I think the original point was something about the bow potentially obstructing the athletes vision. I don't think it has so much to do with the width though that the length of the tails. This past weekend at Myrtle I saw a team with 2in. wide bows made all out of grossgrain, so very floppy, with long tails, and sure enough every flier's bow tails were covering her eyes. All I could do was point and whisper to my mom "#deduction"