The sport of Steinholding has been growing very quickly in recent years, and with more competitions popping up across the country, we often have people reaching out to us and telling us about their personal best competition times and asking to be considered for a state or national record. We're a very small team and we can't have USSA officials at every event, but we wanted to make sure that there is still a way for competitors to be recognized for their accomplishments. So we have created the following guidelines for how a competitor can be recognized for officially setting a new Steinholding record at the State and National levels.
Submissions must be from a USSA sanctioned Wild Card Competition or State or National Championship Competition. We don't want to see videos of people holding by themselves in their garage- to be considered for a new record, the Steinholder must be participating in actual competition conditions.
At least two USSA-certified judges must be present at the event to oversee the competition in order for the hold to be submitted for consideration. Video can tell us a lot, but we want to know that there were also people there in person who are familiar with the rules officiating the competition and providing real-time strikes and feedback to the competitors to ensure their form was correct.
Video evidence must be submitted to USSA for review, including video taken from approximately stein height and from least two angles: One angle should show the competitor from the front, at a slightly off-centered angle to allow for visibility of the angle of the competitor's arm and ensure that there is separation between the arm and the body The second angle should be from the side profile, showing the competitor's body from at least the waist up to show the angle of the arm compared to the ground, the amount of lean relative to the competitor's feet, and the straightness of the arm.
The video evidence must show the competitor in question for the entire duration without cutting away from the competitor and the videos may not be edited or doctored in any way.The videos will be reviewed by USSA leadership to determine if there is enough evidence to confirm that the competitor's form was acceptable for the duration of the hold and to attempt to confirm the official time. USSA will make this determination at its own sole discretion and there is no guarantee that any given submission will be approved.
The requirements listed above are our first attempt to codify this process, and USSA reserves the right to change these requirements at any time and to deny any submission for the reasons listed above or for other reasons which USSA deems to be appropriate at USSA's sole discretion.
If you have questions or suggestions for improving this process, or if you plan to submit a new record attempt, please contact the USSA Commissioner's office at jbanko@ussteinholding.com to discuss and coordinate.
