Re: A few words *PIC*

Posted By: Roger
Date: Wednesday, 11 December 2002, at 9:45 a.m.

In Response To: Re: A few words (Kirk Roy)

: And I, as a novice lifter, would like to have
: some idea of the differences between the
: different feds. Some are obvious, e.g., a
: drug free fed doesn't allow drugs but others
: aren't so much so (and some of the
: differences are real but "cannot be
: discussed" - e.g., squat depth).

: I've got some experience with an APA meet so
: I've got a fair idea about that fed and I
: take it the AAU is pretty well geared (ha!)
: towards raw or minimally assisted lifting,
: they're pretty active "locally",
: and the meets seem to be well attended so
: I'll try them out as well.

: There are other feds that are also active
: locally (NASA and USAPL to name two) but I
: can't go to so many meets that I can try
: them all out and get a feel for which one(s)
: might meet my needs/goals best.

: So, I for one, would definitely like to hear
: some discussion of what the different feds
: have to offer.

: Kirk

You will find that the rules pertaining to the performance of the lifts are pretty much the same in every federation except 2. USAPL wants a "convincingly deep" squat and the IPA has squat rules that define depth as being a bit shallower than the other federations. The rules of the USAPL on the performance of the bench are different. You hold the bar at arms length until you get the command, you determine your own pause, then rack at the rack command. I knew this going into a USAPL meet in 1999 and STILL jumped the command at the commencement of the lift. So it would help to practice this a few times before entering a USAPL meet.
Some federations allow you to have assistance in walking a squat out, others don't. Personally I feel any federation allowing the monolift should allow assistance in the walkout. Otherwise they are saying if you use a monolift you don't have to walk the weight out at all, but if there is no monolift the walkout is part of the lift. And that makes no sense to me. As far as I am concerned the lift occures between the commands. Anytime outside of the commands I see nothing wrong with assistance. But that is just my opinion.
Beyond those differences the biggest difference between the federations is the equipment allowed. The USAPL only allows single ply poly equipment made by thier approved manufacturers. I don't think briefs are allowed in the USAPL. The AAU allows single ply gear but I think they allow denim.
In short you would need to contact the local rep of the organisation you are thinking about lifting in and ask what equipment is allowed.
I personally like to purchase equipment allowed in all federations. This puts me at a disadvantage in some feds, but I like to compete against myself and achieve goals, so I don't mind.