Judge’s Inquiry: Good vs. Great vs. Excellent Front-to-Back Beam Series

Beam is probably the most nuanced event to judge, as the smallest adjustment or error can have a massive impact on the score or start value. This is especially true in front-to-back acro series connections, where judges have to have eyes like a hawk to catch the smallest pause or foot adjustment that may break a series. In this article, I’ll give examples of various front-to-back acro series and point out what the judges are looking for and what constitutes a slow connection or broken connection. As a reminder, here’s a summary of what judges are looking for in these connections.

1. The best connections look like they would if done on a line on the floor: continuous, fluid, and confident. 
2. For a slow, continuous connection in line with the balance beam, judges can take an up-to-two-tenth rhythm deduction.
3. If a gymnast does any of the following, the connection is considered broken and is not eligible for any connective bonus or to fulfill the acro series special requirement:
   • Stop
   • Wobble or any movement that is not in line with the balance beam
   • Reposition feet between elements (including steps, hops, scoots, or pivots)
   • Fully straighten legs between elements

Front Aerial Back Handspring

The Ideal: The gymnast should show a confident, continuous motion from the front aerial into the back handspring. Foot repositioning, hesitation, wobbles, or stopped movement of the arms between the skills would break the connection. Legs should be slightly bent upon landing the front aerial and continue to bend smoothly in preparation for the back handspring. 

Good Example

It’s a good thing she does a back handspring layout following the front aerial in this example, as it looks like there is a full stop with her arms overhead between the front aerial and back handspring. It also looks like her legs fully straighten between the elements, although she does land the front aerial with a pretty straight bottom leg to begin with. Now, after you’ve watched this repeatedly, it’s important to remember the judges just get one look and have to make a decision in the moment. What would you decide? I would likely give the connection but take a rhythm deduction of anywhere from one- to two-tenths.

Great Example

In this example, the gymnast is continuously moving, albeit rather slowly. This connection should get a small rhythm deduction (0.05), but it is clearly connected. 

Excellent Example

Front aerial back handsprings are probably my least favorite acro series. However, this example is one of the best I have seen. I imagine she does this series exactly the same on the beam as she does it on a line on the floor. Go back to the first two examples with this in mind as the gold standard. Hopefully, you can understand why it’s so important to take rhythm deductions or break these connections when appropriate because rhythm like this should be rewarded.

Front Toss Back Handspring

The Ideal: Similar to the front aerial back handspring, the gymnast should show a confident and continuous motion between the skills. The front toss can be landed with one or two feet, but both legs should be bent and remain bent into the back handspring. Also, watch for any foot adjustments or shifts, as this is a common error in this connection. 

Good Example 

Here, you can see a clear pause between the skills. Her arms, legs, and torso all stop momentarily before swinging her arms into the back handspring. I would probably break this connection in real time, even though she didn’t wobble or move her feet. This definitely could have been considered connected, but in my opinion, it wasn’t. 

Great Example

This is a great example of a good pace between the skills and continuity of motion of her arms and torso, all in line with the beam. If you look closely, her back heel briefly lifts up and down, but her foot doesn’t move position (at least from this angle). This is a good example of how you can get different start values based on how well the judge can see the back foot. The judge on the gymnast’s right would have a clear view of the foot to see if it moved or adjusted, whereas the judge on the left might not be able to tell since the gymnast’s left foot is blocking the judge’s view. 

Excellent Example

This is a good example of a clean connection between the front toss and the back handspring. She moves quickly between the skills and does not adjust her body position after the front toss. Artistically, I like the choice of the swing down here, especially paired with the front toss which is a more aggressive skill compared to a front aerial. 

Front Aerial Back Tuck

The ideal: Once again, the athlete needs a continuous, fluid motion between the two skills. My biggest pet peeve on this connection is the whip-style back tuck, where gymnasts leave their hips open the whole first half of the flip and then land with their chests low. Again, be sure to watch for foot movements and straightened legs between the skills. Gymnasts will also try to artfully hide their wobble after the front aerial, but this is not the time to be artistic; the connection should be smooth and in line with the beam.

Good Example

This example is similar to the very first video in this article, where it looks like the gymnast pauses after the front aerial before going for her back tuck. I would likely take the maximum in rhythm here (0.2) but not break the connection, as she doesn’t wobble or move her feet and keeps the connection going.

Great Example

This athlete has a slow but smooth connection between her skills, although she uses the unideal back tuck technique. If you watch this clip enough times, you can see a slight movement in her back foot right as she goes to take off into the second skill. If the judges see this, it is grounds for breaking the connection. However, it’s very minor and would be hard to catch unless you happen to be looking at her feet at the right time. I would likely give the connection and take a tenth deduction for rhythm. 

Excellent Example

This is a beautiful front aerial and a very fluid connection. No notes, 10/10. 

Unique Front-to-Back Connections

Good Example

This connection is a good example of a clearly broken connection. She wobbles and moves her feet between the skills. In this case, the athlete would lose two-tenths from the start value for missing her acrobatic series, plus two-tenths in the connective bonus she would have gotten from doing a D to a C. She also potentially has a one-tenth “up to the level” compositional deduction, depending on the composition of rest of her routine. That said, it’s clear why many judges hesitate to break connections (which they did not in this case), as it can have a massive impact on the start value and score.

Great Example

Here’s a unique example where the athlete adds a front handspring before the back handspring layout to get additional bonus for having an acro series with three elements as opposed to two. It’s hard to tell with the camera cut in the middle of the connection, but it appears to be connected yet slow. This would be a half-tenth to one-tenth rhythm deduction, but I applaud her for doing something different.

Excellent Example

I saved my favorite front-to-back connection for last. When done well, the Onodi to back handspring looks easy, fluid, and so graceful. She does a great job moving between the skills and making it look easy.

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Article by Rhiannon Franck

Rhiannon Franck is a former national-rated NAWGJ women’s gymnastics judge with over 15 years of USAG judging experience and nine seasons judging NCAA gymnastics. Outside of gymnastics, Franck works at a university as a nursing professor and loves to travel. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.