No, gil, it doesn't have to, but with this extension Jim is fitting I can see where it may work better if the tape was as wide as the butt and it was pulled from heel to toe. I think I failed to mention that I always pull the tape across the butt when fitting buttplates, not from heel to toe. Again, with this technique you only cut what it needed and the buttplate (or extension in this case) sort of "fits itself" to the other piece.

May God bless America and those who defend her.