With the immense popularity of Yurchenko-style vault entries, a good front-entry vault used to be relatively rare. However, we are seeing more and more of these powerful vaults, as they offer the advantage of starting from a 10.0 (unlike the Yurchenko full) and a non-blind landing (unlike the Yurchenko one and a half). As of week six, four out of the top 10 vaulters in the NCAA perform this vault, adding to its reputation as a consistent, reliable skill that can score well when performed correctly. However, straight legs and a stuck landing isn’t enough to score a 9.9-plus. What separates the good from the excellent vaults in this category?
In the next section, I’ll break down the four phases of vault that judges evaluate to come up with the score: pre-flight, support, flight, and landing. In each of these phases, I’ve described what the judges look for, as well as common areas for deductions.
Pre-Flight
The Ideal: The athlete should maintain a straight or slightly open body position with their legs together. Common deductions include leg separation (up to 0.2), hip angle (up to 0.3), and excessive arch (up to 0.2).
Good Example
0.05 to 0.1 hip angle
Great Example
0 to 0.05 hip angle
Excellent Example
No deduction on body position
Support Phase
The Ideal: The head and shoulders should be in alignment, with straight arms and a straight or slightly open body position. The powerful block should be audible to the judges or should visually move the table, with the athlete completing the block at vertical. There should be a clear change of direction from forward momentum to upward momentum following the block. Common deductions include shoulder angle (up to 0.2), excessive arch (up to 0.2), and bent arms (up to 0.5).
Good Example
0.1 to 0.15 excessive arch
0.1 to 0.15 shoulder angle
Great Example
0.05 to 0.1 shoulder angle
Excellent Example
No deduction
Flight Phase
The ideal: The athlete should sit up into a clean pike position before opening their body to complete the half twist and prepare for a safe landing. Once the body starts to open, it should be maintained through the landing. There should be a good balance between both height and distance. Common deductions include bent legs (up to 0.3), insufficient extension before landing (up to 0.3), distance (up to 0.3), height (up to 0.5), and dynamics (up to 0.3). Since the flight phase of this vault is rather complicated, I’ve further broken it down into three sub-phases: the pike, the open, and the landing preparation.
The Pike
Good Example
Meets minimum of 90-degree pike position, no deduction
0.05 height
Great Example
Beautiful pike position
No height deduction
Excellent Example
Meets minimum of 90-degree pike position, no deduction
Exceptional height and dynamics
The Open
Good Example
0.05 to 0.1 distance
0.05 leg form
Great Example
0 to 0.05 distance
Excellent Example
Exemplary height, distance, and dynamics
The Landing Preparation
Good Example
0.15-0.2 insufficient extension before landing
Great Example
0.05 to 0.1 insufficient extension before landing
Excellent Example
Good extension and landing preparation, no deduction
Landing
The ideal: Gymnasts should land with their shoulders in line with or behind their knees, with their knees slightly in front of or in line with their toes. The knees can be bent up to 90 degrees without deduction. The feet should not be staggered or further than hip-width apart and should easily slide together on extension following a controlled landing. Common deductions include steps or foot adjustments (0.05 to 0.2 each, max deduction 0.4), posture on landing (up to 0.2), arm swings to maintain balance (up to 0.1), direction (up to 0.3), and squat on landing (up to 0.3).
Good Example
0.1 body posture
Great Example
0.05 body posture
Excellent Example
No deduction
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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.
