Knee Hyperextension Can Result From Multi-Tier Liquor Speed Racks Pressing Against The Front of Bartenders’ Knees as the Bartender Leans Forward to Reach the Top of the Bar in Order to Clean or Serve Drinks. This Constant Hyperextension Causes Chronic, Permanent Injury to Both Knees.
The 42″ Single Tier Speed Rail
The famous 10 bottle speed rail perfect for keeping your most used bottles accessible to your bartenders, a.k.a. “the well” the 10 bottle Speed Rail is meant to hold the bar’s lowest end, Brand X, most frequently used booze that nobody needs to see the labels of and that nobody’s ever going to call for by name. It holds the famous “Happy Hour” mixture of well brands every bar across America uses to draw customers in with to turn those customers into regulars.
The 42″ Double Tier Speed Rail
The ad marketers have made these double tier racks seem like the greatest invention ever. If one tier is good, adding a second can only be perfect. Right? Well, No Actually – Not So Fast!
Knee Hyperextension – Human Anatomy: How Knees Work
According to medical experts (sports medicine included) dealing with physical injuries involving the knee “Hyperextension of the knee, or if you want the scientific name Genu Recurvatum is when your knee is pushed past its normal range of motion from a straightened position. Knee hyperextension can cause serious damage and injury to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) or posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) and cartilage.” (click here to learn more)
That’s the number one best human element reason for not choosing double, triple, quadruple etc (I’m seeing them in a lot of bars!) speed rails I can think of. Why destroy your talent’s legs? The easier, more comfortable, and pain free your bartenders can work, the faster they’ll move and more they’ll be able to sell.
From a personal perspective where I have worked with these double and triple rails they constantly cause me to hyperextend my own knees, causing pain that cannot be ignored.
In some bars these double rails have been hung everywhere possible so no matter where the customers are being served there’s hyperextension occurring.
When this happens I have to avoid the pain and injury by working slower and more carefully. Intellectually I recognize this design flaw as an insurmountable, unconquerable hurdle. It is a demotivater and takes the joy out of working.
Well bottle labels are viewed by bartenders from the top, not the sides. Labels are all hidden for the most part. The bartender can’t read what’s what, so it slows down service. What’s worse, the customers can’t see what liquors and liqueurs are hidden hang off the rail, labels all covered up facing away from them.
Use single tier speed rails, and put your bottles on shelves up on the back bar where customers can see them where they belong. You’ll make more money and your bartenders will work faster, happier, and harder.
Site Author, David Jonathan Curtis: David Jonathan Curtis, a seasoned professional in his fifth decade of bartending and bar management, began his career in Midtown Manhattan, NY, tending and managing bars before diving into Manhattan’s bustling nightlife scene. Over the years, he has mastered high-volume, high-pressure bartending as the lead bartender in both iconic Midtown clubs and Wall Street bars, generating over $1,350,000.00 annually in personal drink sales. He has since extended his expertise to establishments in Georgia and now Tampa, Florida. David’s roles as a Bartending Instructor at the American Bartending School in Tampa, while maintaining a second job bartending, and his years experience of managing bars, and working as a Brand Ambassador along with his extensive professional library of over 1,000 bartending books, highlight his dedication to continually refining his craft. He holds a diploma in Bar Management and is BarSmarts certified by Pernod Ricard.
