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- - - - - an interval of 15 minutes has been replaced by an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
