From the Other Side of the Table

I had the privilege of volunteering, judging, and competing in Pole Sport Organization’s Atlantic Pole Championship last weekend.  While I have participated in several competitions, this experience was my first time judging.  It was very eye opening to be on the “other side of the table”.  So without further ado, I give you:

Things I Learned from The Other Side of the Table

1.    It’s difficult: At about every competition where I’ve competed, before they announce the winners they seem to say this.  I never believed them.  Honestly, I thought it was just to make the rest of us who didn’t place feel better.  Turns out, it’s totally true.

2.    The judges want you to do well.  They want everyone to do well: I found myself totally pulling for every person who took the stage.  I kinda felt that it wasn’t “judicial” to hoot and holler for people but I really wanted to.

3.     The person who wins is the person who meets the judging criteria the best.  It may not be the prettiest or the most entertaining routine.  It might be.  But it might not:  At least, this is how it should be.  It’s a competition, after all.  A good competition has clear and consistent criteria that are published ahead of time.  Pole Sport Organization does a very good job of this.  Also, every competition series has different criteria (or many do, at least) so the winner of one competition might not necessarily have won a different competition with different criteria.  I liken it to taking a standardized test—people who do well might be the “smartest” but they might not.  However, they met the “testing” criteria.  I remember one division in particular, in which I loved a particular routine.  It was beautiful to watch.  However, I had to score it lower than some others because it didn’t meet the criteria as well. 

I never really grasped this concept as a competitor.  Surprisingly, I actually found it to be liberating when I competed the next day.  I realized the judges weren’t assigning “value” to my routine, nor was my score necessarily a reflection of how well I performed.  I felt free to enjoy the process of being on stage.  I think this revelation was the most striking from the weekend.

4.     No “shifty eyes”:  I first heard this term when I spent a day training with Alethea.  It refers to competitors that kind of make eye contact but not really.  I find the concept hard to verbalize but it’s obvious when you see it.  I know I’m guilty of doing this in the past and it’s such an easy thing to fix.  I’m grateful to my teachers for getting rid of my shifty eyes and I’m grateful for the chance to observe in others what kind of eye contact works and what doesn’t. 

5.     Commit to the moves and to your character:  I’m guilty of not doing this in past routines but it makes it so much more fun to watch (and perform!).  As one of my mentors, Jennifer Wilkens, says: if you’re going to reach, then REEEAAACCH!  Consider the myriad analogies.  You’re up there anyway, might as well get into it.  Also, it’s part of almost every competition’s judging criteria and if you can master it, your scores will go up.  J

6.     The judges don’t know who wins:  Again, that’s how it should be in a well-run competition.  I was as interested as anyone else in how the rankings ended up.  There were 5 other judges and the hi/low scores were thrown out so any individual judge really doesn’t have that much sway over the outcome.

7.     It will always be a little subjective:  Even with appropriate criteria, people like what they like.  For example, I don’t really enjoy watching the martial arts type of performances.  Just a preference.  I had to be careful not to let it become a prejudice and judge based on the criteria set out! 

8.     Try not to judge when you aren’t judging:  Sometimes when I wasn’t judging I found myself scrutinizing the performances for the criteria.  It made them less fun to watch.  I tried to consciously put the judging out of my mind and just enjoy the performances.

9.     When possible, avoid judging your friends or being judged by them:  As the pole community becomes more close knit, it will be impossible to avoid this altogether.  But it adds a level of complexity that is best avoided, if possible.

Don’t bitch about the judging:  Oh, mea culpa!!  I have done this.  Please consider this blog my public confession and shaming.  There are a number of reasons this is a bad plan.  First, the judges are probably doing their best to be unbiased and to be good judges.  Second, even if they aren’t, it’s not like someone is going to go change the results after they’ve been announced.  It’s sort of ok to do this in the privacy of your own studio after you get home.  There are some circumstances where the judging may actually be sketchy and you need to vent to your pole sisters.  But wait ‘til you get home.