Only the Pro athletes participate in the Individual competition format, which features all six disciplines. Pro athletes are those who can compete safely in all six TIMBERSPORTS® disciplines with the corresponding Pro wood diameter, gender has no influence.
There are two different Individual competition formats; the traditional Individual format and the Individual round format.
The traditional Individual format is the oldest competition format in TIMBERSPORTS® and dates back more than thirty years to 1985. Today this format is still used at national level for qualification tournaments such as cups. The athletes compete in all six disciplines in the following order: Springboard, Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and Hot Saw.
All competitors compete in each discipline with the maximum points being awarded to the fastest athlete in each discipline. The number of points on offer is determined from the number of participating athletes (e.g. Place 16 = 1 Point, Place 1 = 16 Points). The overall ranking at the end of the competition is decided by the sum of all points per discipline. Any form of disqualification results in the athlete scoring zero points.
Danny Martin from Germany at the Individual World Championship 2019 in Prague.
The Individual round competition is the newer of the two Individual formats having only been introduced in 2013 at the Individual World Championship in Stuttgart, Germany. Today this format is the standard format for all national and international championships. The pinnacle competition of this format is the Individual World Championship.
This format is held in a round system. In the first round, all the athletes’ skills in the basic disciplines are tested, competing in the Underhand Chop, Stock Saw and Standing Block Chop. Like in the traditional Individual format athletes earn points depending on how fast they complete each discipline. The maximum points awarded for each discipline is 12. If a competition starts with more than 12 athletes, only the first 12 placed athletes will receive points and any athletes finishing below 12th place will receive zero points for that discipline. The athletes with the least points after the first round are eliminated, with only the top eight making it into the second round.
In the second round the eight remaining athletes showcase their skill in the more advanced disciplines competing in the Single Buck and Springboard. More points are on offer with a maximum of 16 points per discipline available for the quickest athlete and just two points for the eighth placed athlete.
The six highest-scoring athletes from rounds one and two combined then compete in the third and final round. This round features the hardest discipline, the Hot Saw, with the highest amount of pressure. The third round has the highest point increments with 18 points awarded to the fastest sawyer down to three for the slowest. The athlete with the most points at the end of the third round is crowned the overall winner.
