3000lb world record total broken - yet no-one seems to give a damn?

Cuddles said:

It seems that actually the reverse is happening.

JC said:
thats a very valid point, in that, IPF refs also seem not to ref to the rulebook
it appears (to an ousider), that international competitors no longer need to squat as the rule book specifies, but an inch or 2 below that specified hitting "depth" point

Tom_Martin said:
Unfortunately, any less than an inch or two below is too close to call, and if it's too close to call you leave yourself wide open for unfavourable decisions... It would be wise to give referees NO reason to doubt your depth and ensure you get white lights, rather than trying to get away with every mm possible, especially at internationals where you don't want to bomb after paying a lot of money to get there. This is why you will see most squatting deep at internationals... and it's not necessarily a bad thing.
It would be in the best interest of the sport to give the benefit of the doubt to the lifter in such cases, and I believe refs are encouraged to do so, but it doesn't often happen that way, and they are well within their rights to red light a lift if they have any doubt at all about the lift meeting the specified criteria.

Tom_Martin said:
Unfortunately, any less than an inch or two below is too close to call, and if it's too close to call you leave yourself wide open for unfavourable decisions... It would be wise to give referees NO reason to doubt your depth and ensure you get white lights, rather than trying to get away with every mm possible, especially at internationals where you don't want to bomb after paying a lot of money to get there. This is why you will see most squatting deep at internationals... and it's not necessarily a bad thing.
It would be in the best interest of the sport to give the benefit of the doubt to the lifter in such cases, and I believe refs are encouraged to do so, but it doesn't often happen that way, and they are well within their rights to red light a lift if they have any doubt at all about the lift meeting the specified criteria.

JC said:
Re your last para....I though the benefit of the doubt had to go to the lifter
So what you're (not you persoanlly, but your comment) saying is, that IPF refs are not competent enough to judge depth as defined by the rule book, so as an athlete, you have to squat an inch or two below that, rendering the definition of "depth" in the rule book as not use that paper its written on?

Tom_Martin said:
No you don't HAVE to, but judging a squat that is 1mm in is f**king hard given the amount of time you have to check, where as 1-2 inches in is obvious. If you want to squat borderline then expect a 50/50 pass/fail rate at best. You don't HAVE to squat any lower, but why take that risk especially on your opener after paying and travelling to compete internationally. Does ref competancy really come into question when youre presenting them with a knee that is completely obscured by a knee wrap, a leg surface that isn't flat, and a 'hip crease' which is obscured bya black squat suit and quite often the squatter himself, which may be 1mm above or below an invisible line parallel to the floor level with the top of an invisible knee cap? Come on, make it easy for them to give you a white light or don't moan when they made an unfavourable decision based on really hazy evidence given with just a splt second to decide...

Tom_Martin said:Write the rule book with whatever definition of depth you want and there will always be doubt if you only squat to the bare minimum depth the rulebook specifies, do you not agree?

DANGERUSS said:
And there you have hit the nail on the head as to why none of the 'Best' Yank lifters ever compete in Europe. Especialy in Multi Ply Feds.

JC said:
Yes of course
These guys (refs) should be able to judge depth (as defined by the rule book as it is at this present time), so there should be no need to go 1-2 inches below this
Of course, as a competing athlete you may do the above in order to be sure of the white lights, but, it should not be neccessary