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At our high school we have a limited amount of short poles (All are way underweight for male vaulters).In fact, we are loaded with 14' poles and our school is not purchasing poles anytime soon. I recently went to a track meet where a team cut down an old skypole from 14' to about 9'9". The objective was to allow the kids the ability to swing up while holding the top of the pole. The pole did not bend nor were the athletes trying to bend it. The athletes were conducting a short run and popping up and pulling off the top using straight pole techniques. The coach told me that it was a good way to practice the pop up and pulling off the top (allowed the hand to mimic where they would hold on a larger pole). My question is...
1. Is this safe to do?
2. We have a 15'6 180lb blue skypole. If it is safe, would it be appropriate to cut it down to 9'6"

Do not mean to ruffle any feathers, just trying to find an answer to the question from someone who has had experience with this. If this is very unsafe do you have any ideas that would work? The 14' pole for some reason is not working
Thank you for reading this.

If the pole is potentially still usable, it's a shame to ruin it by cutting it. I've seen some good jumps on blue skypoles. You might be able to sell it or trade it. But yes, it is safe to do that.

What I am seeing in rules interpretations and items addressed in rules meeting in our area involves warming up and/or vaulting on poles that are under the vaulters' weight: a practice which, while arguably safe, is otherwise "illegal" for competition...

I would simply be cautious to not expose yourself or a vaulter to a disqualification... especially at a higher level meet -

We are making it a point of emphasis, even in training and workouts, to warm up and vault on poles which are rated accordingly...

I am not trying to begin a debate as I understand how to train and develop vaulters on pole ratings below their weight; however, my personal goal is to expose the vaulter to conditions in workouts which are similar to that in which they will compete...

Frankly, straight pole workouts are good for the soul and popup drills are common on long straight poles
I would second Becca's statement to preserve the value of the pole by not cutting it, especially in a school program...

I agree about trying not to ruin blue Skypoles, especially the dying breed that are the dark blue ones.

It would be appropriate to chop down a pole that had a defect that would make one think twice about bending it. I have a green Skypole chopped down to about 8'6" after it got spiked; and it's the pole I teach all beginners on, both in the sand pit and until they jump 7 feet or so on a real pit.

Where's GHS?