A Guide to Understanding Competition Scoring

Oxford School of Gymnastics

A Guide to Understanding Competition Scoring

These explanations are primarily for PREP/NDP routines but the same principles exist at FIG work.

Each floor routine is marked out of 30.00 points.
10.00 points for Execution/Technical
10.00 points for Artistry
10.00 points for Difficulty

Execution/Technical Deductions

Execution/Technical judges watch the gymnastic elements in the routine. They look for how close to the 'perfect model' gymnasts perform their moves. For each fault they observe they deduct 0.1/0.2 for minor errors, 0.3 for significant errors and 0.5/1.0 for major errors.

Examples of technical deductions

Arms/Legs bent/toes not pointed

Wobbles in balance elements

Legs below horizontal in pikes/straddles

No height/flight in partner dynamic elements

Jumps/spins under or over rotated

Landings too deep/legs bend too much on landing

Back arched in stands, handstands or cradle throws

Tumbles not having the right tempo/speed

Splits not shown in split leaps or walkovers

Falls to bottom, hands/feet or on partners!

Artistry Deductions

Artistry judges mark the overall performace/impact of a routine. This includes observation of the composition and structure of routines, the way gymnasts perform their dance (are they in time with their partner? do they know what they are doing? do they look confident? are they in time with the music? do they dance well?), they also deduct marks if partners are not in proportion with each other and if partners are not fit enough to perform their moves safely.
Deductions are the same as for technical, 0.1/0.2, 0.3 and 0.5/1.0.

Difficulty

Difficulty is pre-determined before an event. Each grade has a required number of elements which must be performed. These elements have a difficulty value. If all the hardest elements are performed then a routine has a 10 tariff. The different combinations of elements performed gives the difficulty of the routine. Whilst 10 is the hardest difficulty and gives you an immediate advantage our philosophy is:

'It's not what you do it's the way that you do it!'

We would rather gymnasts looked good doing what they do, than fall and make mistakes by attempting moves which are too difficult for them to do safely.
Having a 10 tariff does not automatically make you a medal contender. If you can't do the moves technically well then the execution/technical judges will deduct more marks than you gain from having a higher difficulty.
If moves fall or are not held for long enough then huge penalties are given.

CJP Deductions

These are deductions taken from the overall score by the head judge. These deductions usually include:

0.3 per second time faults. If a balance is only held for 1 second then they incurr a 0.6 time fault. (Balances should be held for 3 seconds)
0.3/0.5/1.0 height deduction. If the gymnasts do not meet the strict height criteria.
0.3 for musical errors

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