How long to finish merit badge partials?

[Stosh 3452]

I had one boy that couldn't do a pull-up at all. After 30 days of practice he was able to do a partial (he got his elbows to bend a bit). I teased him all the way through scouting about this problem and at his Eagle Banquet, he tried yet again. He did get the elbows to bend a bit so he hadn't lost any ground. He did get a full-ride football scholarship as a defensive lineman, so all was not lost. Great kid, got a great future, excellent scout, admired by his fellow sscouts, fantastic Eagle. He just can't do pull-ups.

 

It's about the boys, not the requirements!!!!!!

 

Stosh

[Beavah 205]

Our Troop would not accept partial pull-ups as improvement and he was having serious issue with the pull-ups. It took him til he was 14 to make First class because of the pull-ups.

 

Yah, Kittle, sorry if I misunderstood, eh? The title of the thread got stuck in my head so I didn't realize when yeh left the merit badge topic.

 

Like the First Class swimmin' requirements, the pullups requirement seems to be one of those that generates a lot of angst. In either case, a boy who is startin' a fair ways behind his peer group can have a dickens of a time meetin' those requirements.

 

My personal feelin' is that the Tenderfoot rank is not the place to be holdin' up a lad for years. Just doesn't make any sense. I also don't much care for "partial" pullups because it just feels like a completely arbitrary standard where it's easy to fudge or play favorites. I tell units that are concerned about this to use da bent arm hang time which is the alternative to pullups in the Presidential Fitness Test.

 

http://presidentschallenge.org/educators/program_details/physical_fitness/events_pullups.aspx

 

"Improvement" then can be a few seconds longer hang time, but is really measurable.

 

Of course, like partial pullups this is really subtractin' from the requirements, but I reckon it keeps the spirit and intent intact and appropriate for Tenderfoot rank.

 

Beavah