2022 US Grip Sports National Championship - Vinnie R's report

[Vinnie]

I'll begin with the back story. I certed the COC 3 in November, and I had lost some of the focus I had leading up to that since I never really settled on a next goal.  In addition, my workout buddy had his first baby in December, and he stopped hosting weekly grip training (as would be expected of a newborn's parent) -- and that is how I kept sort-of current with the hot new implements (grab ball, Finnish ball, etc.) and also how I kept myself doing at least a little something once a week or so.  On top of that, I moved into an apartment with my girlfriend in December, and we have no place to put my grip stuff, so it is in storage.  Fast forward to now, and I have descended to doing grippers once a week or so in my office, which means I am not doing a whole lot at all.  I also went to Aruba in May with my girlfriend and came home May 25th weighing 192 - 9 or 10 pounds over the top of my usual 83kg weight class.  That is the most I ever weighed, thanks to all-inclusive vacationing.  So I was at my oldest (ok that's always true for everyone, but when you are 25 that can still mean getting better, while at 53+ the added age is not helping any); at my fattest (I was never over 190 before, and at 5 foot 6 I should be 140-160); and my least "trained" since I discovered grip 5 years ago.  What better set-up for me to attend the US Grip Sports National Championship!

Anyway, regarding nationals, I figured:  I know I haven't trained, but certing the 3 makes me automatically qualified for nationals; I may as well take advantage of that and go, so I can be qualified next year.  Then I realized, wait, I am 53, I don't have to qualify anyway; I can go any year I want because I am in the Masters class!  So then I figured, well they are doing 20mm block set grippers, so I should go, because grippers.  But I did block set grippers at a comp last year (I forget if it was nationals or a different comp) and I got my PR of 150 RGC and missed the 155 right around when I was beginning to hit my gripper peak; this is the same set of grippers, so I know I won't be able to top that now that I've slacked off.  Grippers aren't the reason to go this year.  So then I figured, well I always go with Anton and Anthony and Tom, can't let them down!  But I asked them, and they all said they weren't going this year.

I needed another excuse.  So I said to my son (who turned 16 today and thinks all this grip stuff is weird and crazy, like dad jokes but with implements and road trips to places no one would otherwise go), "You know, if you want to get out of having to buy me a Father's Day gift, you could just come with me to Nationals on Father's Day weekend." Clearly, I was desperate, and wanted to go to Nationals at any price.  This was like a drug addict asking a cop to come with him to help him get crack.

But he said OK!  I was really happy.  Teens are selfish, and I did not expect him to be willing to come with me to another city to stare at his phone for hours in the car and while I competed when he could just stay home in his room and do that.  How nice that he would do that for me for Father's Day!  So imagine my surprise when, a few days later, he asked me a question about how he would do on the implements and I realized he thought he would be competing.  Stupidly I gave him an out and said "Oh, you don't have to compete ..."; but he said, rolling his eyes in annoyance at me for not reading his mind as teens always do, "I said I would, so I will!"  Whoa.  I liked that misunderstanding.  I was just happy he was joining me at all, but he thought he had been asked to -- and agreed to --compete!  YASSS!  So I paid the $60 for both of us and we were on the roster.  I booked a hotel with an indoor pool because I know he likes that, and I prepaid to save $20.  I almost never prepay hotels and forgot that I did that.

So here I was, old, fat, and friendless, not having trained any of the implements, with three weeks to nationals.  And a son to impress.  I did the only thing I could:  Nothing, because I had nowhere to work out, no one to work out with, and not enough time to do it.  And I most certainly couldn't eat.

Fast forward to June 17.  I drove my son the 175 or so miles to the hotel, stopping at the Clinton Station diner in NJ on the way (an old fave of both of ours).  Instead of playing on his phone the whole time, we talked music; he's getting interested in classic rock and knows it about as well as I do.  He introduced me to the Gorillas, a group he likes that isn't really new but newer than my area of knowledge which ends around the 90s lol.    He also asked me about how to gauge which weights to try, and we just had a great drive.  Usually he just sits staring at his phone with his air pods in.  This was awesome.

