Up until now, to many people, the way gymnastics is scored has likely seemed to be a mystery that just doesn’t get to be solved, especially to new fans.
Well, not anymore.
While NCAA gymnastics has a unique scoring system, it’s not as complicated as it seems. Basically, a routine can receive a maximum of 10.0 points, and points are deducted if there are elements missing from the routine or existing elements aren’t performed perfectly.
The perfect 10.0 is an iconic symbol of gymnastics. Many meets will have fans with perfect 10.0 signs, and chanting “10!” to encourage the judges to give their favorite athletes a high score.
Six athletes compete in each or four events (vault, beam, bars and floor), the lowest score is dropped, the top five kept scores are added together to form the team event score, then the scores from each event are added together to make the team’s final score. Some meets are won or lost by just a couple hundredths of a point.
Every routine on beam, bars and floor that meets basic requirements starts with a base value of 9.4. Skills are graded on a A-E scale, with E being the most difficult. In order for a routine to receive a 10.0 it has to include skills of a D or E difficulty, combination skills or a specific NCAA bonus.
Each event has different difficulty bonuses and special requirements. Difficulty bonuses come from a list of options the gymnast chooses from to add on to a routine and special requirements are the building blocks of a routine. If a special requirement isn’t met, a deduction occurs.
Vault, though, has a different scoring system than bars, beam and floor because vault is all one element, there are no combinations that can be changed from athlete to athlete. In essence, vault is a single skill while the other events are a combination of several skills.
Vaults that are more difficult to execute, have a higher starting score. For example, the Yurchenko one and a half has a 10.0 start value, while the Yurchenko full starts at 9.95.
Deductions can be taken for a number of reasons, and there are two kinds of deductions: composition and execution. Composition deductions are event-specific, “mini-requirements” that further instruct what should be included in a routine, according to the NCAA Gymnastics website. Whereas execution deductions occur when details such as form, composition, technique or performance aren’t completed to perfection.
Scoring for the Olympics is done a little differently than NCAA. Olympic scoring includes an execution score (the perfect 10) and a difficulty score, which is based on the value of skills and connections that are performed. Team USA gymnastics fans might be somewhat familiar with this process after the controversy this summer when Jordan Chiles’ bronze medal was stripped and awarded to Romania’s Ana Bǎrbosu.