Been doing it like that for 3 years now, no problems.

I do manouvre my boat with the spi pole, it is my preferred handle, but then I leave the halyards attrached to eachother and tensioned while moving the boat about by the pole. That way you can pull down on the pole without bending or breaking it. Robi clearly pulled down on the pole when its tip was insupported in the vertical plane. Ring or no ring it would have bend or broken anyway. Ask the other who have learned the hard way

Wouter