As the NCAA Gymnastics season swung into full gear, we had some fantastic performances, especially from Kailin Chio, Avery Neff, and Jordan Chiles—who together were responsible for over half of February’s 10.0 spanning all four events. With Morgan Price scoring Arkansas’s first program 10.0, it was an exciting month for gymnastics fans.
This month, we had 13 perfect 10s, but as fans, athletes, commentators, and seemingly everyone other than the judging panel has acknowledged, not all 10.0s are created, or distributed, equally. Here I’ll break down the deductions I saw when watching the videos in real time, and rank the 10.0 from one to five stars. As a reminder, here’s my rating scale:
⭐ This was clearly not a 10.0 routine (but still very good!)
⭐⭐ There was definitely a deduction there, but maybe the judges blinked?
⭐⭐⭐ 10.0 vibes, but not actually perfect
⭐⭐⭐⭐ It was a “college 10”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 100% a perfect routine
Vault
Mackenzie Estep, Oklahoma (Feb. 8)
Deductions
Leg separation (0.050)
This was a very well-executed vault with only the smallest of form errors. This leg separation would have been difficult to see from a side angle, but being on a podium makes it more likely the judges could have seen it had they been watching closely. The rest of the vault had great form in the air, high amplitude, and a solid landing.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Addison Fatta, Oklahoma (Feb. 13)
Deductions
Shoulder angle (0.050)
If you (like many of the vault judges) struggle to understand or identify a shoulder angle on the vault, comparing Fatta’s position to Estep’s above is a great illustration. In Fatta’s example, looking from the side, the line from her side through her shoulder and into her arm looks like an “L.” On Estep, there is a straight line from her hands through her shoulders. Another way to look at it is to imagine the gymnast right-side-up. If their arms would be above or even behind their head, the shoulders are fully open. If the arms are in front of their head, it’s a shoulder angle.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Morgan Price, Arkansas (Feb. 20)
Deductions
Price has amazing height and a huge block off the table with great form. She has a bit of a strange arm position when she lands, but as far as I know, that’s not a deduction since she showed control, good posture, and the one-second hold on her finish. My analysis is a bit limited, as I don’t have a side view, but from what I could see on the video, this vault is beautiful.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Avery Neff, Utah (Feb. 20)
Deductions
This vault is an exact replica of her last 10.0 on the event. Neff is clearly very consistent and is a strong anchor for the Utah vault lineup.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kailin Chio, LSU (Feb. 20)
Deductions
She finally gets her 10! After several weeks of coming close to the mark, Chio pulls together great form, amplitude, and a great landing.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Anna Roberts, Stanford (Feb. 27)
Deductions
A couple of years ago, this squat would have been a deduction, but since the code of points has been revised to allow up to a 90-degree squat without deduction, this is still a clean landing. When you watch the vault, Roberts actually lands much higher and uses this squat to absorb her power and momentum, which is exactly what she should be doing. Great job!
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Bars
Avery Neff, Utah (Feb. 13)
Deductions
Arms on clear hip HS (0.050)
Leg separation (0.050)
Pike down (0.050)
Most of these deductions are very picky, but they all add together to a not-quite-perfect routine. The arm bend would have been tough to see from the side angle, especially since it’s so slight. The very minor leg separation on the full-twisting double layout had a better likelihood of being seen since she’s twisting. The pike down was less obvious from the front, but likely more obvious from the side. Neff had enough height and rotation to finish the skill with a straight body, but the pike down makes it a little easier to prepare for her landing. Overall, the deductions are very minor, and I’ve definitely seen messier bar routines score a 10.0.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Beam
Kailin Chio, LSU (Feb. 20)
Deductions
Body position/precision (0.050), full turn
I’ll admit that this is one of my pet peeve deductions, and it is a hill I will absolutely die on. The full turn is the simplest requirement in a beam routine, and most gymnasts have been doing it since elementary school. With Chio’s outstanding execution and precision everywhere else in her routine, her arm and foot position stand out to me like a sore thumb. Will every judge take this deduction? No. Would I? Every single time.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kailin Chio, LSU (Feb. 27)
Deductions
Arm bend on mount (0.050)
Turn precision (0.050)
Was it just me, or was that mount a little off? Her right arm bent, her front foot turned inward to grip the beam, and she had the smallest of wobbles. I don’t think I’d take both the wobble and the arm bend, but overall, she looked to have a half-tenth deduction on that skill. She also has a “flamingo foot,” as my former coaches would call it, on her full turn.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Skye Blakely, Florida (Feb. 27)
Full routine unavailable at the time of writing.
Deductions
Leg bend (0.050), front aerial
Balance on landing (0.050)
Assuming she had no wobbles or artistry deductions on her choreography, I’d take a small deduction for the leg bend on the front aerial and the small balance check on her dismount landing. The leg bend on the front aerial is a commonly ignored beam deduction, but this landing is an example of a stick that wasn’t perfect.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Floor
Jordan Chiles, UCLA (Feb. 7)
Deductions
Foot form (0.050)
Leg form (0.050)
Pike down (0.050)
Precision in wolf full (under turn) (0.050)
I’ll be honest, in real time, I didn’t catch both the leg separation and the flexed feet, so I probably would have only taken a half-tenth for the leg form and a half-tenth for the pike down. On her leaps, she does a good job of getting her tour jete full all the way around from where she took off, but her wolf full ended up being short to line up with the corner.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Kailin Chio, LSU (Feb. 13)
Deductions
Leg/foot form in back handspring (0.050 to 0.100)
Flexed feet, full in (0.050)
Low chest on landing (0.050)
Foot adjustments on landing (0.050)
Other than her first tumbling pass, this was a perfect routine. Her jumps were beautiful, and her back two-and-a-half punch front was gorgeous and perfectly controlled. In her first pass, her feet were flexed in the back handspring and prior to the landing. Her legs were apart on her back handspring, her chest was parallel to the floor when she landed, and she had a small foot adjustment before stepping back into her lounge. I’d be super impressed if a judge could catch all of that in real time, but I’d take half a tenth on the back handspring form if I saw it, as well as up to one tenth on the full in for the foot form and low landing. Depending on where the judge was sitting, it would have been very difficult to see the foot movement.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Jordan Chiles, UCLA (Feb. 14)
Deductions
In this routine, Chiles put it all together. Her choreography and artistry was electric. Her tumbling was clean, powerful, and controlled. Her dance pass had the precision in her rotation and the split positions we’ve been looking for. This was definitely a well-deserved 10.0.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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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.
