men's rules - J.O. level 8/9 proposed for this year!
Benjamin E. Johnson
This email applies to men's rules only, not women's rules.
It was voted at last years annual NAIGC meeting for men to use the rules
on the NAIGC website in conjunction with the 2001-2004 FIG code of points.
There was no discussion prior to that vote; however, the general feeling
among NAIGC male competitors has seemed to be that we should stay with
what we decided unless there is sufficient reason to change it.
Sufficient reason has recently been provided, that has convinced me and
our club's officers that we need to make a change as soon as possible,
while there is still time for everyone to make any adjustments to your
routines. Please read what I have to say about the men's rules. If you
have a comment, please send it to the listserve within one week. If there
is sufficient disagreement, we will take an online vote. Otherwise, the
rules used at nationals this year will be the J.O. level 8/9 modifications
to the current 2005-2008 FIG code of points. All of these rules,
including the new FIG code, are now publicly available online. The links
are below.
*************
FIG code of points 2005-2008
http://bios.fig-gymnastics.com/down.htm#codes
select "Men's Artistic Code of points English"
Relevant J.O. Modifications
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/men/2005/m-chapter2-replacementpages.pdf
Most recent J.O. update - J.O. update #5:
http://www.usa-gymnastics.org/men/2006/m-joupdate5.pdf
************
Below, I will try to answer the following questions:
1. What's wrong with the rules on the NAIGC website?
2. Why change now?
3. Why use J.O. level 8/9 modifications?
4. Can I get a summary of the new requirements?
1. What's wrong with the rules on the NAIGC website?
The rules on the NAIGC website are incomplete. They require a version of
the FIG code of points, listing the value and description of each skill.
Previous versions of the FIG code of points also included somewhat
complicated connection bonus tables, which are required for composing
routines, and for judging. The NAIGC rules were structured as a revision
to the old 1997-2000 FIG code of points; but that structure has been
completely re-designed, and the NAIGC modifications do not make sense with
the new code.
Today, both the 1997-2000 version and the 2001-2004 version of the FIG
code of points are obsolete. More importantly, they are not, and never
have been, publicly available documents. The old code of points used to
be available from FIG for a fee. Neither schools nor judges can easily
find copies now, unless they already have them; and copies will not be
available in the future because nobody uses them. Teams that do not have
copies of this code would be at an enormous disadvantage, and there is no
foreseeable way to remedy this problem while continuing to use the old
code.
2. Why change now?
In the past month, several current judges have either emailed me or
spoken with me regarding the NAIGC men's rules. The unanimous feeling
among them has been that it will not be possible to have competent judging
for men at nationals this year using the incomplete code of points on the
NAIGC website. The judges are not familiar with the NAIGC modifications;
the modifications really only make sense with the 1997-2000 FIG code of
points; and even with the updated 2001-2004 code, the rules are obsolete.
Newly certified judges selected for our meet will have never judged any
meets using any part of the old FIG code, and will not be competent in
doing so.
In contrast to this, the FIG has recently (in October as I understand it)
decided to make the new version of their code of points publicly available
on their website for free (http://www.FIG-gymnastics.com). In addition,
the J.O. modifications to the code are available for free on the USAG
website (http://www.usa-gymnastics.org - Men's Program). Previously,
these materials were copyrighted and teams were required to pay for them.
I was not aware until very recently that the new code and modifications
were all publicly available for free. That recent knowledge, together
with the recent communications described above explain why we were not
motivated to make or communicate any rule changes until now. We believe
that this timing, with more than two months before nationals, still allows
sufficient notice for all teams to make the proper adjustments, so that no
team is at a disadvantage.
3. Why use level 8/9 J.O modifications?
The level 8/9 J.O. modifications to the FIG code of points make it MUCH
easier to fulfill minimum requirements, while maintaining sufficient
difficulty to separate top NAIGC gymnasts. I'm writing level 8/9 because
the rules for level 8 and level 9 are identical.
The NCAA has also made minor modifications to the new FIG code.
However, I've watched a few NCAA meets this season, between top national
contenders; and frankly, the NCAA code is too difficult for most NCAA
gymnasts. I've also seen the scores from the most recent NAIGC meet in
Texas, using the NCAA code. The teams from Texas are some of the best in
the NAIGC every year; if none of those guys can score an 8 on any event
besides vault, then I think it unlikely that the NAIGC requires the NCAA
code to separate top contenders. The judges I've spoken with, all of whom
have judged at both the collegiate and the club level have indicated that
they thought the level 8/9 modifications would be appropriate for the
NAIGC.
4. Can I get a summary of the new requirements?
Our former coach and current nationally certified judge, Tom Kutz, has
put together a document summarizing the differences between the old NAIGC
rules, and the new level 8/9 modified FIG code. The differences are
substantial. The document also gives links to all parts of the code
including additional resources for judges. I have attached this document,
and it is also available on our website.
http://www.calgymnasticsclub.com/Nationals2006/NAIGCmensrules.doc
Please remember to respond within the week if you have any comments to
make regarding men's rules. Thanks for taking time to read this.
Have a great day.
Benjamin Johnson
Cal Gymnastics Club president
2005/2006 NAIGC president and Nationals meet director
benj...@math.berkeley.edu
(510) 717-2365