Gymnastics is a sport judged by people, which leaves some room for differing opinions. You should not compare scores from one judge to scores from another judge, as some judge harder than others. The most important thing we look for in our judges is consistency. Please know that each gym will strive to choose fair judges because we all want fair competitions. We trust our judges and we stand behind their decisions. We ask that you trust and respect our judges too. They will do their best to award the scores they believe are fair.
Here are some guidelines for point deductions * All deductions are subtracted from the starting place of 10 points
-1.0 (a full point of routine)
--verbal assistance from a coach:
if the coach has to tell a student 8 or older any skill of their routine
This deducted can only be made once, no matter how much verbal assistance is given
if a student skips a skill, the coach or judge needs to tell the student, so he/she can perform the skill
-.5 (half point)
--doing skills out of order
if the coach verbally assists, a full point for verbal assistance will be deducted instead of 1/2 point for doing skills out of order (not both deductions!)
If the student does skills out of order, but does not have any verbal assistance, only 1/2 point will be deducted
-.5 (half point deduction)
--Spot on a skill
If a coach touches the student during the skill, that is considered "spotting" whether it is a lot of spot or a little spot
-.5 (half point)
--major fall
some examples: 1) lands on knees 2) catch themselves with hands on ground 3) putting a hand down on an aerial
--redo a skill
example: if they kick to handstand, but foot comes back down and they have to kick up again
They will NOT get a deduction for fall and redo, but it will be one deduction or the other
--Doing skill “very” wrong
examples: 1) completely stopping a front limber in a bridge, pausing then stretching it up is not a complete front limber 2) handstand roll down doesn’t show handstand, it’s just more of a roll
--no balance whatsoever
example: major wiggling throughout scale, or Y scale, or other dance skills, not being able to hold candlestick
no flexibility whatsoever
examples: 1) splits are not very far down at all 2) straddle jumps or other jumps are not very high at all
-.1 & Up (depending on the degree of the problem)
--poor form
examples: flexed feet, bent knees, arms going everywhere, poor finishes, taking extra steps, poor flexibility in splits & jumps, taking extra steps, legs apart when they should be together, hesitating too long… other mistakes you notice
--body not in correct position
examples: legs go over to one side on cartwheel, headstand or handstand does not go straight up in the air, holding candlestick with feet leaned over their head… other mistakes you notice
-.05 on skills (when a very small deduction is needed)
--when it is almost perfect, but you can’t quite let it go without a deduction
--If there is no Salute to judge at the beginner or no finish to judge at the end
These are not "skills" in the routine, but students should start every routine with some type of salute to the judge, and should end every routine by finishing to the judge
No points should be deducted for form on salutes/finishes to judge - we just want to make sure they are learning to do it!