FairSet Scoring.

What is FairSet?

FairSet is one number for one timed set.

It allows two or more athletes to compete directly against each other on the same lift regardless of their age difference, weight difference, and even if they use different kettlebell weights.

You see, we don’t just count reps. We calculate factors:

• The weight of the kettlebells?
• The competitor's weight?
• The competitor's age?

Then we multiply and divide.

Why FairSet scoring?

Traditional kettlebell sport ranking tables assign a prescribed bell, a bodyweight class, and often a separate age group. Under those tables, athletes of different age, bodyweight, or bell choice cannot be compared on the same list.

FairSet keeps the same 10-minute lifts and replaces those separate tables with one continuous formula. The athlete chooses the bell. The formula produces one score so any two athletes on the same lift can be ranked against each other.

How do you calculate it?

FairSet = reps × (bell load)^1.50 ÷ (bodyweight)^0.88 × age boost

Five steps:

1. Count total reps. (If it is not a lockout, it is not a rep.)
2. Multiply by the bell load raised to the power of 1.50. (Heavier bells count more than they weigh, because heavy things get hard faster.)
3. Divide by your bodyweight in kilograms, raised to the power of 0.88. (A bigger person is naturally able to lift more, so we divide by their size.)
4. Multiply by the age boost for your whole year. (After the mid-30s the body slows down a little each year, so older athletes get a published boost.)
5. If a woman and a man completed the same lift in the same configuration on an exhibition board, multiply the woman’s score by 1.22. Official lists remain separate and do not use this step.

How are bell load and bodyweight entered?

Bell load is the number of kettlebells multiplied by the weight of each bell, in kilograms. Two 24 kg bells equal a load of 48 kg. One 24 kg snatch equals a load of 24 kg.

Bodyweight is entered in kilograms and should be measured on the day of the set. To convert pounds, multiply by 0.4536.

Compare the same lift to the same lift: long cycle to long cycle, snatch to snatch, jerk to jerk.

Where did 1.50 come from?

We did not guess it.

There are two legitimate kettlebell groups that already publish “points per kilo of bell” so different bells can compete against each other fairly. Plot those points against kilograms and the line is about kg^1.47 and kg^1.53. Average = 1.50.

What that means in English: That twice the weight of a bell is worth about 2.8 times the points, not 2. That stops someone from using a baby bell for a huge rep count and winning the competition.

Where did 0.88 come from?

We did not guess it.

Verified studies of short-to-medium work — 30-second bike sprints, walking, running — show that the work a bigger body produces grows like mass^0.86 to mass^0.87, not mass^1.00. In other words, a 250 lb person is not twice a 125 lb person. We use a factor of 0.88.

We do not divide by bodyweight to the power of 1.00. That would also charge the smaller athlete for a heavier-feeling bell — and the 1.50 already pays extra for the heavy bell.

Where did the age boost come from?

We did not invent a curve.

Kettlebell groups usually handle age by putting veterans in another category. Whereas Powerlifting already publishes a one-number masters table (McCulloch). We use that table.

Peak years 23–39 stay at 1.00. From 40 up, every whole year has its own number.

Landmarks:

We checked 1.34 at age 60 against other sports instead of making a new number. Trained 1500 m runners at 60 are about 1.22. Trained cyclists’ 30-second power is about 1.25. Ordinary bench-press reps land around 1.27–1.43. 1.34 sits in the middle.

Where did 1.22 come from?

After bell load and bodyweight are already in the formula, a remaining difference between women and men in 6–10 minute cyclic work is still observed in other sports. Same-mass 2000 m rowing is about 9% (1.10). Scaled aerobic capacity is about 20% (1.25). Across sport the published range is about 10–30%. A 10-minute kettlebell set sits in the middle of that range. FairSet uses 1.22.

How it is applied: only if a woman and a man completed the same lift in the same configuration (both doubles or both singles) on one exhibition board. Multiply the woman’s FairSet score by 1.22.

Do not apply 1.22 on official lists. Official lists remain men with men and women with women.

Do not apply 1.22 when comparing men’s doubles to women’s singles. Different bells are already accounted for by the 1.50 load term.

Can I see an example?

Both athletes lift 2 × 24 kg, so load = 48 kg.

Athlete A: 60 years, 150 lb (68.0 kg), 40 valid reps.
Athlete B: 25 years, 250 lb (113.4 kg), 80 valid reps.

Athlete B completed twice the repetitions.

After bodyweight and age, the scores are nearly equal. Athlete B completed more work in absolute terms. Athlete A’s set is not a lesser performance once size and age are included. If Athlete B’s set is the stronger performance relative to his size and age, he still ranks higher. FairSet does not award a win that the set did not earn.

How do teams score?

Add each athlete’s FairSet score from that match.

Virtual challenge matches require a minimum of three scores. Regionals and Nationals require five scores. A missing athlete is a missing score. An empty roster slot cannot be filled with a substitute number.

For combined events (more than one 10-minute lift), score each lift with FairSet and add those scores.

What rules apply when ranking?

Do not place classic kettlebell sport (the bell may not be set down) and set-down-allowed rules on the same leaderboard. The formula is the same. The boards are not.

Heavier bells must outscore lighter bells when raw volume is equal. That is the purpose of the 1.50 load term.

The constants 1.50 and 0.88 are the best-supported starting values from published kettlebell coefficient tables and laboratory tests of short-to-medium cyclic work. They will be recalibrated after official 10-minute meet files exist.