he was not above the band. The rules committee only would of had to add, unless the manufacture states other wise.

[drcurran]

I'm afraid I have to call "BS" on "I did not pick on this kid just to be mean". If you are that concerned about him getting DQed at the state meet, and this issues seems to be very "gray", why not go over to the athlete and or his coach after the competition and explain that at the state meet holding up that little bit on the label might get youu DQed. That would seeem the better way to handle it rather than trying to get him DQed in the qualifying meet. Just my .02

Dan

[Cooleo111]

As I understand it, you can grip anywhere on the label of a UCS pole as long as one can clearly see a solid pink band all the way around the pole at the top of the vaulter's hand, e.g. the top of the label is what marks the maximum handhold. However, this only applies for UCS poles because Gill's poles specify that the bottom of the weight rating is the maximum handhold (at least the older labels do), and I'm not sure about other brands.

[OH-IOvaulter]

What were the other rules that the coach was blatantly making?

[HHSPVCoach]

First I did talk to the athlete and his coaches during and after the whole thing. There were no hard feelings among any of us.

Secondly, the other rules being broken were by a different coach at a different meet the week before. This one had taken the weight label off of a Spirit pole and moved it up to within an inch of the top of the pole. It was re-applied right over top of the engraving and everything. I was running the event at the time so I told the girl that she would not be allowed to use that pole anymore, her coach gave her a different pole to use. Problem solved right? Not so much. After her next jump I looked at the pole (when her teammate had caught it) and it was a 100 lb pole. This girl was clearly at least 20 lbs over the weight of this spaghetti noodle. I didn't say anything about it since she didn't make the height nor any after that.

Cooleo, you're at least addressing the question that I was originally trying ask, thank you. Although I had always understood it the opposite, the the bottom of the label was the top hand hold mark. I guess I might have to email UCS to get a answer.

[OH-IOvaulter]

I thought that we had answered the question, it just seems like it wasn't necessarily the answer you wanted. I agree with you telling them no way on the moved up sticker on the spirit. I've seen it done, and the safety of it and the legality of it are two completely separate things. Perfectly safe to cap a spirit, illegal to move the hand hold band. I guess the only thing I really disagree with is the not calling the girl on her weight. The only time I won't call on weight and rating is if they are straight poling. If they are bending the pole and are clearly under the weight, I'll call the coach on it.