Arm Wrestling Fouls & Refereeing Explained

The basic rules of an arm wrestling match are simple — grip up, start on "Go," win by a pin. But sanctioned competition is governed by a detailed rulebook that referees enforce closely. This guide goes under the hood: the start procedure, every foul, the safety rules, and how officials run a match. The specifics below follow the World Armwrestling Federation (WAF) and the closely related International Federation of Armwrestling (IFA), with notable differences flagged.

The referee's grip and the start

Before a pull begins, the referee squares the competitors up. Hands are joined palm-to-palm with the thumb knuckles visible, gripped at the thumb, with the wrists straight and the arm centered on the table; the free hand grips the peg. If competitors can't agree on a grip within the time limit (30 seconds in WAF/IFA), the referee sets a formal referee's grip for them, often with a second referee holding the wrists to feel for early movement.

The start command is "Ready… Go!" Competitors may move only on "Go," and may stop only when the referee says "Stop." Moving early is a false start.

How you win: the pin

A match is won by a pin: forcing any part of the opponent's hand — anywhere from the natural wrist line to the fingertips — to touch or drop below the touch pad (pin pad) on their side. The hand doesn't strictly have to touch the pad; dropping below the level of the pad counts, which is sometimes called a "parallel pin." Once a competitor is being pinned, referees generally look for the hand to reach about two-thirds of the way down before declaring the loss.

Warnings and fouls

Most amateur rulesets share the same accounting:

• Two warnings equal one foul.
• Two fouls lose the match.
• A 30-second rest is usually allowed after a foul.
• A foul committed while already losing (past that two-thirds point) is an automatic loss.

Professional rules differ: the World Armwrestling League (WAL) uses no warnings at all, and three fouls lose the match. North American (UAL) rules can call a single foul a loss if you're already in the losing position.

The fouls, one by one

• False start — any movement after "Ready" but before "Go." (A warning on its own; a foul if it happens during a set referee's grip.)
• Elbow foul — the elbow lifting off the pad, no matter how slight, as long as there's daylight between elbow and pad — or the elbow sliding off any edge of the pad. It is not a foul if the elbow lifts but the triceps or forearm still rests on the pad.
• Losing the peg — the free hand must keep contact with the peg above the table. Letting go is a warning; if it gains an advantage, it becomes a foul.
• Shoulder over the centerline — the shoulder may not cross the centerline between the pegs.
• Touching your own body — bringing the competing hand to your chin, shoulder, or head.
• Intentionally causing an opponent's foul — e.g. deliberately driving their elbow off the pad. The instigator is fouled, not the opponent.
• Intentional slip-out — opening the hand, balling it into a fist inside the opponent's grip, or pulling the fingers in to break a losing grip. Referees must actually see it to call it; an intentional slip while losing is a loss.

The danger-position rule

This is the most important safety rule in the sport, and it exists to prevent the broken arm described in our injuries guide. A dangerous (or "break-arm") position is when the arm and shoulder are no longer in a safe straight line — typically the shoulder rotating inward ahead of the hand, the competitor turning their head and shoulder away from the arm, or dropping the shoulder below the level of the elbow pad while neutral or losing.

When a referee sees it, they call out "shoulder" and require the competitor to correct it. Under IFA rules the competitor has about two seconds to fix it; failing to — or returning to it — stops the match and is a foul for the dangerous position. A referee can also halt a match entirely at any time if they believe an arm is at risk.

Straps and slip-outs

When the hands come apart without a foul — a clean slip-out, where both competitors lose contact — the match is restarted with a strap binding the hands together so the grip can't break. (If the referee can't tell who caused a slip, straps are used and no foul is given.) The referee sets the hands level, palm-to-palm, thumbs up, and wraps the buckle-side wrist first, with the strap no lower than about 2.5 cm (1 inch) below the wrist line.

The officials and their signals

A match is run by two referees: a head referee, who is centered at the table, gives all the verbal commands, and speaks to the competitors; and a side referee (or "spot judge"/"downside referee") positioned opposite, who watches for fouls the head referee can't see and communicates only by hand signal. At elite events a camera/technical referee may monitor elbow fouls on a monitor, and video review can be used — but, under IFA rules, only to resolve a protest, and only if the video is conclusive.

Referees use a standard set of hand signals so athletes and spectators can read the match:

The table and equipment

The regulation table is standardized down to the centimeter, which is part of what turned old seated "wristwrestling" into the modern sport:

Some leagues have redesigned the table itself: the MAC Table builds the elbow-foul boundary directly into the elbow pad with a raised red border, turning the sport's most disputed call into a visible line.

Where to go next

• Start with the rules, styles & championships overview.
• See why the danger-position rule matters in arm wrestling injuries.
• Look up terms in the glossary, or start from Arm Wrestling 101.