Video instant replay

[Ron Antrim]

Has anyone ever seen video replay used in disputed calls at a meet. Seems like a good idea if the angle is right and the image could be frame by frame. Works in football,
but then fencing is infinetly faster. just thinking in pixels. my brain isnt really engaged.

------------------
Jeeves

[Moniteur]

Ron, the option does exist for the director.. the director can use the replay calls in which s/he is uncertain, in the finals of a tournament, according to t.42 in the rules..

Now, as you know, when it comes to right of way or determining who got the touch.... there are no disputed calls, as the referree is THE final word on right of way..



------------------
Chris Holzman
Moniteur D' Escrime

[sabreur]

If you get the Olympics tapes, you will see that there are very few "blown" calls, at least in sabre. Most fencing actions are clear, if you know the rules and are paying attention--and if they aren't clear, then you should abstain and not award a touch. It is the fencers' responsibility to make clear actions; not the referee's responsibility to untangle an mess.

I don't think you need instant replay to avoid bad decisions--you need good education programs that ensure that referees know how to call actions.

The worst thing in the world is to get a referee that doesn't understand how tempo is called in modern sabre--you're doomed to a bout of boring simultaneous attacks. There is nothing I hate worse than a referee who says "Both start together, both finish together, simultaneous" when one fencer clearly begins the final action of the attack first.

But instant replay wouldn't help--the problem is a referee who doesn't know what to look for--he still wouldn't know what he was seeing, even in slo-mo.

And it would cause the bouts to drag on interminably.

My. $.02.

Regards, Mark Ray



------------------
Why sabre? Because you don't take heads with the point.

[Moniteur]

yep.. I'm with you there. Very very few blown calls.. although there are a good dozen and a half true fleches, some of which are fleche and a secondary step after, then the hit, then the halt.. and the touch is given... never a card. they were immediately obvious to me, and confirmed on replay.. granted most of the fencers made an honest effort most of the time, not to cross.. but still. that was ridiculous. I thought thats what assesseurs were for.. sheesh.
as far as how tempo is called in modern sabre, it shouldn't be, and on the olympic tapes, didn't appear to be, any different than in true classical sabre, although the actions are faster. At least the directors have started looking at extending arms rather than stepping feet...finally.. they're still saying that a stop hit has to land before the opponent is in final line...etc. All of it looked good to me. Point attacks and point in line had proper priority when appropriate. Now thats a whole lot different than some of the stuff thats happening locally with step step whack, step step whack... and so forth. In the Olympic tapes there wasn't a whole lot of just crashing together with even the appearance of simul... there were a few, but significantly less than you see at most local tournaments. Perhaps the Olympic level fencers have simply overcome the fear of not making the initial attack.. or perhaps they simply have directors who can tell whether a riposte started before the remise...
whatever it is, sabre is sure in a lot better shape than it was 5 or 6 years ago...

------------------
Chris Holzman
Moniteur D' Escrime