Which technical errors are most likely to lead to a “no lift” in powerlifting?
We analyzed data from the 2025 IPF South American Powerlifting Championships to determine what are the most common causes for losing a lift to the referees.
Is it squat depth? Not following commands? Let’s find out.
A Few Considerations
1- We aim to evaluate which card color leads to more red lights. So a lift with 2 whites and 1 red is a “good lift”, but we’ll still analyze that last referee’s decision to understand why they flagged it.
2- Attempts with three yellow cards were excluded, as they most likely represent incomplete lifts (as in, the lifter simply “failed”).
Squat
• 🔴 80.00% red cards (depth)
• 🔵 12.55% blue cards (bar descent or soft knee lockout)
• 🟡 12.73% yellow cards (commands, foot movement, spotter contact, etc)
Note that the total exceeds 100% because a single red light can involve more than one infraction. This will be true for all three lifts.
Bench Press
• 🔴 15.73% red cards (elbow depth or bar not touching the chest)
• 🔵 29.97% blue cards (bar descent or soft elbow lockout)
• 🟡 60.24% yellow cards (commands, feet/glutes/head lifting, etc)
Deadlift
• 🔴 33.73% red cards (failure to lock the knees or shoulders)
• 🔵 52.61% blue cards (hitching the bar on the thighs or downward movement)
• 🟡 23.69% yellow cards (commands, lack of control on the way down, foot movement, etc)
Key Insights
• Squat red lights were by far caused mostly by not achieving the required depth.
• Bench Press red lights were mostly yellow cards, which can mean a variety of small errors; this is consistent with the amount of technical requirements in the bench press (foot placement, head movement, more complex commands, etc)
• Deadlift red lights were mostly caused by hitching on the thighs or by downward bar movement - possibly even both in the same lift!
Sources
The data for this analysis was collected through the EasyLifter Referee system. Each referee card and decision from the 2025 South American Championship was recorded in the system’s database in real time throughout the entire meet.
The full, raw data is available upon request - please get in touch with Victor Begha on Instagram!