On comp day, we showed up for weigh-in.  I had been so good for a few weeks and did not want to miss 83kg (183 pounds), and I had been exactly 183 on my scale at home before I left (meaning I had lost 9 pounds since Aruba - yay me).  And I weighed in at ... 178!?!?!  Huh? It would have been nice to know that my scale at home must have been reading 5 pounds heavy lol.  My son weighed in at 129, which made him the only competitor in either 59kg or 66kg (I think the cut-off is right around 129).  I was the only 83kg competitor, because Clint Ziegler thankfully put on a few pounds since last time, and I think I was the only Masters competitor as well; at least with my gray hair I looked like the only one lol.

The events:

(1) 20 mm block set grippers.  Grippers/crush are always my best events, and I have even on occasion beaten Jedd and Lucas on specific gripper events like TNS or dynamometer or silver bullet, but I am not great at block set closes.  My PR right around when I was ramping up for the COC cert was 150 RGC block set (was also around that for CCS, and 140 for TNS; I just don't get much higher with narrower set; my best MMS close ever was 165, but without passing a block through).  The grippers here are a set I've tried before, and last time I got the 150 easily on my first attempt but failed the 155 for my next three attempts.  I figured I could probably still do the 150 and I was right; it was not hard at all when I warmed up.  And weird, I got the 155 in warm-up also; did my office gripper sessions actually get me back into form?  I tried the 160 next, but NOT EVEN CLOSE.  It was weird how solidly I got the 155 and then I was maybe a quarter inch off the 160.  Well, I didn't want to push my luck and get tired before the actual attempts, so I resolved to start with 150 to make sure I was on the board, go to 155 for my second attempt and hopefully secure a comp PR, and then have two shots at the 160 that as I had just seen, I was probably not going to close.  And too bad, since @Kluv#0 had offered a $25 prize for anyone closing 160 or more.

Sure enough, 1st and 2nd attempt I got 150 and 155, no prob.  Already better than I thought I'd do, and now I was getting greedy.  But when I went for the 160, again I missed by like a quarter inch.  I hadn't tried the 165 because that's the most I ever MMS closed even without a block, and I was sure I was not in my top form, as confirmed by having so much trouble with the 160.  But I also noticed that Jedd and Luke had OPENED with the 165 (I think, or at least they had both done it by round 3 and were attempting 170 already).  So I thought, hey, I know they are both stronger than me, but I'm good on grippers and I've beaten both of them at individual gripper events before, so if they are closing 165 at an early attempt maybe I should just skip that rough 160 and try the 165 for my last attempt.

Well I did, and I missed, but barely.  I was much closer on the 165 than on the 160, and in fact I had to look at Jedd to know I didn't get it, and he had to peer closely at the handles to say so.

But I can't complain!  I never closed even 155 with a block, so that was a PR.  After the fact, everyone who tried both the 160 and the 165 agreed that the 165 was easier.  If only I had been bold enough to attempt it during warm-ups, maybe I'd have known that I should skip the 160 like Jedd and Luke did and just go from the 155 to the 165.  With two shots at it, I might just have made it.  I might not -- it was a little harder than the 155 -- but the 160 was a brick.  I think maybe Jedd should switch them in the future, or re-rate them.  It's silly that the one with the higher number is easier than the one before it.  But at least I know for next time.  Now I want that gripper.  I want it bad!  But I can't complain -- I never closed even 155 with a block, so that was a PR and I was thrilled.  A few guys got 165 and Jason Dingey might have been the only one to beat that, with something 170 or more.  No one else there could touch 170.  I mean they touched it but they didn't touch the handles lol.

My son?  Well, he's not a grip guy and was here for me, not for PRs.  His mechanics were awful.  He basically no set closes the gripper and just passes the block through while it is closing.  For his last attempt he closed a COC Trainer at about 60 RGC.  I think with good form he could do 80 or so, but this is not important to him.  And this is way better than a few months ago.  He's been growing and, light as he is, at least he is now man sized (height, length of fingers, etc.).  No doubt he will bulk up a tad, being 5'8 and only 129 pounds fully clothed.

