Arm wrestling has been a sport that has its fans who have religiously followed it for decades and in recent times, it has been gaining massive popularity among the followers of other sports who have found a keen interest in the art of pulling. Now, there are a set of rules when it comes to the table, but there is one rule called the ‘Peg Rule’ which has its share of detest from top arm wrestlers, including world champion Devon Larratt, who recently explained as to why its a ‘dumb rule’.
Devon Larratt believes the Peg Rule can even be dangerous for shorter arm wrestlers
The ‘Peg Rule’ suggests that during an arm wrestling match, the hands of both pullers must always remain in contact with the pegs on the table throughout the course of the match. There is a warning issued if a player moves his or her hands off the peg, or somehow breaks contact with the peg, but doesn’t gain any advantage over his opponent from it. However, if the same happens and the player who broke contact with the pegs achieves an advantage over his opponent, then it would be seen as a foul.
Devon Larratt, the most famous arm wrestler in the world at the moment, has enjoyed a stellar 2021 year with back to back victories over Michael Todd and John Brzenk at the first and second editions of ‘King of the Table’ events in May and December respectively, recently gave his two cents on the peg rule.
In a short four minute video clip that Larratt recently uploaded to his official YouTube channel, he called it a ‘dumb rule’, saying that not only does the rule puts a puller into bad position, but its also could be dangerous for some people, especially for shorter arm wrestlers.
“My personal belief is that it’s a dumb rule,” said Larratt, “That’s what I think. I think it’s great to have pegs on the table. My understanding is they created pegs on tables so that it was harder for a person to open up, potentially putting them into bad position and the thought was by having to have your hand on the peg at all times it was more likely that you stayed in safe position. I don’t know if anybody’s done the stats on did pegs actually make arm wrestling safer, my guess is that it didn’t.”
“I actually think that for certain people it might make it more dangerous. Myself being a taller person, I have no real problem with the peg. I can basically be in any position on the table, and there’s no problem with me keeping contact with that peg. I don’t think me having my hand on the peg is always the best way to generate power. Perhaps if I was to do something else maybe it would be more powerful.”
“Maybe they did it so you can’t hit the person, I don’t know,” he went on, “but I do think that if you are a shorter person, this starts to be very problematic. Like, if you are a shorter person, you cannot even properly start to fall away from the table, you couldn’t go this direction properly. As soon as you started to go to the side you may have to come closer to it and often times I think that it may actually force you into less safe positions.”
“So, is it required? Does it make the sport more safe, or is this part of an arm wrestling table that you can choose to use or not use… I don’t know,” Larratt added.
You can check out the full video of Larratt demonstrating the peg rule and his criticism in the video below, courtesy of his official YouTube channel-
Highlights:
- Devon Larratt says the Peg Rule in arm wrestling is “dumb” and explains that it can even be dangerous for shorter pullers
Do you agree with Devon Larratt? Share your thoughts in the comments.
