Judging International Artistic Gymnastics from the comfort of your couch--Part 2

Yeah, I know the Olympics are over.  And now that they're over, I'll blog again because I've been too emersed in everything Olympics during the Olympics!  I'd like to discuss some basic how-to's for gymnastics' individual events so you can become an armchair judge, even though it's kind of moot right now because the Olympics are over.  In Part 1, I talked a little bit about why there is no more perfect 10.0 score.  This blog will focus on five of the individual events and how you can determine whether the judge's execution scores agree with your perceived evaluation of the event.

DISCLAIMER:  Again, this blog is not endorsed by anybody, okay?  haha! 

International Gymnastics Judging 101

~Breaking it Down, Event by Event~

The Bar Events

There are three events between the men's and women's artistic gymnastics events that I would like to address in this section:  women's uneven bars, men's parallel bars, and men's high bar.  At the international competition level the gymnast's routines are made up of complicated skills and on the uneven and high bars those difficult skills linked together can earn combination or "bonus" points when successfully transitioned.  In the uneven bars, women are required to use both bars, high and low.  The men's high bar is a single bar set high above the ground.  Since there is no other bar to transition to, the male gymnast must successfully perform his entire routine on this bar.  Parallel bars is an event where the male gymnast must use the bars in unison as well as individually as he performs the required skills.

So, what does one look for in any of the bar events without knowing the complicated skill value assignment, combination bonuses, and the basic international requirements?  It's as simple as this:

1.  Form:  A gymnast must have pointed toes, legs together when applicable, and legs apart in perfect straddle/pike/tuck positions when applicable.  Also, look for bent arms, also a deduction.  Form breaks can be as low as .05 but for armchair judging purposes, every one you see should be a .10 deduction.

Nastia Liukin of the US shows great form during this release move...her toes are pointed and she's in perfect 180 degree split.

2.  Handstand swings that reach vertical, or the 12:00, position.  As a gymnast swings their giants (those are one full 360 degree swing on a bar in either direction, forward or reverse, with various hand positions either two-armed or one-armed) in the uneven and high bar events, all giants must reach the 12:00 vertical position even though there may be pirourette(s) involved.  Some skills on the parallel bars involve a different sort of swing but if you don't see the gymnast reach this magic 12:00 position, that's a guaranteed deduction, too.  Not completing this basic requirement can be at least a .10 deduction for each offense.

Although difficult to see, Chellsie Memmel of the US holds her handstand pirouette at the 12:00 or vertical position with legs together and toes pointed.  Excellent!!!

3.  Handstands on parallel bars must be held for 2 seconds with control.  This seems quite straightforward but let me tell you the judges count slower than a real 2 second duration!  If you see a gymnast hold their handstand on p-bars (as it is affectionately knicknamed) for a split second before proceeding to their next skill (rushing), then that's a deduction.  Also, if there is travelling on the p-bars in a handstand movement, that's a big deduction!  For your armchair purposes, though, every loss of control or shorter than 2 second handstand on p-bars should be a .10 deduction.  Also watch for form breaks while in the handstand position and deduct for those as well.

Jonathan Horton of the USA takes a long 2-count in his p-bars handstand.

4.  Stick the landing!!!  A great routine should end with a stuck landing.  Any one-foot hops, two-feet-leap forwards, and some very fancy footwork that moves quickly from a landing to saluting the judges will/may result in deductions!  The dismount or landing is the last thing a judge sees and it will greatly influence a gymnast's score. 

Fabian Hambuechen sticks his high bar landing. 

You may hear the term "blind landing."  This is a landing where the gymnast can not see the floor and has no visual reference point and therefore must hope they get their feet under them before the floor comes up.  These dismounts are worth more if performed correctly.

5.  Go with your gut.  If you are watching a routine (even without listening to the commentators) and something doesn't seem quite right or there is no smooth transitioning or "flow" between the skills, then there was probably something wrong.  Take a .10 for each "huh?" moment you see.

