Why is my foil going off-target? What's wrong with my fencing equipment? How is my bodycord broken?
One of the common conversations you’ll hear as a fencing coach or parent of a young fencer is some variation of the following:
Fencer: My <piece of fencing equipment> is broken.
Adult: What’s wrong with it?
Fencer: I don’t know it. It’s just broken/doesn’t work/goes off-target/etc. etc.
Unfortunately, this exchange does not provide any information to solve your fencer’s issues. Hopefully this post will help you and your fencer better diagnose and describe some of the most common equipment problems you’ll find in foil.
The Foil
The Foil blade is snapped.
The broken piece with the point can be harvested for tip parts and then discarded.
The rest of foil should be disassembled into its component parts. The bottom of the broken foil blade should be disposed of and the component parts should be used on a new foil blade.
The Foil is going off-target.
Make sure the barrel is tight.
Make sure the tip is sitting squarely in the barrel.
Make sure the tip isn’t jammed and/or the barrel isn’t cracked
Make sure the wire isn’t broken in the grove.
Make sure the handle is tight.
Make sure the wire connected to the socket isn’t broken
Make sure the socket is tight.
A wrench to tighten the socket, needle-nose pliers for the barrel, and a 6mm Allen wrench to tighten the foil
If the tip is jammed, the barrel cracked, the wire is broken anywhere in the groove, or is too short to connect to the socket, the foil needs to be rewired.
Please also make sure you have 6” of insulation tape on your foil, including to the edge of the barrel. Foils need insulation tape so they can register touches.
Without tape, you can’t get touches.
Bodycord
The bodycord causes random off-target lights.
Make sure the bodycord prongs fit snuggly into the socket with little to no wiggle. Spread the bodycord prongs with a tip screwdriver.
The bodycord’s retaining clip explodes.
The bodycord is not broken. It is still functional, but it is not tournament legal, and the retaining clip must be replaced.
The bodycord causes the machine to continuously go off-target.
The bodycord should be rewired and does not need to be thrown away.
You can’t get a valid light even though your partner’s lamé works.
The B & C lines, the two prong end of your bodycord, are wired incorrectly and must be switched.
Your partner can’t get a valid light, even though your lamé works.
Your bodycord’s A line, the lamé clip, needs to be repaired.
Hopefully this will allow you, your fencer, and their coaches to communicate about their equipment with more clarity when an issue arises.