[Al Myers]

Ben – big news this year with the Grip Contest at my place – the executive board approved it for the USAWA Grip Nationals! I will have the entry up soon (got a few other stories in front of it). It would be neat to have the hub lift, but it is not a USAWA official event, and all National competitions MUST use official lifts. Maybe we can do it after the meet. Al

[Al Myers]

Thom – overall it sounded like a great success! Record Days are the hardest for officials because a great selection of lifts are usually done. When a meet only has a few, an official can go through the Rulebook on only those lifts beforehand. Speaking of Rulebooks – does anyone need a new one with the changes made this year? Al

[Al Myers]

Hmmmmm…….. deemed good and then the judges got together and reversed the decision?? I didn’t know the USAWA was like the NFL and had “instant replay” to change official calls. So did you guys just get in a big huddle and “mull over” the calls to build suspense for the crowd? Or was it because everyone forgot their rulebooks? Al

[Al Myers]

Thanks Mike – I made the corrections to the result sheet. Thom was apparently reporting results from memory. Al

[Al Myers]

Well – I’m finally BACK!! It was a great trip, but very tiring. It is nice to get back on this forum and immediately see that Thom has been insulting me in my absence! I got a lot of “catching up” to do here – so please give me a couple of days to get it all done! Al

[Al Myers]

I guess I’m going to have to answer this myself. I have done the Kelly Snatch only a couple of times (and had it once in my Dino Challenge) and NO ONE gripped the bar like that! Everyone had their grip facing the other way (palms facing the head when overhead) which to me seems like the natural position. I would think the stress on the shoulders would be MUCH higher the way Grimek is doing the Kelly Snatch, and would require LOTS more shoulder flexibility. Maybe that’s the reason he’s doing it that way. Our rules just say the “grip is optional” so it’s allowable. Al

[Al Myers]

Good luck guys – sure wish I could be there, but I can’t. My daughter is playing in the State 4A Volleyball Tournament tomorrow and I can’t miss it! She has worked really hard this season! I’m very proud of her for that. Al

[Al Myers]

Tom – Have you ever talked to Otto Ziegler? I know he was a very accomplished Olympic Lifter. Didn’t he have a brother who also was a good lifter?

I sure hope the comments I made about his goofy lift doesn’t obscure the fact I have great respect for Otto Ziegler. (and TRUTHFULLY – how many times did he do this lift in his life?) However, he did set the FIRST record with it, by doing 154# in 1977. Al

[Al Myers]

Well I better round up some “goons” for protection if Otto comes after me! Thom, can I count on you? haha Al

[Al Myers]

Well Tom, I wouldn’t quite rate your response as hate mail, but it’s a start!! Surely someone can do better than that! haha

[Al Myers]

Oh, and by the way Denny the Stifflegged DL is not really that bad of lift. It is just difficult to officiate. I should have included the Mansfield Lift instead!!! haha Al

[Al Myers]

Denny, You brought up a good point. In the past, there was not really any system for new lift approval. Some got added without any sort of approval, some just got “added” to the record list and overtime became “accepted”, while others were voted on and approved at the AGM without any thought put in ahead of time if they were really the type of lifts that we want to represent our organization. I am glad things have changed now – and we have developed a system to add new lifts that are more reasonable. Now our rules and bylaws lay this process out very clearly. Here it is as copied from our Rulebook:

I. Rules of Lift Approval
1. The USAWA recognizes the various lifts not currently governed by other international weightlifting or powerlifting organizations, such as the International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) or the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF).
2. New USAWA lifts may be added to the current list of approved lifts by submitting a description of the lift and rules of the lift to the executive board for review 30 days prior to the Annual National Meeting. Upon the board’s approval by majority vote, the submitted lift will be presented to the membership at the annual meeting and voted on by the membership. The lift must receive majority vote by the membership present to be approved.
3. New approved USAWA lifts may be presented to the IAWA for IAWA approval if membership deems so by majority vote. The USAWA representative of the IAWA Technical Committee will be the person responsible for presenting new lifts to the IAWA.

This process allows for lifts to be “scrutinized” by the executive board before they can be presented to the membership for vote. The days of just making up lifts and presenting them at the AGM for official approval are GONE. Good peer-reviewed rules should be written BEFORE a lift is presented!!

Now I’m all for new lifts. It’s just that I think they need to be “original” – and not approve some quarky lift, a lift that is a “knockoff” of another, or some lift that is impossible to do for the majority of people. I thought the lifts that were approved by us this past year were fantastic choices – all very original and represented movements very different than any other official lift in our list. New proposed lifts should be tried out first as “exhibition lifts” in record days or competition before they are presented, just to make sure that they are legit. Our new system for “new lift approval” allows THOUGHT to be put into a lift before it is approved. Hopefully, some of these new lifts can eventually become IAWA approved, and would have had my support this year if article#3 was attended to, which it wasn’t. Al

[Al Myers]

Thom, Haha – I KNEW you would like this one from me. At least you didn’t fall asleep reading it!! Al PS AND I intended it all in good humor – you know me, I’ll try ANY lift no matter how different it is and have fun doing it.

[Al Myers]

Geez – thanks Thom! I put alot of work into that piece. I was even thinking about writing a sequel to it regarding Ian Lynch’s logic and rational behind his mathematical calculations. That one ought to be a real nail biter!!! Al

[Al Myers]

Dave, This ought to be a GREAT TIME!! Al

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