How Powerlifting Scoring Evolved: The Full Story Behind Wilks and DOTS

Powerlifting has always had one hard question: who is actually the strongest?

A 120 kg lifter totaling 700 kg and a 70 kg lifter totaling 500 kg cannot be compared using raw numbers alone. The sport needed a formula. That search gave us Wilks, then Wilks2, then DOTS.

What did powerlifting use before Wilks?

The earliest scoring methods were the Schwartz formula for men and the Malone formula for women. Both were built before modern computing made large-scale data analysis possible. They relied on small datasets and produced uneven results across weight classes.

The Schwartz and Malone gap

Neither formula worked well at extreme body weights. Light and heavy lifters were consistently scored unfairly. Federations needed something built on real competition data at scale.

Who created the Wilks formula and when?

Robert Wilks, CEO of Powerlifting Australia, introduced the Wilks coefficient in 1995. He used a fifth-degree polynomial regression fitted to competition data from that era. The formula gave every lifter one comparable number regardless of weight class.

Why Wilks became the global standard

Wilks solved a real problem simply. Federations adopted it fast. By the early 2000s, it was the official scoring system for the IPF and dozens of national federations worldwide. For nearly 25 years, it was the only number that mattered in powerlifting comparison.

What problems did the Wilks formula have?

The Wilks formula was built using data from 1995. At that time, the dataset was limited. As powerlifting grew and more data became available, some issues started to show. The formula tended to favor middleweight male lifters. At the same time, it underrated lifters at very low and very high body weights. Female lifters were also affected. The data used for women was too small, so the results were not as reliable.

The criticism that has built up for decades

Coaches and statisticians pointed out these biases throughout the 2000s and 2010s. The formula was not wrong in design. It was limited by the data on which it was built. Powerlifting had grown far beyond what the 1995 records could represent.

Why did the IPF drop Wilks in 2019?

The IPF officially replaced Wilks with its own IPF Points system in 2019. One year later, in 2020, that was updated again to IPF GL Points, also called Goodlift Points. The IPF GL formula uses an exponential curve fitted to modern world-record calibrated data.

In March 2020, the IPF published an independent evaluation of five major scoring formulas. IPF GL ranked first. DOTS ranked second. The original Wilks formula ranked last in several categories. That study effectively ended Wilks as the sport’s leading standard.

What the 2020 evaluation showed

The evaluation looked at two things. First, how fair each formula was across different weight classes. Second, how well it ranked lifters based on real performance. Wilks struggled in both areas at very low and very high body weights. DOTS, on the other hand, stayed consistent across the full range of body weights.

Who created DOTS and why?

Tim Konertz, a German powerlifter and statistician, created the DOTS formula in 2019. He developed it to fix the problems found in the Wilks formula. He used a much larger and more modern set of competition data. This helped make the results more accurate. By applying a statistical method, he built a smoother curve that reflects how strength changes across different body weights. The goal was simple. Create a fairer and more reliable scoring system for all lifters.

How quickly federations adopted DOTS

The USPA officially adopted DOTS as its primary relative scoring system in 2020. The WRPF followed shortly after. Several other non-IPF federations transitioned their rulebooks to DOTS between 2020 and 2022. The IPF did not adopt DOTS. It stayed with its own IPF GL system.

What is Wilks2, and where does it fit?

Robert Wilks updated his original formula in March 2020. This revision is called Wilks2 or Wilks 2020. It uses recalibrated coefficients built on more recent competition data. The update addressed the known bias against lifters at extreme bodyweights.

Wilks2 ranked third in the IPF’s 2020 evaluation. Powerlifting Australia is its primary user today. Most other federations that left the original Wilks moved to DOTS rather than Wilks2.

Wilks2 vs the original Wilks

Both formulas work in the same way. The only difference is the numbers used inside the formula. Wilks2 gives slightly different scores than the original version. The change is more noticeable for very light and very heavy lifters. For lifters in the middle weight range, the difference is small.

Which scoring system do federations use today?

Powerlifting now uses three main scoring systems. USA Powerlifting and the United States Powerlifting Association use DOTS for best lifter awards. The International Powerlifting Federation and its affiliates use IPF GL Points. Other federations like World Powerlifting and Powerlifting Australia still use Wilks or Wilks2.

The system your federation uses is what matters at your meet. If you compete across different federations, it helps to track your score using all three systems. This is also why the same lifter can have different scores under each system.

Frequently asked questions

The Final Word

Powerlifting scoring has come a long way. It started with simple estimates in the 1960s and moved to more accurate formulas by 2020.

Wilks laid the foundation. DOTS and IPF GL built on it and made it better. You can check your scores across all three systems using the calculator on this page.