There were no restrictions not at my boarding school anyway-then as too hard a headmaster could cane and he caned accordingly. That’s to say that the gravity of the offense determined as to how hard you got caned and since a ‘standard’ caning for everyday minor infractions was good and hard any way you can just imagine how hard a caning you would have to endure for major infractions.
Bare bottom caning was most certainly favored in many schools but, thankfully, not mine.