(2) 3-inch Saxon bar.  I hate wide pinch.  I have done over 240 on a 2-inch and a 2.5-inch saxon bar, but my PR on the 3-inch was 187.  My warm-ups were going well though, so I opened at 178.  Not bad!  I did my second attempt at 188.  I got it -- my PR! -- with more in the tank!  But, I tore the webbing in my left hand and it was bleeding quite a bit.  I caked chalk into the blood, desperately wanting to try 198 for a third attempt.  But I set up and started the attempt, put my hands on the bar, and it just felt like this was not the right choice.  I aborted and decided I should be happy with the 188.  It was a PR.  But the fact that my arms and body were saying there was a potential for more made me feel really good about this comp, especially after the grippers.  Other guys went well into the mid 200s on this.  I believe Jason pulled 258!

My son?  He pulled about 86.  He said the pinch was way too wide for his hands and actually hurt.  He felt like the weight was not what was stopping him, but the pain.  He did his four attempts a little lower than the weight he thought he could lift, and I am glad he did not push his fingers more -- he is an absolutely astonishing pianist for his age (and not bad for any age really), so I would prefer he not injure those ivory ticklers.

(3) 2-inch Napalm Nightmare two-hand rolling handle.  OK, so I am never good at thick bar but this is more a weight problem than a grip problem.  Just like I can DOH axle the same as I can deadlift mixed-grip, I am limited by just not being an overall beast.  Only my arms are well trained.  My PR on this was 325 pounds though, which isn't much more than my deadlift PR, and you don't need to start from as low for this.  So I expected to beat that.  I was right - warm-up lifts at 300-plus were easy, so I came in at 352.  I needed the smaller blocks to do it, and again it wasn't a grip issue - I had to do a calf raise to get to the bar, even with the block.  362 on my second attempt was even harder.  For my third, I tried 372 with the higher block so I could reach the crossbar, but while failing that I realized that this was why my PR was only 325:  I had used the higher block at the previous comp in order to make sure I hit the crossbar, but I just can't do these weights at that deficit -- it makes it like a deadlift.  But I couldn't quite reach the crossbar even with the lower platform.  So, for my fourth attempt, I put the lower platform on top of 45-pound plates.  Voila!  I got 372.  A hefty PR for me.  But in truth, there was a little more in the tank.  Just to see, I did a non-competition pull at 382, from the ground without any platform and not trying to hit the crossbar, and I pulled it to lockout.  So next comp, 380-ish (or more) will be my goal, but I know I need some height but not too much height so that I can hit the crossbar but without the deficit of the higher platform.  Very happy with the big PR.  The big guns were all pushing deep into the 400s, but only Jason hit 500, with 502.  Wow!

My son?  He was hoping to beat half of my best, but I had told him I was expecting 340-350.  He had no idea what he could do, and finished his fourth attempt at 182.  Neither he nor I expected me to double that, but as noted above it worked out that I did.  He said he should have started higher because it felt (and looked) like he could do more, and he thinks he  would be able to pull 200.  I think so, too.  Maybe he will want to come to another comp and see lol.

(4) Little Big Horn.  I hate this implement.  Always have, always will.  My PR for four years has been 167, which I got at my first ever comp.  I don't like to train this, I don't like to do it.  I don't even like to write about it.  But somehow, I hit 169.  On my fourth.  I might even have had more in me, but since I hate it, I didn't try after my last attempt to see.  Another PR.  Here again, the heavy hitters went well into the 200s.  I believe Tim Butler won, or tied with a few, at 238; he actually pulled more in an unofficial attempt after his fourth.  He and Lucas kill on this event.  Apologies if I am missing someone else who tied them.  I was out since 169 and it was all stratospheric looking to me ...

My son got 82.  He also thought he could do more.

Four PRs in four events, at my oldest, after cutting 8 or 10 pounds in 3 weeks, without training.  Apparently the formula for success is age, eat, fast, and laze.  I have another theory though.  I think that doing all these events with such amazing competitors around me while my teen son watched made me push myself to the max.  I wasn't really thinking it in so many words, but my son looks at me as an ox.  I was among the oxen.  It was Father's Day weekend.  I was doing something I loved, with my son who I love, and he was happy.  That night after the comp, we went out to Longhorn's Steakhouse and ordered nice medium rare steaks.  mmmmmmmm.  On Father's Day we drove back because he had a piano lesson to get to; we got there just in time.  I'm so proud of this kid.  Here's him playing last year (remote recital due to COVID; this year's live one is in two days, can't wait):

That is why I don't want him hurting his fingers.  Also, my ex would kill me.

