Quick Tips
What is it they say? You’re never too old or too experienced to learn something new from somebody else. Well, the same goes for us TO’s. Whether you’re newly qualified or an old hat at the role – we’re hoping there will be something in this list that makes your life easier as a volunteer. As you might expect, each technical official we’ve come across has their own tips, tricks, and habits when it comes to doing their best on comp day. Sometimes, these tips relate back to how we implement or interpret the TCRR, sometimes they’re tricks to help make your life easier when there’s lots of things to do and you’re thin on the ground. So, whilst these tips aren’t an official resource, we’ve done our best to collate the most useful ones we’ve come across, in the hope they might help you on comp day, the way they’ve helped us.
(You might even have your own tip, that you’ve spotted is not listed below. If that’s the case and you feel like sharing, drop it in the contact us box and we’ll add it to the list. After all, a pool of knowledge is only as deep as the number of tips (drips) that you add to it!)
Tips for before the comp day
- Before you get to the venue, it’s always important to know what Tier the event is that you’re officiating, as this will impact the rules (specifically in relation to the athletes attire) and the roles that the Technical Officials are asked to undertake. (Check Tier Specific Rules & TO Pathway for more info).
- Most TO’s will wear a dark blue blazer & trousers/skirt, a white collared shirt, blue tie, and black or dark shoes. A TO t-shirt or polo shirt is permitted at BWL national events – though it’s rare to see someone in one.
- Centre Ref should be seated 2 meters from the platform edge (think roughly the length of 2 guitars).
- Always bring your own pens – honestly – bring lots of pens (red and black).
- It’s helpful to have a small tape measure about your person, particularly as the chief marshal or technical controller – for checking belt size or tape distance from elbows etc.
- It’s a good idea to print the rota to keep in your pocket. When you get to the venue, check with the competition manager or events manager if there have been any changes, you can manually adjust these.
- Highlight your name on the rota everywhere it appears – it’s difficult when you’re rushing and there’s been changes, to always be where you are supposed to be.
- If there’s a pre-comp briefing on Microsoft teams – attend it. It’s a great opportunity to ask questions, find out how prep for the comp has gone so far, see who else is going to be there and get a bit of information or history of the competition and who’s lifting in it.
- You can access a free TO brush up course on BWL’s learning site – these are great for a boost of confidence before a comp.
- Our resources page has lots of helpful information, if you’re down for a role you haven’t done before – check out the IWF PPT related to that role, and prepare any questions you might have for the next day when you arrive at the competition.
- If you have a free session and you fancy it, find anyone with a BWL lanyard and they’ll likely give you something to do. Alternatively, most TO’s won’t mind you sitting with them, particularly if you’re new and looking for experience, if they’re the technical controller or the marshal, it’s great to put yourself alongside others when you’re learning and this is a really easy way to build confidence, exposure and also relationships.
Tips for on the day
- On the morning on the competition, arrive early! Often there’s a pre-comp briefing on the day – just reiterating some of the rules and maybe outlining where the TO break room is, where you can get refreshments or what to do on the day to best support the smooth running on the competition.
- If you’re in the back room as Chief Marshal or Technical Controller, look over the athletes’ outfits and the shins and hands as they walk by or are in view – spotting infringements early gives the athlete the most opportunity to rectify.
- Always speak to the coach and never the athlete. Remember that as an athlete, all they want to focus on is their warm up and lifts. They leave everything else up to the coach.
- Try to remember which coach is linked with which athlete, this will help if there’s ever a mix up with the athlete cards and a coach tries to change an athlete card that doesn’t belong to them!
- Related to this – always read back any changes to athletes’ cards as you make them, “so that’s X Kilos for John Smith”
- Be professional. Which means phones away.
- At the end of each session, the TO’s must go to the speaker table to sign the protocol sheet.
- If the lifter comes onto the platform in incorrect attire or with illegal lubricant etc about their person, the clock continues to run as they remove it.
- If you hit the white button for a good lift, and your colleagues hit the red, it’s ok to ask them what they saw that made them do that. This is a great way to learn if you’re new but also, keeps you attuned when that lifter comes back to the platform. If they’ve oscillated once, it’s good to be keeping an eye out for it again!
- When using an electronic judging system, always confirm the status of the lift as the system requires an input to move on to the next lift. i.e even if the lifter drops the bar and it is an obvious no lift, you still need to raise the red flag, which means hitting that big red button.
- Often coaches will ask if there is going to be a break between the snatch and the clean and jerk. Check with the competition manager before each session but generally speaking, 6 athletes or less and there will be a discretionary (normally 10 mins) break, 7 athletes or more and the competition runs straight through.
- If a lifter wears knee wraps and they come undone mid-lift, it is up to the lifter to stop the lift, not the referee. (we’ve got a great example of this here).
- If left/right referee spots an issue with the field of play, they should raise this with the centre ref first before halting proceedings.
- Check the bar before the start of the first session, in storage the bars are greased to prevent damage or rusting so, it may need to be cleaned before use.
- Make sure the right bar 20/15 kg is ready.
- Change plates: be aware that standard rules dictate that 2.5 kg and 5 kg are placed on the inside of the collar and the other change plates on the outside of the collars UNLESS the change plates are not rubber coated (and thus can slip off easily) in which case they must go on the inside of the collar as well.
- Make sure the chalk is filled and the bucket is on the side of the athletes’ entry to the platform.
- Make sure the bar that is not in use is away from both the platform and the loaders and not a trip hazard.
Summary
So, there’s quite a few tips and hints here, but if I could boil them down to a take home message it would be;
If you aren’t sure about anything, there are lots of opportunities for you to ask, so don’t panic. We’ve all been there, and felt a little lost or overwhelmed, but we rise by lifting others and almost every TO I’ve come across has been more than happy to help, and the BWL staff are there to support you, too. So, enjoy it