How Do Judges Come Up With A Score?
The Final Score is made up of two parts:
1) Start Value
2) Execution Deductions
The Start Value minus the Execution Deductions equals the Final Score.
First, judges must determine a Start Value. Each of the following competition levels has unique rules governing how to determine the Start Value.
1) Club (Bronze, Silver, Gold & Platinum)
2) Compulsory (Levels 3 – 6)
3) Optional (Levels 7 – 10)
4) GymACT (College Club), NCAA (College Varsity), & FIG (International)
The following tables show how the Start Scores are tabulated for the different levels.
Club Level
*Skills are valued from A – H with each letter increasing in value (A=0.1, B=0.2, C=0.3 etc.)
Examples:
- Bronze Start Value: Performs 8 skills & 3 Special Requirements SV = 10.0
- Platinum Start Value: Performs 6 ‘A’ value & 1 ‘B’ value skills & 3 Special Requirements
SV = 10.0 + 0.2 (1 ‘B’ x 0.2) + 0.5 (5 ‘A’s x 0.1) = 10.7
After determining the Start Value the judge must then subtract the Execution Deductions (these are errors that are objectively defined in the FIG and Junior Manuals which include things like bent arms & legs, separated legs, flexed feet, short holds, and angles from perfect positions. The errors are defined as small, medium, large, or a fall/spot. For Club the amount of the deductions are small (-0.1), medium (-0.2), large (-0.3), & fall/spot (-0.5). In the Club levels Judges can only deduct one error per skill in addition to a fall/spot.
Compulsory Level
Examples:
- Division 2 Start Value: Completes basic routine and sticks landing SV = 9.5 + 0.2 = 9.7
- Division 1 Start Value: Completes basic routine, 2 Specified Bonus Skills, 1 Virtuosity & sticks the landing
SV = 9.5 + 1.0 + 0.1 + 0.2 = 10.8
After determining the Start Value the judge then subtracts the Execution Deductions. For Compulsory, Optional, GymACT, NCAA, & FIG levels, the deductions are small (-0.1), medium (-0.3), large (-0.5), & fall/spot (-1.0). Judges can take multiple deductions for each skill. (Example: Gymnast performs a handstand on FX that requires a hold. He kicks to handstand with two small errors (bent arms and flexed feet) and two medium errors (legs apart and a short hold). For these execution errors the judge would subtract -0.8 from his Start value for that one skill.
Optional Level
*Skills are valued from A – H with each letter increasing the value (A=0.1, B=0.2, C=0.3 etc.)
Note: For Club & Compulsory levels, execution is a portion of the max start value. For Optional & GymACT levels, 10.0 in execution must be added to the EG & Difficulty to get the Start Value.
Examples:
- Level 7 Start Value: The gymnast performs a total of 8 skills (7 ‘A’ skills & 1 ‘B’ skill) which are from all four element groups SV = 1.5 (EG 3×0.5, he did 4 but only gets credit for 3) + 0.7 (skill difficulty 5×0.1 + 1×0.2, he did 8 but only gets credit for 6) + 10.0 (execution) = 12.2
- Level 10 Start Value: The gymnast performs a total of 8 skills (3 “A” skills, 2 ‘B’ skills, 2 ‘C’ skills & 1 ‘B’ dismount) these skills are from all 4 element groups (his dismount was a ‘B’ so he receives a lower value EG)
SV = 1.8 (EG 3×0.5 & 1×0.3) + 1.5 (difficulty 3×0.1 + 3×0.2 + 2×0.3) + 10.0 (execution) = 13.3
GymACT (College Club) Level
*Skills are valued from A – H with each letter increasing in value (A=0.1, B=0.2, C=0.3 etc.)
**Special Bonus: On Still Rings, all EG II & III skills of C or higher and all Cross Skills will receive a + 0.5 bonus in addition to the Element Group Value (awarded once per routine)
Example:
GymACT Start Value: The gymnast performs a Still Rings routine with a total of 8 skills (1 ‘A’ skill, 3 ‘B’ skills, 3 ‘C’ skills (1 EG III Cross Skill) & 1 ‘D’ stuck dismount). These skills fulfill all 4 element group requirements as well as Special SR & Stick Bonuses
SV = 2.0 (EG 4×0.5) + 2.0 (difficulty 1×0.1 + 3×0.2 + 3×0.3 + 1×0.4) + 0.5 (Special SR Bonus) + 0.3 (Stick Bonus) + 10.0 (execution) = 14.8
Finally, judges are expected to use the appropriate rules for each level to come up with a Start Value, sum up all of the execution deductions and deduct them from the SV to arrive at a Final Score in 30 to 60 seconds.