This was an AMAZING weekend.  And to top it all off, when I left the hotel and went to pay, they reminded me that I had prepaid.  Score!

What I did not do in this writeup is discuss the "competition."  For me, there was none.  Most of the competitors beat me, and it wasn't that close; I came in 11th of 16, and my son was 15th.  The only one with whom I was really competing was myself.  And I won.  Literally, too, because I was the only one in my weight class, as was my son.  We each took home one of the cool red wooden skull trophies.  Bookends!

This is indeed the nerdiest, geekiest of strength sports, and that is just so appropriate for me.  Thanks to Jedd and his minions for pulling off a perfectly run competition.  Congrats to Jason and Melissa Dingey for being king and queen of the prom.  This was the most fun I have had in a long time, for many reasons, and I look forward to many more.

Edited June 20, 2022 by Vinnie

[anwnate]

Great write up!

[Blacksmith513]

Sounds like a great time for all. Even through I didn't go, I really admire all the hard work Jedd and whomever else put into making this thing happen. 

Congrats to all that attended. 

[Vinnie]

1 minute ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Sounds like a great time for all. Even through I didn't go, I really admire all the hard work Jedd and whomever else put into making this thing happen. 

Congrats to all that attended. 

Yes, Jedd did a lot of work and he had a few very reliable young volunteers helping him.

There were some really talented guys there - outrageous lifts, including Jason Dingey pulling 502 on the Napalm Nightmare.

Great event.

[Blacksmith513]

Just now, Vinnie said:

Yes, Jedd did a lot of work and he had a few very reliable young volunteers helping him.

There were some really talented guys there - outrageous lifts, including Jason Dingey pulling 502 on the Napalm Nightmare.

Great event.

Man, maybe it should be called the "Dingey Dreamer", instead of the "Napalm Nightmare"

[Vinnie]

I have never been so happy to finish almost last lol.  It was a tough, tough crowd and I was really pleased with how well I did relative to myself.  11 out of 16 in that group was an honor.

[Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Vinnie said:

I'll begin with the back story. I certed the COC 3 in November, and I had lost some of the focus I had leading up to that since I never really settled on a next goal.  In addition, my workout buddy had his first baby in December, and he stopped hosting weekly grip training (as would be expected of a newborn's parent) -- and that is how I kept sort-of current with the hot new implements (grab ball, Finnish ball, etc.) and also how I kept myself doing at least a little something once a week or so.  On top of that, I moved into an apartment with my girlfriend in December, and we have no place to put my grip stuff, so it is in storage.  Fast forward to now, and I have descended to doing grippers once a week or so in my office, which means I am not doing a whole lot at all.  I also went to Aruba in May with my girlfriend and came home May 25th weighing 192 - 9 or 10 pounds over the top of my usual 83kg weight class.  That is the most I ever weighed, thanks to all-inclusive vacationing.  So I was at my oldest (ok that's always true for everyone, but when you are 25 that can still mean getting better, while at 53+ the added age is not helping any); at my fattest (I was never over 190 before, and at 5 foot 6 I should be 140-160); and my least "trained" since I discovered grip 5 years ago.  What better set-up for me to attend the US Grip Sports National Championship!

Anyway, regarding nationals, I figured:  I know I haven't trained, but certing the 3 makes me automatically qualified for nationals; I may as well take advantage of that and go, so I can be qualified next year.  Then I realized, wait, I am 53, I don't have to qualify anyway; I can go any year I want because I am in the Masters class!  So then I figured, well they are doing 20mm block set grippers, so I should go, because grippers.  But I did block set grippers at a comp last year (I forget if it was nationals or a different comp) and I got my PR of 150 RGC and missed the 155 right around when I was beginning to hit my gripper peak; this is the same set of grippers, so I know I won't be able to top that now that I've slacked off.  Grippers aren't the reason to go this year.  So then I figured, well I always go with Anton and Anthony and Tom, can't let them down!  But I asked them, and they all said they weren't going this year.

