Technical Committee Newsletter N0 6 2007
IPF Congress 2007 ( Elections/Rules )
As I mentioned in the last Technical Committee Bulletin, there would be more to relate following Congress and the Men's/Women's IPF Open championships.
Firstly, I thank the delegates for their confidence in me to continue in the position of Chairman for a further four years " God willing " . As is no doubt common knowledge
Detlev Albrings was elected to the Presidency of the IPF, and Emanuel Scheiber, Meet Director of the " 2007 " Open ( a very successful championships ) replacing Detlev
as General Secretary
Bench Shirt
Probably the most controversial of proposals was that referring to the future of the bench shirt.
1. Delete the bench shirt completely from the IPF Approved List.
2. Increase the amount of stretch from that of some currently accepted.
3. To keep all of the existing approved shirts as legal.
The vote was in favour of " no change " so the existing rule still applies to design and limited minimum stretch i.e that currently on the market, which meet IPF Approval.
Congress also decided that as from January 1 2008 no further shirts will be approved for an indefinite period.
Bench Press - Uneven Extension
To allow any form of uneven extension as long as the whole of the bar does not descend, was defeated by a considerable amount of votes. There is no change to that which says - Moderate uneven extension will be accepted. Yes, unfortunately the ambiguity still remains i.e. where does one draw the line. There is no definitive answer to the question " what should one consider to be acceptable " I would suggest that a member of the Technical Committee at the Technical Meeting demonstrates what is felt maybe uniform throughout the meet. Lockout with both arms does not need to be simultaneous/to-gether.
GENERAL RULES OF POWERLIFTING
Page 4 - Item 5
To add
In regard to Master's Championships, an extra three lifters may be nominated in the Women's Masters 3 and the Men's Masters 4 to compete ( only ) for medals in their age group based on Wilk's points.
Page 4 - Item 7
Final selection, submitted not later than 21 days before the date of the Championship, must be made from those nominated 60 days before the date of the Championships, this is inclusive of reserve or alternate lifters.
ORDER OF COMPETITION
Page 23 Item 0
- - - - - an interval of 15 minutes has been replaced by an interval of 20 minutes.
REFEREES
Page 31 - Item 22
To add
The practical Category 2 Examination will be held only in conjunction with International or Regional Championships. The theoretical Examination can be held at National level.
Item 23
Remove the words - - - - - and practical
Page 32 - Item 31
To add
A clinic will be held every year at each World and Regional Powerlifting Championships. Every International Referee must participate at one clinic within the four year period to be eligible for re-registration.
GENERAL RULES OF POWERLIFTING
( Rule clarification )
Page 4 - Item 13
Delete the words - - - - - in all three attempts. The sentence should read - Should a lifter fail to succeed in either or both of the squat or bench press.
The lifter must make at least one bona fide/genuine attempt in each of the lifts. The jury will decide if there is any question as to whether or not the attempt appeared to be the best of the lifters ability.
Derisory attempts ( for medal claim )
Attempts that are considered far inferior to the lifters ability will not be credited to any of his individual lifts e.g. A lifter weighing 56 kg only taking a 100 kg squat
and 80 kg bench press, then attempting 250 kg for a medal on the deadlift, is absolutely time wasting, for if successful it will be discounted, and he will not be standing on the podium. Even if an attempt or claim is to be made on a single lift bench press record at a three lift powerlifting event, the same rule still applies. This type of lifter is of little use as a team member, acquiring just the one point. That is of course should the jury consider a total.
RULES ( changes )
There are some that accuse the Technical Committee of continuously changing the rules. This is incorrect. The rules are changed by the lifters via their delegates to Congress
who should have been canvassed on the proposals. Let it be known that we the Technical Committee are not in favour of continual rule changes.
Jury ( overturning referee's decisions )
The object of a jury is to see that the Technical Rules are being applied, generally, that is, by all involved with the running of a Championships.
More recently it would appear to the spectators that the main function of the jury is to overturn referee's decisions. Having spoken on this subject in previous notes, I re-iterate
and quote - Jury Rule 9 Only in extreme circumstances when there has been an obvious or blatant mistake in the refereeing will the jury in consultation with the referees reverse the decision. Too many decisions are being reversed that are neither, obvious or blatant. Obvious to mean e.g. beating the referee's signal. Blatant, favouring home lifters.
Doubtful depth of squat does not feature in these categories.
At a most recent championships two very experienced referees ( red ties ) totally neutral were positioned as side referees, particularly selected as it was to be a very competitive class. They were perfectly positioned to observe depth of squat, more so than the jury. Having failed the lift, the lifters influential coach approached the jury table, and the jury perhaps intimidated, after discussion reversed the decision. If, in there own minds they had thought the lift was good, why wait until they were approached by the coach. My / T C fear is that in circumstances like this a referee will one day walk from the chair. This would be a sad day for powerlifting. Let " us " refrain from this practice,
and let competent referees do their job. To consult the referees is also a matter of courtesy. All International referees have proved their worth, and have been instructed to give any benefit of doubt in favour of the lifter.
Incidentally, the referee's decision may be reversed by a majority vote, which will now be written into the rules.
New Gear
APT'S Pro Wrist Straps ( USA ) have submitted several pairs of wrist and knee wraps which all meet IPF ruling and have been added to the IPF Approved list.
Metal Sport and Wear ( Finland ) have submitted four new suits - Metal King Sumo Deadlifter - Metal King Deadlifter - Metal King Squatter - Metal King Squatter V - Type
which meet approval. Pending - four bench shirts subject to material testing.
Titan Support Systems have submitted four bench shirts, a deadlift costume and erector type shirt which meet approval, but Pete Alinez MD has not as yet named them, so they have not been added to the list.
Referees ( successes )
Cat Two
Valeriy Tymkiv ( UKR )
Cat One
Sirazhutdin Bazaiev ( UKR )
Anita Thimm ( GER )
Harri Hagfors ( FIN )
Helge Laursen ( DEN )
Juri Laer ( UKR )
Congratulations to all.
Deadlift ( under control )
It has been brought to the attention of the T C that there are referees on the International Circuit who feel that under control is to mean lowering the bar slowly and gently to the platform. Over the years, returning the bar to the platform quite heavily has been accepted and considered as added gusto/zest to the lift. Forcing the bar into the platform is something else and the lifter may receive a warning. Yes, we have all seen platforms disintegrating before even the 67.5 kg class has competed. It is the Meet Director's responsibility to ensure that the platform can cope with this and any unintentional dropping of the bar. Of course, we have no control over local meets where the floor of the "Church Hall " must be taken into account.
Referees
At the 2007 Open Powerlifting Championships 80 referees were nominated to partake. This is the largest number in the history of the IPF for any one meet. They are to be thanked for their unbiased services. Our concern is still the under subscribed list of officials at Sub-Junior/Junior and Masters. We urge referees to put their names forward to these competitions.
John Stephenson
Chairman IPF Technical Committee