I think this is one of those "huh?" moments from one of the Hamm twins.  This might be Paul Hamm when he broke his finger earlier this year, but I'm not sure.

6.  Notes on falls:  Falls off of these apparatuses will result in at least a .80 deduction.  The judges may take more deductions for incomplete skills, lost combinations, etc., and usually this may result in a lower degree of difficulty score which would drastically lower the total overall score.  Note also that a huge deduction may be taken on the gymnast's dismount if there was a fall or if their chest was waaaay below their hips (lack of control).  So, a fall = .80 deduction.

Your turn:  Your job is to watch the following YouTube videos of performances 2006 and later (this is so you can see the new/current scoring system for their routines).  First, take a look at South Korea's Yang Tae-Young on his P-bar finals at the 2006 World Championship.  Do you agree with the jduges?

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3cfe1aoQj0

Check out Nastia Liukin's silver medal uneven bar performance at the 2006 World Championship.  Look for legs together, pointed toes, handstands at the 12:00/vertical position, bent arms, and watch the landing.  The over-head instant replay really allows you to check for bent arms and to also admire how close she comes to the low bar in her giants.  How do you think she did?

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZvSW_E59Og

And, finally, on high bar, check out a favorite USA mens team member of mine, Raj Bhavsar, in the recent 2008 American Cup.  No score on this video, but look for bent arms, at least one incomplete vertical handstand and the most awesome landing with a victory hand clap of chalkdust!

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SDguiVX1W8

Vault

Both men and women compete vault in artistic gymnastics.  For team events, each gymnast is only allowed one vault.  For the individual event finals, each gymnast is allowed two vaults.  Now, if you've ever seen vaulting, you probably know that the more flips and twists in the air with a stuck landing, the better the score.  Well, congratulations!  That's the point in vaulting!   But why does a gymnast that falls on their landing sometime score higher than the other gymnast who only took a tiny step?  Most of the time it's because of the degree of difficulty (see the first blog, folks) that mathematically make it possible for the gymnast who fell to come out on top in the scoring.  Here's what you can do to determine whether or not you agree with the execution score (the one that starts from a 10.0 and is whittled down into how the gymnast performs):

1.  Running:  Believe it or not, there can be deductions taken for not running toward the vault correctly!  The perfect run should pick up speed increasingly with each step, like a car being accelerated from 0 to 60 mph.  Any gymnast that runs toward the vault and then slows down will receive a deduction as will the gymnast who tip-toes like a ballerina.  You rarely see this in international competition, though.  Take a .10 for sloppy running, if you see it!

Run, vaulter.  Run!!! 

2.  Stick the landing!!!  This is the same as the bar events #4 above.  A note, though, on men's vault, additional deductions are taken if the gymnast lands part or one of his feet outside of the parallel lines (or different mat colors) on the landing mats.  A landing that results in completely leaving the designated landing area is usually treated as a fall and receives a .50 deduction.  So, feet not together on the landing = .10 deduction, one foot-hop = .10 deduction, and two-foot hop = .20 deduction, one step more than a meter = .30 deduction.  On the men's side, if the gymnast lands with his chest below his hips, there are further deductions taken, as much as .50!

Ouch!  This is a fall on vault. 

An Oregon State University college gymnast tries her best to look like she stuck her landing.  Her feet aren't quite together, but pretty darn close.  I think she hopes the judges will notice her nice smile! 

3.  Form:  This one is tricky to see without instant replay, but basically what one should look for is whether or not the gymnast's legs are tight together (unless doing a vault in the tuck position) and that the feet are not crossing each other in the air.  Also look for pointed toes in the air.  Each one of these from your armchair is a .10 deduction.

USA's Alicia Sacramone displays awesome form and height in the air as she blocks off the vault table before completing the salto/twisting part of her vault.  Note the position of her hands...she has not turned them yet after her block.  Most likely, she did a round-off onto the spring board (called a Yerchanko) and hasn't rotated them yet.  This is not a deduction.