I needed another excuse.  So I said to my son (who turned 16 today and thinks all this grip stuff is weird and crazy, like dad jokes but with implements and road trips to places no one would otherwise go), "You know, if you want to get out of having to buy me a Father's Day gift, you could just come with me to Nationals on Father's Day weekend." Clearly, I was desperate, and wanted to go to Nationals at any price.  This was like a drug addict asking a cop to come with him to help him get crack.

But he said OK!  I was really happy.  Teens are selfish, and I did not expect him to be willing to come with me to another city to stare at his phone for hours in the car and while I competed when he could just stay home in his room and do that.  How nice that he would do that for me for Father's Day!  So imagine my surprise when, a few days later, he asked me a question about how he would do on the implements and I realized he thought he would be competing.  Stupidly I gave him an out and said "Oh, you don't have to compete ..."; but he said, rolling his eyes in annoyance at me for not reading his mind as teens always do, "I said I would, so I will!"  Whoa.  I liked that misunderstanding.  I was just happy he was joining me at all, but he thought he had been asked to -- and agreed to --compete!  YASSS!  So I paid the $60 for both of us and we were on the roster.  I booked a hotel with an indoor pool because I know he likes that, and I prepaid to save $20.  I almost never prepay hotels and forgot that I did that.

So here I was, old, fat, and friendless, not having trained any of the implements, with three weeks to nationals.  And a son to impress.  I did the only thing I could:  Nothing, because I had nowhere to work out, no one to work out with, and not enough time to do it.  And I most certainly couldn't eat.

Fast forward to June 17.  I drove my son the 175 or so miles to the hotel, stopping at the Clinton Station diner in NJ on the way (an old fave of both of ours).  Instead of playing on his phone the whole time, we talked music; he's getting interested in classic rock and knows it about as well as I do.  He introduced me to the Gorillas, a group he likes that isn't really new but newer than my area of knowledge which ends around the 90s lol.    He also asked me about how to gauge which weights to try, and we just had a great drive.  Usually he just sits staring at his phone with his air pods in.  This was awesome.

On comp day, we showed up for weigh-in.  I had been so good for a few weeks and did not want to miss 83kg (183 pounds), and I had been exactly 183 on my scale at home before I left (meaning I had lost 9 pounds since Aruba - yay me).  And I weighed in at ... 178!?!?!  Huh? It would have been nice to know that my scale at home must have been reading 5 pounds heavy lol.  My son weighed in at 129, which made him the only competitor in either 59kg or 66kg (I think the cut-off is right around 129).  I was the only 83kg competitor, because Clint Ziegler thankfully put on a few pounds since last time, and I think I was the only Masters competitor as well; at least with my gray hair I looked like the only one lol.

The events:

(1) 20 mm block set grippers.  Grippers/crush are always my best events, and I have even on occasion beaten Jedd and Lucas on specific gripper events like TNS or dynamometer or silver bullet, but I am not great at block set closes.  My PR right around when I was ramping up for the COC cert was 150 RGC block set (was also around that for CCS, and 140 for TNS; I just don't get much higher with narrower set; my best MMS close ever was 165, but without passing a block through).  The grippers here are a set I've tried before, and last time I got the 150 easily on my first attempt but failed the 155 for my next three attempts.  I figured I could probably still do the 150 and I was right; it was not hard at all when I warmed up.  And weird, I got the 155 in warm-up also; did my office gripper sessions actually get me back into form?  I tried the 160 next, but NOT EVEN CLOSE.  It was weird how solidly I got the 155 and then I was maybe a quarter inch off the 160.  Well, I didn't want to push my luck and get tired before the actual attempts, so I resolved to start with 150 to make sure I was on the board, go to 155 for my second attempt and hopefully secure a comp PR, and then have two shots at the 160 that as I had just seen, I was probably not going to close.  And too bad, since @Kluv#0 had offered a $25 prize for anyone closing 160 or more.

