New Scoring Hits the NCAA Women:  A Fan's Guide

January 2005

"Where Did My Ten(th)s Go?"

This season, the NCAA has instituted a new Judges Assignment system on an optional basis for meets across the country.  A large majority of teams across the nation are using this system, with the balance comprised mostly of teams that had not budgeted for the added expense.  This new assignment system has been accompanied by instructions to the judging community to tighten evaluation of exercises to a standard closer to that which is commonly deployed in USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic Level 10 competition.  What does this mean for fans?  The tighter evaluation of the current set of rules should yield lower scores overall, a greater spread of scores between competitors, and unfortunately, general confusion and a period of adjustment.  Over the last several years, taxation of exercises has gotten lax, and standard deductions normally taken during an exercise have been easily halved before a final score was tallied.  Thus, the fan base had become accustomed to seeing 9.9s and 10.0s handed out in nearly every meet involving a Top 25 team.  When properly applied, the stricter evaluation will yield a greater separation between good and great, less dependence on very minor errors swinging a team result, and potentially, more daring exercises.

The standard of taxation used in JO L10 competition produces scores that frequently range from a high of 9.8 and below.  AA tallies of 38+ in Regional and National level competition usually mean a high placement.  Scores above 9.8 are rare, although perfect scores do occur.  In the NCAA, the judges are being asked to take deductions where they apply, but the degree of strictness perhaps will not be as tight as that used in JO L10 competition.  Also, in the NCAA, the range of athletic talent is even higher, the execution quality better, and difficulty requirements are relaxed (compared to FIG/Elite/Olympic levels).  Thus, fans should not be afraid that the 10.0 will disappear.  With Olympians, World Championship team members, National Team members, and outstanding L10s performers all in the NCAA, top scores will still be awarded for great routines.

Unfortunately, the deployment of the new evaluation standards appears to be uneven.  Reports of wide variation between events in a single meet and even between pairs of judges on an event are signs of an adjustment period.  Meet coverage and live witness reports show some variation in the standards being deployed.  However, the fans should realize that the judges are well versed in a common standard for evaluation, and that once the adjustment period is over, these wide variations should settle out.  In this early going, comparing scores between meets has been even more difficult than in year's past.  As a result, the results of head to head competition are perhaps a better early indicator of a team's progress in the young season.  This consequence is an unusual reversal from years past. 

A fan familiar with NCAA gymnastics but unfamiliar with the intricacies of the gymnastics rule book might ask, "Where did my ten(ths) go?".  This article will try to tackle the finer points of stricter judging standards, for a fan who might be familiar with execution errors like steps and hops and skills like a Double Pike, but unfamiliar with the mysteries of "composition".  To adequately explain the topic would require a portion of the extensive amount of training and experience that judges must work through.  However, there are some general principles to relate that can be helpful in understanding why a particular routine or vault is scoring lower this year.

Vault

In principle, vault should be the event least impacted by these changes.  It's an event that often produces the highest scores in L10 competition.  However, stricter evaluation of form and execution problems should take place.  For example, a large step (1 meter) may garner a 0.2 deduction, instead of a 0.1.  Perhaps more subtlety, fans should pay attention to the height and distance away from the vaulting table.  With many gymnasts using similar round-off (Yurchenko-entry) vaults, pay particular attention to block and rise off of the table.  Also, a layout or twisting layout salto should maintain a straight body position throughout the vault.  Piking the body down before landing, with the chest lowered down, is a fault that will result in a lower mark.  Deductions are even given for the quality of the twist in a salto.  A late or early twist will also garner a deduction.

Uneven Bars

Fans in the NCAA have learned to pay attention to faults like steps, arm bends, and leg separation.  Most recently, an emphasis on handstand positions have led to a lot of focus on the position the gymnast hits while on top of the bar.  Handstands should hit within 10 degrees of vertical to pass without a deduction.  Also, its important to pay close attention to turns on the bar.  For example, turns of 360 degrees or less completed on two arms (e.g., giant full pirouette) must be completed within 10 degrees of vertical to avoid a deduction.  For turns on one arm or greater than 360 degrees (e.g., 1 1/2 pirouetting giants), the turns must be complete within 30 degrees of vertical to avoid a deduction.

Composition is an important criteria used to separate routines of comparable execution.  The high skill level of the athletes combined with a more inclusive difficulty requirement means that a 10.0 Start Value is well within the reach of many athletes.  One item of note is a criterion on choice of release skills used in a routine.  An NCAA routine requires two releases, one of C difficulty value, and one of B value.  However, satisfying the minimum requirement should garner a deduction of up to 0.2 points for "difficulty not to the level of the competition".  Ideally, a gymnast should include two releases of D value, one of which should be a flipping (e.g., Gienger) or counter element (e.g., Reverse Hecht /Tkatchev) that regrasps on the same bar.

A similar deduction takes place for progressive distribution of elements.  A routine with all the difficulty placed at the start of the routine risks a deduction for composition.  Likewise, a dismount choice that meets the minimum requirement (C value) may garner a small deduction in composition.  A typical example, a C-level double back flyaway, might encounter a 0.1 deduction when compared to routines ending in E value skills such as a double layout flyaway.  Another potential composition fault is the overuse of elements from a single category, either in transitions (too many straddle casts to handstands) or bonus.

Additional deductions can be taken for the quality of swing (e.g, labored or slow swing), the quality of handstand positions (loose body or too much arch), or even the rhythm and tempo of the exercise.  Even certain execution errors may be taxed more heavily than in the past, including UB-specific deductions like the height of release skills and the distance and height on recatch.  For example, a Tkachev release with low clearance over the bar and caught when the shoulders have dropped below the level of the bar could even risk losing difficulty value.

