AuthorA 20 year old fitness enthusiast and dedicated Olympic style weightlifter. I am a Level 2 Weightlifting coach, Powerlifter, and non-competitive Irish dancer. I'm determined to live a healthier lifestyle and take care of my body whilst influencing other young people to do so. I never doubt my ability to achieve something; I just change what I'm doing until I succeed. Archives
May 2021
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Since I wrote my last post back in September, our Weightlifting club hosted our first inter club competition. This was a small competition that simply showcased our lifters talents to family, friends and members of the local area. Since this competition was hosted by our own club and was not affiliated with any other body, I was able to have roles that I wouldn't have been allowed to be in without some form of qualification. I helped out by essentially officiating as a side referee for the first group and center referee for the last group, I also was the MC (microphone controller) for the whole event. Whilst having the role of side referee for the younger lifters, I was also judging the lifters by using the technique point system. Within this blog post I am going to explain the point system that we used to judge the young lifter's technique. A short summary: What is the technique point system? and when is it used?The technique point system is predominantly used during youth and schools competition and is a method of judging the technique of younger lifters below the age of thirteen. This would then discourage youth lifters from lifting maximal heavy weights at such a young age and would act as a basis before they would begin to train to lift heavy than training to learn the technique. Since there are two lifts involved in an Olympic Weightlifting competition, the Snatch lift will be based out of four points per each of the three lifts (making a total out of 12) and the Clean and Jerk lift will be based out of eight points per each of the three lifts (making a total out 24). The maximum amount of points a lifter can gain is 36, this is then doubled to be out of 72. The lifter closest to reaching 72, is given the place of first within their age and body weight category. Snatch lift point systemWithin our inter club competition, we used the point system revised by ourselves as we believed the previous rules contained a rule that we considered to be unfair to youngsters with a bone structure which was not of average This rule was that lifters were only to be given one point if they do not fully squat, instead of only deducting one point. Within the Snatch lift performance, the lifter will begin with full points and as mistakes are made, points will begin to be deducted. Either way, this will work by adding points on when spotting parts of the lift that are completed without fail. Here is as followed, the point system for the Snatch lift: 1st point The first point a lifter can gain in the snatch is from being in the get set position (Key one). This is when the lifter is at the beginning of the lift before the barbell has even left the platform. This point can be deducted if the lifter places their hands incorrectly upon the barbell (For example, one hand is closer to the middle of the barbell and the other hand is further away). In the Snatch, the lifter will usually have a wide grip. 2nd point The second point a lifter can gain is by lifting the barbell to knee height. This is otherwise known as the key two or the power position. This point can be deducted if the lifter's bottom is rising before their head and the rest of their body. 3rd point The third point a lifter can gain is by performing the triple extension. The triple extension can be defined by the barbell moving upwards from knee height, past the thighs and towards the top of the lifters torso. The lifter should attempt to fully extend (straighten) their arms and elevate onto their toes when completing this movement. A point is NOT deducted if the lifter bounces the barbell of their hips in attempt to catch the barbell at the top of the lift. 4th point The fourth point can be gained by the lifter fully squatting with the barbell above their head. A full squat is classified by the lifter squatting past at least a 90 degree angle at the knee. This point is only deducted if the lifter doesn't fully squat, a snatch lift without a full squat is known as a power snatch. Clean and Jerk point system (The clean)I figured from the clean and jerk lift, it would be easier if I split up the eight points. In this first section I will be discussing the first four points that can be gained from the clean. In the section half, I will discuss the remaining four points that can be gained from the jerk. This is very similar to the Snatch lift, but I figured I would explain it better with the same layout. 1st point The first point a lifter can gain in the clean part of the lift is from being in the get set position (Key one). This is when the lifter is at the beginning of the lift before the barbell has even left the platform. This point can be deducted if the lifter places their hands incorrectly upon the barbell (For example, one hand is closer to the middle of the barbell and the other hand is further away). In the Clean and Jerk, the lifter will usually have a fairly narrow grip. 2nd point The second point a lifter can gain is by lifting the barbell to knee height. This is otherwise known as the key two or the power position. This point can be deducted if the lifter's bottom is rising before their head and the rest of their body. 3rd point The third point a lifter can gain is by performing the triple extension. The triple extension can be defined by the barbell moving upwards from knee height, past the thighs and towards the top of the lifters torso. The lifter should attempt to fully extend (straighten) their arms and elevate onto their toes when completing this movement. A point is NOT deducted if the lifter bounces the barbell of their hips in attempt to catch the barbell at the shoulders. 4th point The fourth point can be gained by the lifter fully squatting with the barbell held at the shoulders. A full squat is classified by the lifter squatting past at least a 90 degree angle at the knee. This point is only deducted if the lifter doesn't fully squat, a clean without a full squat is known as a power clean. Clean and Jerk point system (The jerk)5th point The fifth point can be gained by the lifter being in the get set position, with the barbell positioned at the shoulders. During this, the elbows should be up. This point can be deducted if the lifter originally has their elbows down and then moves them upwards before jerking. Additionally, this point can be deducted if the lifter performs a double dip of the elbows before jerking the barbell upwards. 6th point The sixth point can be gained by the lifter performing the dip and drive. The dip in the jerk can be defined as the lifters elbows dipping and the bending of the lifters knees before the explosive jerk. The drive (punch) is essentially the involvement of the arms in the jerk. A point can be deducted if the lifter drives the barbell above their head with a press out, this is also classed as a fail (No lift). 7th point The seventh point can be gained by the lifter performing the split. The split in the jerk is essentially the involvement of the legs in the jerk. The split is the movement of the Weightlifters legs splitting vertically. It doesn't matter which leg is the front foot and which leg is the back foot. There are a few reasons why this point could be deducted, depending upon how well the referee is able to spot the fault and how strict they may be. This point may be deducted if:
8th point The eighth point can be gained by the lifter recovering from the split. The front foot should move backwards to half way between both feet and the back foot should move forwards to place both feet together. This point can be deducted if the lifter only moves one foot backwards or only one foot forwards. Additionally, this point can be lost if the recovery is wobbly and the lifter is struggling to recover without walking all over the platform or is struggling to stand still to wait for the down signal. If a lifter was to perform a power jerk, the lifter is still able to gain full points with the provision that the squat in the jerk is below a 90 degree angle. Otherwise, one point may be deducted from the lack of the split. Failing a lift and passing a liftIn a Weightlifting competition, your lift can be failed or passed. If you pass a lift, that really means that you did nothing to fail the lift. As a youth lifter, whether you pass or fail a lift, you will still gain points. When failing a lift, the maximum points you can gain is three points (you wouldn't gain the fourth, as one point is deducted from the error that caused you to fail the lift). It is sometimes a common misconception that when failing a lift, there are no points gained, but this isn't the case. Therefore, making the point system a fair way of evaluating a lift, rather than a young persons lifts being based upon whether they pass the lift with a heavy weight or fail the lift with a heavy weight. Although this blog post is about the technique point system, I am going to mention ways in which all lifters (including youth lifters) can be failed when lifting. These are:
Thank you for reading this post, I hope that this may bring some clarity to the point system as so far I have not seen an officially approved version online. This is a basic introduction in which our small club are judged by, I understand that other online technique systems will be different and I in no way state that this version is the only correct method.
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