Sure enough, 1st and 2nd attempt I got 150 and 155, no prob.  Already better than I thought I'd do, and now I was getting greedy.  But when I went for the 160, again I missed by like a quarter inch.  I hadn't tried the 165 because that's the most I ever MMS closed even without a block, and I was sure I was not in my top form, as confirmed by having so much trouble with the 160.  But I also noticed that Jedd and Luke had OPENED with the 165 (I think, or at least they had both done it by round 3 and were attempting 170 already).  So I thought, hey, I know they are both stronger than me, but I'm good on grippers and I've beaten both of them at individual gripper events before, so if they are closing 165 at an early attempt maybe I should just skip that rough 160 and try the 165 for my last attempt.

Well I did, and I missed, but barely.  I was much closer on the 165 than on the 160, and in fact I had to look at Jedd to know I didn't get it, and he had to peer closely at the handles to say so.

But I can't complain!  I never closed even 155 with a block, so that was a PR.  After the fact, everyone who tried both the 160 and the 165 agreed that the 165 was easier.  If only I had been bold enough to attempt it during warm-ups, maybe I'd have known that I should skip the 160 like Jedd and Luke did and just go from the 155 to the 165.  With two shots at it, I might just have made it.  I might not -- it was a little harder than the 155 -- but the 160 was a brick.  I think maybe Jedd should switch them in the future, or re-rate them.  It's silly that the one with the higher number is easier than the one before it.  But at least I know for next time.  Now I want that gripper.  I want it bad!  But I can't complain -- I never closed even 155 with a block, so that was a PR and I was thrilled.  A few guys got 165 and Jason Dingey might have been the only one to beat that, with something 170 or more.  No one else there could touch 170.  I mean they touched it but they didn't touch the handles lol.

My son?  Well, he's not a grip guy and was here for me, not for PRs.  His mechanics were awful.  He basically no set closes the gripper and just passes the block through while it is closing.  For his last attempt he closed a COC Trainer at about 60 RGC.  I think with good form he could do 80 or so, but this is not important to him.  And this is way better than a few months ago.  He's been growing and, light as he is, at least he is now man sized (height, length of fingers, etc.).  No doubt he will bulk up a tad, being 5'8 and only 129 pounds fully clothed.

(2) 3-inch Saxon bar.  I hate wide pinch.  I have done over 240 on a 2-inch and a 2.5-inch saxon bar, but my PR on the 3-inch was 187.  My warm-ups were going well though, so I opened at 178.  Not bad!  I did my second attempt at 188.  I got it -- my PR! -- with more in the tank!  But, I tore the webbing in my left hand and it was bleeding quite a bit.  I caked chalk into the blood, desperately wanting to try 198 for a third attempt.  But I set up and started the attempt, put my hands on the bar, and it just felt like this was not the right choice.  I aborted and decided I should be happy with the 188.  It was a PR.  But the fact that my arms and body were saying there was a potential for more made me feel really good about this comp, especially after the grippers.  Other guys went well into the mid 200s on this.  I believe Jason pulled 258!

My son?  He pulled about 86.  He said the pinch was way too wide for his hands and actually hurt.  He felt like the weight was not what was stopping him, but the pain.  He did his four attempts a little lower than the weight he thought he could lift, and I am glad he did not push his fingers more -- he is an absolutely astonishing pianist for his age (and not bad for any age really), so I would prefer he not injure those ivory ticklers.

(3) 2-inch Napalm Nightmare two-hand rolling handle.  OK, so I am never good at thick bar but this is more a weight problem than a grip problem.  Just like I can DOH axle the same as I can deadlift mixed-grip, I am limited by just not being an overall beast.  Only my arms are well trained.  My PR on this was 325 pounds though, which isn't much more than my deadlift PR, and you don't need to start from as low for this.  So I expected to beat that.  I was right - warm-up lifts at 300-plus were easy, so I came in at 352.  I needed the smaller blocks to do it, and again it wasn't a grip issue - I had to do a calf raise to get to the bar, even with the block.  362 on my second attempt was even harder.  For my third, I tried 372 with the higher block so I could reach the crossbar, but while failing that I realized that this was why my PR was only 325:  I had used the higher block at the previous comp in order to make sure I hit the crossbar, but I just can't do these weights at that deficit -- it makes it like a deadlift.  But I couldn't quite reach the crossbar even with the lower platform.  So, for my fourth attempt, I put the lower platform on top of 45-pound plates.  Voila!  I got 372.  A hefty PR for me.  But in truth, there was a little more in the tank.  Just to see, I did a non-competition pull at 382, from the ground without any platform and not trying to hit the crossbar, and I pulled it to lockout.  So next comp, 380-ish (or more) will be my goal, but I know I need some height but not too much height so that I can hit the crossbar but without the deficit of the higher platform.  Very happy with the big PR.  The big guns were all pushing deep into the 400s, but only Jason hit 500, with 502.  Wow!

