Standards for Figure Judging?

[ripitupbaby]

Hi All

I heard through the grapevine that after Junior Nationals last weekend, Sandy Renali met with the women figure competitors to "set the record straight" on what the judges are looking for in Figure at the National level and what will be rewarded from now on.
If anyone was at this meeting, can you please confirm and provide some details?

:confused:

Thanks!

[SuperBBGirl]

Here is what someone posted at Mayhem
Boy i really hope this is not true!

"Jessica just got out of a meeting with the Head Judge Sandy Ranalli and all the figure athletes. They had a meeting to set the record straight on what type of physique they will be rewarding from here on out. They did this after the show so all the girls would know. This is the look for 2006 and on, not what was rewarded in the past.


*They do not want the capped off shoulder look and flaring lats
*Arms are to be by the side and relaxed(Notice Nina's)
*They do not what a girl ripped to shreds. They WANT them soft.
*Absolutely no separtion in the legs"

soft, no shoulders/lats, no leg seperation contests already exist and are called hawaiin tropic bikini contests

figure was supposed to be for those of us who wan6 to look like FITNESS but lack the flexiblily or tumbling skill to do the routines

no leg seperation whats with that? i have leg sepereation in the of season

[bborange]

When did this meeting occur, does anyone know?
Thanks,
Stephen
www.daniellerouleau.com

[SuperBBGirl]

at the jr nats not sure when exactly whether before or after prejudging

[Echo]

This is a summary of the meeting with Head Judge Sandy Ranalli and all the figure athletes. They had a meeting to set the record straight on what type of physique they will be rewarding from here on out. They did this after the show so all the girls would know. This is the look for 2006 and on, not what was rewarded in the past.


*They do not want the capped off shoulder look and flaring lats
*Arms are to be by the side and relaxed(Notice Nina's)
*They do not want a girl ripped to shreds. They WANT them soft.
*Absolutely no separtion in the legs


Sandy said that many of the girls would make good light-weight bodybuilders

The One Piece brings in elements of pageantry which is another aspect that separates figure from the other physique competitions.

[Maxt]

I went to the Bodyrock's first Figure show as well as one of the most recent. The crowd was packed and full of people in the business from the disciplines of Nutrition, Photography, Contest Preparation, and local Bodybuilding Gyms. I asked a guy how he judged FIGURE. He said there was hot, REAL HOT and HOTTEST!!

[ripitupbaby]

Here is what someone posted at Mayhem
Boy i really hope this is not true!

"Jessica just got out of a meeting with the Head Judge Sandy Ranalli and all the figure athletes. They had a meeting to set the record straight on what type of physique they will be rewarding from here on out. They did this after the show so all the girls would know. This is the look for 2006 and on, not what was rewarded in the past.


*They do not want the capped off shoulder look and flaring lats
*Arms are to be by the side and relaxed(Notice Nina's)
*They do not what a girl ripped to shreds. They WANT them soft.
*Absolutely no separtion in the legs"

soft, no shoulders/lats, no leg seperation contests already exist and are called hawaiin tropic bikini contests

figure was supposed to be for those of us who wan6 to look like FITNESS but lack the flexiblily or tumbling skill to do the routines

no leg seperation whats with that? i have leg sepereation in the of season



That's pretty much what I heard through the grapevine, but I am really curious to hear directly from anyone who attended the meeting and heard it themselves. What was the take-home message? And what was the atmosphere like in the meeting?
This makes things tough for those of us who are training our hardest for some of the upcoming National shows!

Thanks again!

[dalberton]

That's pretty much what I heard through the grapevine ...
Ugh ... say it ain't so.

Do they expect figure competitors to go on beer-and-donuts diets for a few weeks before shows? :wtf:

[ripitupbaby]

Ugh ... say it ain't so.

