Judge’s Inquiry: A Proposed College Code of Points

Have you ever looked at NCAA gymnastics and thought the gymnasts make it look too easy? With NCAA Gymnastics using the level 10 Developmental Program Code of Points, by the time gymnasts are upperclassmen, many have had at least three years of intense training under these rules. With more former elite-level gymnasts competing in college than ever before, level 10 is a significant drop in difficulty. While it’s important to keep the difficulty at a level that is safe, some changes to the Code of Points could make routines more challenging without adding an unnecessary level of danger. Wouldn’t it make sense for college to essentially be “level 11?”

General

• • Deductions: All execution deductions remain the same. 
  • Value Part Requirements and Bonus: NCAA routines require skills at different difficulties ranging from A-E, with difficulty bonus for D (+0.1) and E (+0.2) skills. Instead of requiring a minimum of eight skills with three As,  three Bs, and two Cs, I would require nine skills, three As, three Bs, two Cs, and a D. D skills would no longer get difficulty bonus, but there would be an additional difficulty level of F, which would receive 0.3 in bonus. All skills rated above an E in the elite (FIG) code would be rated as an F in the NCAA code.

• Connective Bonus: No changes, except where a C is currently listed, level skills in connection would receive an additional one-tenth.

• Start Value: Routines would still start at 9.4, and difficulty bonus would not be required to start from a 10.0. Currently, gymnasts need both connective and difficulty bonus to start from a 10.0.  

• Special Requirements: Missing a special requirement would be five-tenths off the start value to match level 10, not two-tenths, which is in the NCAA modification. 

Vault

• Yurchenko layout half and layout full would start at a 9.9.
• Tsuk full would start from 9.95.

Bars

• No extra difficulty bonus for E releases or single-bar releases.
• Remove the “minimum of two different flight elements” special requirement. 
• Add a special requirement for a single-bar release, minimum D value. 
• Add a special requirement for a second flight element, minimum of C value.
• All squat-ons (where you stand on the low bar and jump to the high bar) would incur a one-tenth composition deduction. Currently, you can do one without deduction.
• Reinstate the “choice of elements” composition deduction from level 10, which requires gymnasts to do two out of three of the following: a turning element, a circling element, or a forward element, with a minimum C value for all elements.
• Remove the “two bar changes” special requirement (worth 0.5) and make it a compositional requirement (worth 0.2) to mirror level 10 rules.

Beam

• Make the full turn requirement a minimum of B difficulty.
• Require a second acro element valued at a D or higher (excluding the dismount), or an E or higher dance element. 
• Get rid of all the special connective value cases for beam and make a B+C/D acro series worth one-tenth in connective bonus. Remember, in my code, D skills no longer receive a difficulty bonus. 
• Remove the extra bonus for a triple series. The middle skill in the series would be counted twice. For example, a B+C/D+C/D series would be calculated as a B+C/D (0.1) and a C/D+C/D (0.2) for a total of three-tenths in connective bonus.

Floor

• Remove the “final salto must be a C” special requirement and require three different acro passes in a routine. As a reminder, an acro pass has to include at least one salto valued at a C or higher. Yes, I want to require everyone to have a three-pass routine. 
• Add a special requirement for a minimum of one D or higher salto. 
• Make the “two acro passes on two diagonals” a two-tenth compositional requirement rather than five-tenth special requirement. 
• Require a minimum of a B turn on one foot as a three-tenth compositional requirement to mirror level 10. 

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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.