So I’ve been an NPC judge for a few years now.
I really enjoy it – it’s a lot of fun and allows you to participate in the sport without dieting…which is ALWAYS a plus!!!
(BTW if you want to become a judge, contact your NPC state chairman and they’ll point you in the right direction – we can always use good people).
All that being said, judging is not the easiest thing in the world to do. Sometimes only a fraction of a percent can separate two (or more!) competitors and it can be very challenging to discern between 20+ competitors in just a few short minutes.
Also – a CRUCIAL thing I’d like to emphasize is that although all judges try to be as objective as possible, it’s still JUDGING so there’s an inherent degree of subjectivity.
We don’t have a scoreboard or a checkered flag in this sport. When it comes down to it, we’re basically relying on peoples’ (the judges) educated opinion on how they think people look and rank when compared with one another.
But it gets even more complicated than that because there are multiple criteria on which different judges may place a different emphasis!
For instance everyone knows that we’re basically looking for a balance of 3 things – symmetry, muscularity, and conditioning.
But the thing is, rarely does one person exhibit all these traits far better than their competition. (If they do, they pretty much win within the first minute onstage and everyone knows it). And we’re not even going to get into posing, presentation, skin tone, etc. all of which can influence your score (see THIS ARTICLE for a discussion on those topics).
So let me ask you…if you were a judge, how would you place someone who is more muscular but is not super lean vs. someone who is less muscular but has a little better conditioning?
What about someone who has great symmetry but is smaller vs. someone much larger but isn’t quite as balanced?
See the dilemmas?
It’s not always a clear-cut decision, no matter how hard we try.
All that being considered, one thing that’s difficult as a competitor is to feel like you were “robbed”. I GET IT –you’ve worked really hard training and dieting, and feel you looked better than Joe Blow, yet your placing doesn’t reflect what you think you earned. That feeling sucks…I know…I’ve been there (remember I’m a competitor too!).
But let me get real with you here and say a couple things…AND DON’T GET MAD! LOL
The hard reality is that you probably just didn’t look as good as you might have thought.
Most of the time, I believe this erroneous belief is due to misinformation rather than ego (hopefully). The fact is that it’s VERY difficult to assess your own physique objectively and you probably have family, friends, and the local gym rats telling you how great you look, blah blah blah, and after a while it just might start sinking in.
And think about it…would they really tell you if they thought you looked like crap anyway?
Although they might have good intentions, you need to remember these people are likely biased (they know you) and uneducated as to what you really should look like (they’re not experienced).
(Side note – Just another reason I think everyone is much better off with an experienced contest prep coach)
Do judges make mistakes? Sure. Can there be an occasional questionable placing? Of course – remember it’s subjective.
BUT the structure and method of judging acts as a safeguard to minimize such possible errors and oversights. How is this done?
(1.) By having a lot of judges (there’s usually 7+ judges at any contest) and,
(2.) Employing statistics – eliminating outliers (top and bottom scores) and summating the remaining placings into a total score where the lowest score wins.
These safeguards are particularly relevant to the “It’s all political” claims by unhappy competitors that drive me crazy. Competitors need to realize the unlikelihood of “politics” changing their placing. Unless the majority of judges at a show are all in cahoots, it would be very difficult for a judge or two to significantly influence the final scores of a competitor, even if they were judging unscrupulously.
Also think about this – the scorecards are available to contestants and other judges to view. How do you think it might look if one judge’s scorings were way off from the other judges? Don’t you think that might send up some red flags? It would.
One last thought to ponder, reflect, and meditate deeply on:
If someone was robbed, that means someone else placed higher than they expected. Have you ever felt that way? My guess is probably not. See the discrepancy?
The lesson here? Just bring your best package to the show on contest day and don’t worry about the rest. Trust the judges’ expertise and experience and have some fun up there – which is the whole point to begin with!
Tags: Bodybuilding / Bodybuilding contest / competition / Jason Wojo / judges / Judging / Onstage / physique comparison / Physique presentation / politics in bodybuilding