My son?  He was hoping to beat half of my best, but I had told him I was expecting 340-350.  He had no idea what he could do, and finished his fourth attempt at 182.  Neither he nor I expected me to double that, but as noted above it worked out that I did.  He said he should have started higher because it felt (and looked) like he could do more, and he thinks he  would be able to pull 200.  I think so, too.  Maybe he will want to come to another comp and see lol.

(4) Little Big Horn.  I hate this implement.  Always have, always will.  My PR for four years has been 167, which I got at my first ever comp.  I don't like to train this, I don't like to do it.  I don't even like to write about it.  But somehow, I hit 169.  On my fourth.  I might even have had more in me, but since I hate it, I didn't try after my last attempt to see.  Another PR.  Here again, the heavy hitters went well into the 200s.  I believe Tim Butler won, or tied with a few, at 238; he actually pulled more in an unofficial attempt after his fourth.  He and Lucas kill on this event.  Apologies if I am missing someone else who tied them.  I was out since 169 and it was all stratospheric looking to me ...

My son got 82.  He also thought he could do more.

Four PRs in four events, at my oldest, after cutting 8 or 10 pounds in 3 weeks, without training.  Apparently the formula for success is age, eat, fast, and laze.  I have another theory though.  I think that doing all these events with such amazing competitors around me while my teen son watched made me push myself to the max.  I wasn't really thinking it in so many words, but my son looks at me as an ox.  I was among the oxen.  It was Father's Day weekend.  I was doing something I loved, with my son who I love, and he was happy.  That night after the comp, we went out to Longhorn's Steakhouse and ordered nice medium rare steaks.  mmmmmmmm.  On Father's Day we drove back because he had a piano lesson to get to; we got there just in time.  I'm so proud of this kid.  Here's him playing last year (remote recital due to COVID; this year's live one is in two days, can't wait):

That is why I don't want him hurting his fingers.  Also, my ex would kill me.

This was an AMAZING weekend.  And to top it all off, when I left the hotel and went to pay, they reminded me that I had prepaid.  Score!

What I did not do in this writeup is discuss the "competition."  For me, there was none.  Most of the competitors beat me, and it wasn't that close; I came in 11th of 16, and my son was 15th.  The only one with whom I was really competing was myself.  And I won.  Literally, too, because I was the only one in my weight class, as was my son.  We each took home one of the cool red wooden skull trophies.  Bookends!

This is indeed the nerdiest, geekiest of strength sports, and that is just so appropriate for me.  Thanks to Jedd and his minions for pulling off a perfectly run competition.  Congrats to Jason and Melissa Dingey for being king and queen of the prom.  This was the most fun I have had in a long time, for many reasons, and I look forward to many more.

It was also a pleasure to meet folks for the first time in person after "meeting" them on here: @jculpepper, @Nick Sanders, @stranger(I think that's your handle), and Nick Spencer and Vicki, and to see @Lucasraymond, @Jedd Johnson, @liftyzig, @JasonD(hope that's Dingey) and Melissa, and hopefully I didn't miss anyone.  @temmmeeee(is that Tim Butler's handle here) I see a lot outside of comps and the GripBoard but good to see him as well, and he was up there at the top of the pack, too.  

[JasonD]

Great write up Vin! You and your son made some special memories.

Hell of a performance by you, for not training! Damn

Edited June 21, 2022 by JasonD

[Vinnie]

9 hours ago, JasonD said:

Great write up Vin! You and your son made some special memories.

Hell of a performance by you, for not training! Damn

If I train grippers I think I can get that 165.  I might even have gotten it had I tried it for my third attempt.  It can't really be 165 though - it must have lost something over the years.  Hope I get to try it again sometime.

