Kate Aitchison, Contributing Writer
Gymnastics is a visually exciting sport to watch regardless of the knowledge level a viewer has
with all of the impressive flips and twists, but understanding the basics can enhance the
experience. To make the most out of an Alabama gymnastics meet, it’s important that fans know
how meets are set up and how they are scored.
Meet setup
The four events are vault, uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise. The home team always
starts on vault and then continues to compete every other event.
It is standard for each NCAA team to have six gymnasts compete in each event, with one
gymnast’s score being dropped for that event. The first gymnast to compete, called the leadoff, is
expected to put up consistent scores on their event to give their team a good starting place. A fall
or big mistake from the leadoff can be detrimental as it puts more pressure on the remaining five
gymnasts to make up for the lost points.
The second, third and fourth gymnasts thrive off the precedent set by the first to compete heavily.
Often they are the younger, less seasoned athletes who have potential to live up to the precedent.
The fifth and sixth (anchor) gymnasts are expected to put up the highest scores on that event.
Their routines are strong and consistent, and they have the experience to complete difficult skills
to provide higher scores for the team.
Scoring
When it comes to scoring, gymnastics is a rabbit hole of hundreds of rules and opportunities for
lost points. It is a perfection sport, which means these athletes have spent almost their entire lives
training hours daily to be as perfect as possible.
The NCAA uses a 10-point scale with a 10 being the highest score gymnasts can receive.
Deductions are where scoring gets complicated. Here is a list of simple deductions and terms that
a viewer can look out for.
● Start value: The score a gymnast starts with. If they meet the difficulty criteria it will start
at a 10.0; if not it will be lower based on the routine.
● Flexed feet: Every time a gymnast’s toes are not pointed, it is a 0.05- to 0.1-point
deduction, which can add up quickly.
● Body shapes and angles: This is lumped together because every single skill has specific
body shapes that need to be hit, such as arching the back, piking, bending the knees and
keeping the legs apart. Failing to meet these requirements can be a 0.05- to 0.3-point
deduction, depending on severity.
● Extra steps: When landing a skill any step taken after is a 0.1-point deduction for smaller
steps and a 0.2-point deduction for larger steps. This applies to smaller and larger hops
upon landing as well.
● Connections: When two skills are completed back to back there needs to be no pause or
disruption during the connection. If this is not achieved it is typically a 0.1-point
deduction.
These are some of the easiest for non-gymnasts to pick out. Everything is judged, from
musicality to height on skills, from wobbles to attire. When watching these high-level gymnasts
compete and receive high scores it becomes even more impressive understanding the amount of
opportunities there are to lose points. For a more extensive breakdown of scoring visit the NCAA
site.
These details provide just a glimpse behind the curtains of a historically underappreciated
college sport. Understanding the work put in to meet the expectation of perfection can put just a
little more respect on the sport as a whole and each individual athlete.
