Comp Prep Guide

Judge Kara Corey's top 5 tips to improve your stage time and results: what judges are really looking for in bikini competitors, and mistakes to avoid.

“Hi guys, it’s Kara Corey, WNBF Bikini Pro. Some of you may know that I was fortunate to test judge at the OCB show locally in Syracuse the other day. I learned so much from that experience and thought I would do this video to share some of my top tips from a judge’s perspective.

My first tip is, make sure you work the full judges panel. The judges panel can consist of different amounts of judges. For instance, yesterday's show that I was part of had six main judges and two test judges, myself included. We were spread out over a very long table.

I noticed when a lot of the competitors walked out on stage they focused more on one end of the table where the majority of the judges were seated versus the other end where I and the other test judge sat.

The competitors had no idea we were test judges, so that was one thing that I noticed made it difficult from a judge's perspective, to be able to really get a good look at everyone when they were trying to show their best attributes to the whole judging panel. They were angling themselves a certain way and a lot of competitors didn't even make eye contact with me which I think is posing 101.

Going on stage making sure you're looking at the entire judging panel is very important. I noticed a lot of people were looking beyond the judges, looking in the audience and not really connecting with me as a judge. That for me made me lose interest in the competitor.

Tip 2 is ‘number placement’. You are going to be given a number by the show promoter and they tell you where to place it. Make sure you pay attention to where that number is being placed. Place it where they request you to place it as a lot of competitors place it in an incorrect spot.

The purpose of placing it as such is so the judges can all see your number. If the judges can't see your number it's going to make it really hard to place you well.

As a judge, if I don't know what your number is and I'm trying to quickly score you, that could make me lose interest and look to someone else. My attention would be drawn to someone whose number I can see so make sure you place that number appropriately. You also want to see the way that you're posing, make sure the number is not hidden.

Tip 3 is ‘knowing your angles’. You're going to be in front of an entire judging panel. You may have practiced your posing a certain way but make sure that you're posing so that all the judges can get a good view of what your physique looks like.

If you pose towards one direction, make sure that everyone sitting on the opposite side of that judging table is going to get a good view of your physique.

It's key that you know how to shift your poses a little bit to be able to give the judging panel a good look at your physique.

Tip 4 is ‘to roll with it’. I saw some people on stage made little errors in their posing and they were able to move on with it, they didn’t make it obvious.

However, other competitors who made little mistakes like tripped on their heel slightly, you could see them get super nervous and not really know how to react correctly.

If you are on stage in front of those judges, I don't care if you totally mess up your routine but act like you didn't mess up your routine and keep pressing forward.

The more you get self-conscious about it, you will get nervous and the judges can see your lack of confidence which will definitely take away from your scoring.

Look confident even if you screw it up, we may not even recognize it unless you point it out.

My last tip and the most important tip that I've learned from the judging perspective is that you have to have ‘the wow factor’. You've got to have it the second you walk on stage, you have to have something that when the judges take one look at you, they can't take their eyes off you.

This might be a little bit different for some people, it could just be your overall look or your presentation between the suit, your makeup and jewelry.

It could also be your attitude when you walk on stage, it's a little bit of sassiness that you have in your walk and that confidence that no one else is displaying.

Maybe it's your physique that stands out and no one else can compare to it but you have to find a way to have the wow factor.

The biggest thing I recognized yesterday that gave me a better appreciation for scoring is that there's so many amazing physiques on stage, you can get lost very easily.

I'll give you a quick example, during the T-walk of the show there was a couple girls that came out to do their walk and I remember seeing some beautiful bodies but I have no idea where I scored them because I don't remember seeing them on stage. They got lost in the mix and they didn't know how to stand out in a group of girls.

It's unfortunate and that's where a lot of people can get really upset and confused that they don't know why they didn't play as well. Find a way to stand out and that will definitely help you in terms of your placement.

A tip for those of you that have placed lower and feel upset and hurt about it, do get judges feedback.

They may tell you that you look great and keep doing what you're doing or they may advise you on how to improve but I bet you, part of that is you weren't able to stand out.

So find your way to stand out and that will definitely help you with your placement.

That's it for my top 5 tips from a judges perspective. I hope you guys found this helpful.

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