Do they expect figure competitors to go on beer-and-donuts diets for a few weeks before shows? :wtf:



I won't even TELL you about how good that diet sounds to me right now! And if that's what they want, say no more - I can fully oblige! :cheers:

[dalberton]

I won't even TELL you about how good that diet sounds to me right now! And if that's what they want, say no more - I can fully oblige! :cheers:
Question: do you risk going onstage with a buzz ... with those high heels and all?

[SuperBBGirl]

i heard from others at the meeting that they did NOT say it as it is stated above
they said do not flex legs or shoulders stand with arms relaxed
looking for shape not excessive conditioning

I think it is ridiculous to set a different stanard for figure than fitness, when figure was designed for those of us who liked the FITNESS look but could not do routines

[dalberton]

Here is what someone posted at Mayhem
Boy i really hope this is not true!
That exact post has made its way here (http://www.ftppv.com/ftvideo/showthread.php?t=1029).

[Mike]

It was posted on Mayhem by peterputnam.

http://www.musclemayhem.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39598

also being discussed 1 thread below this one. :Popcorn2:

[Echo]

i heard from others at the meeting that they did NOT say it as it is stated above......

....looking for shape not excessive conditioning


Would you care to define "excessive conditioning" so that figure competitors can have a judging criteria that is fairly and uniformly applied?

Also, if you would ask your contacts what they heard at the meeting and post their version of a meeting summary it most certainly would be welcomed. Thanks.

[SuperBBGirl]

the others said that Sandy said they were looking for shape and balance over conditioning
wanted relaxed posing no flexing legs or shoulders
no excessive size/vacualrity

i will ask them to post here so i don't take waht they say out of context

[dcg]

I cant believe that this is so..... I would hate to think that there are about 250 girls about to spend their hard earned money to go to New York and Vegas in a few weeks for nothing. So here you girls are (my wife included) busting your rumps in the gym each and every day and spending the time and money on eating the right types of food to improve your physiques to not just get on stage - but to win.... and for what? It seems that the NPC would have a little problem on their hands if this were true. It must be that this statement was taken out of context. Please say it isnt so . . . . .

[sgfitt]

I competedthis weekend at Jr. Nationals, but did not stay for the meeting so I can't confirm Sandy had made those statements. Of course I don't those descriptions fit who they're picking. I have a softer look and they placed me last, so I think they do pick the girls who have leg separation etc....Genex has a picture of the Class B Fitness girls on page 6, and you can see the girl who won was the most "ripped" and had leg separation etc... so did the Figure overall winner. I'm totally confused on what they say they want vs. what they actually pick........I think everyone just needs to come in how they think they look best and just hope that this year at that moment in time is what they are looking for since its never consistant anyways!!!

[Becky]

I have heard all these rumors too and I have no idea how valid they are but I will say this....they were discussing how monstrous the class B was in figure. Funny little story but I lost a posing shoe after prejudging Saturday morning and I had to go looking for it. While I was hunting around backstage, they were saying they should make adjustments regarding the class sizes. Who knows if it will happen but they did say in our athletes meeting that changes are afoot and we will supposedly all like them. Who knows...luckily I am still building my physique and I think I can tailor my strategy to fit any changes. As of now, I place high based on stage presence and symmetry more than anything else so if changes to conditioning or size requirements are made, I can adjust I think...

Oh and by the way, I did find my shoe :) Some kind soul placed it on a table and no one took it!!! What an adventure that was...LOL

[Echo]

.......I think everyone just needs to come in how they think they look best and just hope that this year at that moment in time is what they are looking for since its never consistant anyways!!!

Absolutely, 100 percent correct!!!

[TXMoonlight]

Standards for Figure Judging......Interesting thread!!

Sounds like inconsistency indeed! Then there is the question as to how much politics and popularity play in their judgement vs. actual standards/criteria. I also would have to wonder when the judges see the same ladies at different competitions if they find themselves judging on recent improvements or if they can stay strictly with the comparison of each lady in the current competition.