Muaythai Judging: Some common mistakes made when judging Muay Thai bouts, and how to avoid them

By Tony Myers

Introduction International Competition
Fight Classifications Differences between associations
What techniques score? Fouls
How are fights actually scored? Decisions
Some common mistakes made when judging Muay Thai bouts, and how to avoid them Summary

If you have to judge a fight yourself, it is worth being aware of the following common mistakes. Being aware of these mistakes can help you avoid making them.

Mistake 1: Your decision is influenced by the shouts, cheers and comments of others.
It is easy to allow the crowd's cheers or a corner-man's praise to influence to your decision on whether a technique landed on target or not.
Example: A good kick is delivered and then you hear the cheers of the crowd and the congratulations from the corner. You presume the kick to has landed on target when it actually missed
How to avoid this mistake:
· Totally ignore the sounds at ringside and focus on looking carefully at each technique.

Mistake 2: Presuming a technique scored, but not actually seeing it land.
Marking a technique you saw being delivered and what seemed like an effect but which you didn't actually see land.
Example: A boxer has his back towards you when his opponent grabs his neck and delivers a series of knee techniques. Although you can't actually see the knees land the body of the boxer being attacked moves back as if it had taken a strong impact. You see what looks like an effect on the boxer being attacked; however, the fighter was merely pulling his body back to allow the knee to miss its intended target.
How to avoid this mistake:
· Only score techniques which you actually see land. If you are sitting at the wrong angle to see a technique actually land on target, don't presume it landed. Remember if it was a good scoring technique the other judges who are sitting at a different position will score it.

Mistake 3: Being influenced by spectacular techniques
Scoring a technique because it was spectacular but without really assessing it's effect.
Example: A boxer performs a jumping round kick and makes some contact with the opponent's face. You consider the technique to be a good because of the level of difficulty in delivering such a technique, when really the technique had no effect on the boxer being kicked as only the toes made weak contact.
How to avoid this mistake:
· Focus on how effective a technique is and not just on the technical quality or difficulty of delivery.

Mistake 4: Scoring a round based on the action which occurs in only at the beginning or end of that round.
Human memory is such that we tend to remember the first thing that happens (primacy effect) and the last thing that happens (recency effect). Humans also have a tendency to remember things which are out of the ordinary, among other things. It is therefore easy for high action which happens for a short period at the beginning or end of the round to influence scoring.
How to avoid this mistake:
Keep an ongoing mental record of the actual scoring as the round progresses.

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