Your Turn:  The following is a vault from Marian Dragulescu, the Romanian powerhouse male gymnast who can either be fantastic on vault or a disaster.  The ultimate vault of his life was performed at the 2008 Beijing Summer games; his first vault, the Dragulescu (named after him because he was the first one to perform the somersault/twist combinations in competition) was as perfect as can be.  But you probably saw those vaults so here is his 2006 World Championship Vault where he performs two vaults, the first being the Dragulescu.  After the first vault, pause the video before you see the score.  Do you agree with the judges?  Continue the video and watch the second vault.  How did he do? 

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rVyo5PI3oAg

Floor Exercise (FX)

This is a very popular event on the women's side because it combines music, dance, and gymnastics for the "whole package" in entertainment.  I think most people really enjoy the FX for women.  So, what do you look for?  At least 3 to 4 tumbling passes, at least one full turn, and a jump series is probably all you need to tick off on your list of required elements.  On the men's side, although they lack the music and dance elements, their event can be almost nail-biting because of the high numbers of tumbling passes (4 or more), a strength-element (those would be the incredible feats of strength like a press-handstand) and a flare and/or scissors movements on the floor (both are borrowed from the pommel horse event).

1.  Tumbling passes.  Tumbling passes usually start off with 3 or 4 running steps, a hurdle step, and then the tumbling series.  Legs must be together unless tuck movements are being performed.  Toes must be pointed.  Look for stuck landings (no hops) and a smile!  Any form breaks, take .10 off.

Crazy action shot of Morgan Hamm tumbling on floor for the USA.

2.  Jump elements for women.  Required, a jump usually consist of various forms of the three basic styles:  pike (legs together) or straddle (legs apart to the sides) or split (legs 180 degrees in front/back).  Look for 180 degree legs in a jump...anything less is a deduction.

Picture-perfect 180 degree split leap by Carly Patterson, USA.

3.  Full turn requirement for women.  The women must display some sort of full turn during their routine.  For as easy as it sounds, it proves to be one of the most difficult moves for some gymnasts.  Wobbling, lack of smoothness, or incomplete rotation results in various degrees of deduction, but when you see it, take .10 for simplicity.

4.  Strength element for men.  Must be "crazy good" and slow with toes pointed, legs together at the 12:00/vertical point, and held for 2 seconds.  Most men will do a press handstand, some go with more difficult moves such as a pike Stalder press.

Jonathan Horton of the USA performs a fantastic press handstand with wide arms!

5.  Flare/scissors requirement for men.  The men are required to demonstrate a flare and/or scissors movement.  These movements are usually seen on pommel horse.  Look for smoothness and a landing usually in a nice split.  Go with your gut on this element, however.  If it doesn't look right, there was probably a form fault.

Morgan Hamm prepares for his flare routine.

6.  Foot faults.  A step out-of-bounds is a foot fault and is worth .1 to .3 depending on how many feet went out of bounds.  If a gymnast's foot steps on the line, he/she is still considered "in bounds."

Your turn:  This first video is of Shawn Johnson of the US.  Note:  this routine is slightly different than what you saw in Beijing.  Also, this is using her old floor routine music.  Pay particularly close attention to her jumps and her final split at the end of her routine.
Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2bahvh1MMY&feature=related

Now, check out Anna Pavlova's 2008 European floor exercise.  She's from Russia and her style is very different from Shawn Johnson.  No scores for this, but I'll betcha it was pretty darn high.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fp0vnsB9G4

On the men's side, one of my all-time favorite gymnasts is Bulgaria's Jordan Jovtchev.  Here he is at 33 years old at the 2006 World Championships.  He's crazy strong and loves the sport so much.

Video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjNfksNa38M&feature=related

Well, I hope you enjoyed this blog and came away with a little more knowledge of what to look for in the sport of artistic gymnastics.  I'll be discussing the remaining events on my next blog:  rings, pommel horse, and beam.