[Hubgeezer]

Nice writeup Vinnie. I may have held the previous Gripboard Record for longest Trip Report. No question you hold the new record. 

Not sure why, but Trip Reports are getting fewer and shorter. Always enjoy your writing. 

 

My wife rolled her eyes when I asked her to view a few seconds of a "gripboard video of some fellow's teen son". She was rather stunned. "That kid is REALLY talented!" were her words. Thanks for improving her perception of the forum for me. 

[DAVE101]

Dad strength reaches true potential when your offspring are present. And then it's amplified on Father's Day.

[Vinnie]

On 6/22/2022 at 2:41 PM, Hubgeezer said:

Nice writeup Vinnie. I may have held the previous Gripboard Record for longest Trip Report. No question you hold the new record. 

Not sure why, but Trip Reports are getting fewer and shorter. Always enjoy your writing. 

 

My wife rolled her eyes when I asked her to view a few seconds of a "gripboard video of some fellow's teen son". She was rather stunned. "That kid is REALLY talented!" were her words. Thanks for improving her perception of the forum for me. 

I'm not sure how I missed this.  Just saw and liked it now.  That clip you showed your wife was my son playing piano last year.  HIs most recent recital was two days after I wrote that.  Here is the more recent one, a Beethoven staple, for your wife:

 

[Vinny F]

That was a great write up... and your son is very talented on the piano. 

[Blacksmith513]

On 8/31/2022 at 3:57 PM, Vinnie said:

I'm not sure how I missed this.  Just saw and liked it now.  That clip you showed your wife was my son playing piano last year.  HIs most recent recital was two days after I wrote that.  Here is the more recent one, a Beethoven staple, for your wife:

 

You should be very proud, your son is incredible.

[Vinnie]

Thanks guys.  His mitts are not going to rake in lifetime earnings of $175 from grip sports like his daddy, so he had better have something else to do with them ... lol.

[Vinnie]

Just now, Vinnie said:

Thanks guys.  His mitts are not going to rake in lifetime earnings of $175 from grip sports like his daddy, so he had better have something else to do with them ... lol.

(got $125 once for winning the 83kg weight class when there were only 2 or 3 of us, and $50 once for best effort or something like that lol)

[Blacksmith513]

9 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Thanks guys.  His mitts are not going to rake in lifetime earnings of $175 from grip sports like his daddy, so he had better have something else to do with them ... lol.

Nope but so what, there isn't many things that top playing an instrument.. No matter what kind of day i'm having, coming home and playing some guitar makes it better. Like grip, its something you can always get better at...

My hearing isn't the greatest, make sure he protects his ears...  I don't know playing Beethoven will give you tinnitus but playing Steppenwolf and Cream sure will!

Edited September 2, 2022 by Blacksmith513

[Vinnie]

6 hours ago, Blacksmith513 said:

Nope but so what, there isn't many things that top playing an instrument.. No matter what kind of day i'm having, coming home and playing some guitar makes it better. Like grip, its something you can always get better at...

My hearing isn't the greatest, make sure he protects his ears...  I don't know playing Beethoven will give you tinnitus but playing Steppenwolf and Cream sure will!

Oh I was just kidding around.  He did compete in the one grip comp with me, and that was super fun for me, but he's not going to get into it and I don't mind that he doesn't.  FYI on the musicians and their hearing: One of my fave pop/rock bands is Huey Lewis and the News, and he had to stop performing recently because his hearing went south.  Saw him as recently as about 5 years ago in a small venue because he wasn't drawing the big crowds like in the 80s when I first saw him.  Good artist.

 

[Blacksmith513]

17 minutes ago, Vinnie said:

Oh I was just kidding around.  He did compete in the one grip comp with me, and that was super fun for me, but he's not going to get into it and I don't mind that he doesn't.  FYI on the musicians and their hearing: One of my fave pop/rock bands is Huey Lewis and the News, and he had to stop performing recently because his hearing went south.  Saw him as recently as about 5 years ago in a small venue because he wasn't drawing the big crowds like in the 80s when I first saw him.  Good artist.

 

I know. Wish I could have seen him.  One  of my favs too.

Whats ironic is I’m sure he was around plenty of loud noise but nothing compared to some others from his era who are still going strong.