Balance Beam

The balance beam has been one of the easiest events for even new spectators to notice execution faults.  Besides an obvious fall, a wobble or balance check is a clear-cut example of an execution error.  Under stricter judging, you can expect medium and large errors to be taxed more severely.  A medium-sized balance break, one in which the gymnast lifts her leg above horizontal to maintain balance, could be taxed with up to a 0.3 point deduction.  Medium sized errors can lead to a loss of the element value.  Gymnasts will also be taxed more heavily on items like the height of their leaps and the body positions held both in the leaps (e.g., 180 degree split of the legs) and throughout the exercise.  

Another major way tenths are loss is through the loss of start value, through the loss of connection bonus.  Difficult leaps and tumbling skills connected together must be connected without break, extended pause or loss of balance to receive possible connection bonus.  The gymnast must also maintain smooth and continuous movement; a very slow connection would get a rhythm deduction.  Also, concentration pauses of greater than two seconds should receive a 0.1 point deduction.  

Execution errors can lead to a loss of value in a skill.  Notice where the feet land in turning jumps to verify that a turning jump (e.g., wolf full) has received full credit.  Being off an 1/8 of a turn can lead to a devaluing of the skill or an execution deduction.  In elements like a switch leg leap, the gymnast must show a minimum degree of split in order to receive full credit for the skill.  Also, major execution errors on a major skill can lead not only to a deduction, but the loss of value for the skill or connecting bonus.  In this manner, a major break can have the same impact as a fall.

There are also Special Requirements (SR) in every event, and the coaches will usually construct a routine to meet these requirements.  However, a small mistake or error can mean a special requirement is missing from a routine unless the gymnast is savvy enough to catch the omission.  A common special requirement that is sometimes missed is to have two dance (gymnastic) skills or a gymnastics and an acrobatic skill connected in series.  An excessive pause or balance break can cause this SR to be missing.  Unlike the loss of bonus, this deduction should come directly off the gymnast's Start Value (Start Value).  As on all the events, an individual judge will show his or her view of the Start Value for the exercise.  It's usually shown in a small white placard hanging from the table from which he or she is viewing the exercise.

Composition rules apply to the balance beam as well.  A well-constructed exercise should include tumbling elements of value, including a salto of some sort.  A routine with insufficient difficulty is going to get taxed with a deduction for difficulty not at the level of the competition.  In this fashion, a routine that only contains a roundoff backhandspring flight series will not be able to achieve the same score as a routine including a backhandspring to layout to layout flight series.  

Getting all of the higher value parts and bonus points from dance or tumbling alone is another possible composition deduction.  Such an exercise heavily weighted to dance or tumbling alone might be viewed to be lacking in composition.  Likewise, getting all value parts or bonus from the difficulty value of the skills alone, and not from any combinations, may also be a fault. Finally, a dismount that meets the minimum requirement, such as a gainer layout full from the side of the BB, may be judged to be lacking when compared to the competition and the rest of the exercise.

Floor Exercise

Always a crowd favorite, the floor exercise is an event that tends to generate some of the highest scores in the NCAA.  Specific deductions, other than steps and falls, are often hard to notice.  The high level of capability of the athletes and the maturity level of dance and execution leads to the potential for high scores.  However, the same rules for execution apply here.  Jumps and leaps should be completed with precision, with the full completion of the attempted turn to receive full credit.  Jumps and turns more than 45 degrees away from their intended rotation will be credited with a lower value.  Turns that are not complete can lead to the loss of bonus value, either in the skill and/or in the connection.

Landings have always been critical on tumbling skills, but the position of the body in the air and upon landing is also important.  Tumbling should be high, dynamic and be performed with good toe and leg form.  Tuck and pike saltos should show opening of the body prior to landing, and layouts must be held extended for the duration of the salto.  Twists should appear evenly paced and tightly controlled.  They should be completed before the feet hit the floor.  Any twist with greater than 90 degrees from completion may be credited at the lower difficulty value.

Composition rules for FX are also a potential loss of value.  Routines should show a tumbling difficulty level at the level of the competition, and have sufficient dynamic highs and lows.  A routine with all front tumbling and no double salto will be taxed relatively heavily in composition.  Likewise, a predominance of skills from one family could be judged to be lacking.  For examples, the overuse of front tumbling or twisting skills could all generate a composition deduction.  These deductions can occur even if all other requirements are met.  For example, there is a special requirement to include both back and front tumbling skills.  A routine with all front tumbling and just one "A" value salto from the other family meets the SR by the letter, but not the spirit.  As mentioned before, difficulty to the level of the competition means that at a high level meet, an "E" value mount may be needed to garner full point scoring potential.

One key area on FX for potential hidden deductions is the last tumbling pass.  The last tumbling pass should include some form of bonus, and ideally include difficulty comparable to the other tumbling passes in the exercise.  For example, a routine that ends with a double twisting back layout may meet the minimum requirement, but may garner a composition deduction.  Even routines with bonus from a C+A tumbling combination in the last pass could generate a composition deduction, especially if the first pass was an E level skill.

The Final Tally

After paying attention to start values, composition, and execution, are you still confused?  Well, join the crowd!  Sit back, relax, and enjoy the competition.  Understand that the judges are doing their best to be fair, accurate, and apply the rules as written.  Trust that the outcome, in the end, will be the correct one.