Rick Walker Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 So as not to continue to squat on the NAGS thread I started a new one to air some stuff. Chris you make some good points but here are my thoughts on it: who cares? This is supposed to be fun and if you the competitor or you the promoter take this shit too seriously you need to take a step back and regroup. No one is getting rich or famous from this. It is a fun hobby. If people dont like your contests they are free to not come. Guess what...platforms are standard height in the atlas stones arent they? If you are short you had better be strong. Like you said, the strong find a way. If hosting a contest sucks so much STOP DOING IT. Make it fun again. Use 2-45s with a pipe for the 2 hand pinch. Make a 2x4 with a plate post and wrist curl that. People will show or they wont. I assume you host for the love of the sport so make it enjoyable for YOU. As it is newbies need to buy a special pinch apparatus, an axle, a pinch curl device, an adjustable gripper, an adjustable wrist developer, etc. if they want to be competitive. Just train. Compete or dont but HAVE FUN. Dont stress yourself out and wind up hating it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Rick this is so funny. After my last post on the NAGS thread, I went out to the gym and worked out - and the whole time I was thinking about all this - and I came to almost a quote in my head of what you just typed. I have tried so hard for so long to try and make my "hobby" into a legitimate "sport" that I think I lost perspective (no, I know I did). The most fun I've had is back when I held "get togethers" or "semi contests" - they were sort of like what goes on AFTER a grip contest. Doc picked up the Blob - everyone tried that. Nick pinched 2-45s - everyone tried that. Eli Keiner one hand snatched 198# - well no one else tried that one . And on and on it went for several hours (not just grip but feats of all kinds etc until the food and beer came out - it was just about the most fun one could have with their clothes on. Next time I start getting too wound up, please feel free to poke me with a stick and bring me back to reality (not in the eye please) . 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbe705 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 the thing i don't like about this is that it's sounding like it's an all or nothing proposition. I think things can be taken seriously and be fun at the same time. it doesn't have to be either or. for plenty of people the chasing records and lists is the big draw. I don't see accurate judging and accurate weights getting in the way of having a good time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
climber511 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 Brent – there’s an old saying about “everyone is out of step but me”. And this obviously bothers me more than most promoters. So the problem is mine to deal with – and I have tried the driving myself crazy route and it sucks. I’m going to chill out – hold my contest just like I have the last decade and let people’s “ideas” roll off my back better. Gripmas will still be Gripmas but I’d also like to hold one of the old get togethers sometime this year with a “Redneck” format of “Hey watch this”. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andrew P Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 The most fun I've had is back when I held "get togethers" or "semi contests" - they were sort of like what goes on AFTER a grip contest. This is what I'm hoping to accomplish at my BBQ next month but still satisfy a couple guys goals to go for some records. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickr104 Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 I do miss the get together. We should for sure make that happen Chris! One of the get togethers is where we first met Brent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Autolupus Posted June 10, 2014 Share Posted June 10, 2014 You can have a complete event made up of ad hoc events, this will always be fun. You can have a medley as an adjunct to some universally recognised lifts, this will give the people interested in setting some records a venue to do so and will still maintain a hippie spirited lifting feel. I haven't been to too many meets but there has always been an extended play with the toys afterwards, for those that were up for the challenges. I've also placed ok, without having spent out on expensive equipment that you "have" to have to be competetive...I think the biggest competitive gain to be had from having said equipment is only that you'll have a better idea of how to play your numbers game come comp. day, as far as training goes, just get stronger...give it a try, it actually works! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 the thing i don't like about this is that it's sounding like it's an all or nothing proposition. I think things can be taken seriously and be fun at the same time. it doesn't have to be either or. for plenty of people the chasing records and lists is the big draw. I don't see accurate judging and accurate weights getting in the way of having a good time. I have never competed in a single powerlifting meet where I had fun. Blown out eyes, sore, tired sometimes injured all for a GD trophy and some kind of ego stoking. It was never fun. Grip contests for me were always about the fun. Meeting new people, trying new lifts, egging one another on to one up each other. It wasnt about calibrating plates...I wont do it, weighing competitors. ..pointless imo. There are enough contests that are all about business, sometimes it is fun to just pinch 2 plates together and not worry about picking widths, prepping surfaces, micro loading, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbe705 Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 it seems to me that you're talking more about comps vs get togethers than comps vs comps. I agree that training sessions like you're talking about are fun and productive. I don't however think that that is the directions comps should go in at all. the 2 serve very different purposes. that's part of the reasons comps aren't for every one. and it almost feels like your saying that grip should only be for fun rather than a legit sport. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvance Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 I agree, if this sport is to grow and progress, it needs structure. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 it seems to me that you're talking more about comps vs get togethers than comps vs comps. I agree that training sessions like you're talking about are fun and productive. I don't however think that that is the directions comps should go in at all. the 2 serve very different purposes. that's part of the reasons comps aren't for every one. and it almost feels like your saying that grip should only be for fun rather than a legit sport. Sorry if that offends you or anyone else Brent but grip is for fun. If you think it ever has a chance of becoming a mainstream sport, you are living a pipe dream. A sport for a small cult like following, sure, but never a money maker or something someone is going to call 12 friends over to watch on the big screen! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barbe705 Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 i doesn't offend me at all. but i think plenty of us have been making strides to legitimize things and grow it as a sport. as far as money and big screen and all that I don't think that's the goal. i also think that there are plenty of legit sports that don't pass that test either. again, i don't see this as a zero sum proposition. just because we can't be the NFL doesn't mean we have to throw out out all rules and standards. i get that your motivation for grip is the fun sideshow side and that you don't want it to be a life or death pursuit. that's cool. and if you ever do host a get together/training/show off day I'll be there if at all possible. those things are fun. but to say that comps can't or shouldn't be run as professionally as possible is wrong. there's room for both approaches. plenty of people feel that grip is for pursuing goals and serious competition. another aspect of the standardizing of rules and lifts that a lot of us have worked hard on is so that athletes can compare themselves to each other across the world. we can't all go to finland to compete but, we can get an idea of how we measure up to Juha since we're using the same implements in the same way. I can't make it to David Horne's gym but I can compete in the 2hp in the same fashion and see how badly he's crushing me. plenty of us feel that this has merit and is it's own reward. for some of us that is the fun. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubgeezer Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 For me, it is a very personal thing. Years ago, I was fascinated that grip strength was about the only thing in my life that was not declining as a result of age. Contests force you to train your best, improve, and push yourself to the max. It is you versus you, even though there are others there. And they are rooting for you. You get a "rush" pushing yourself beyond your limits unlike any other. The structure, measurements, rules, etc. don't take anything away from that experience for me. But I have no delusions of the sport ever becoming "mainstream". I can't speak for anyone else other than me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rick Walker Posted June 12, 2014 Author Share Posted June 12, 2014 I am saying to take something so insignificant and get worked up about it because of some rule, platform height, contest distance, millimeters, how far a gripper is set, ruins the enjoyment and love of the game and quite frankly does nothing but make you miserable. there are some important things in life to stress out about. Grip isnt one of them. But what the hell do I know... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.