Skip to main content

Rewriting the Code of Points - the missing link

Image
By
There has been quite a discussion about the Code of Points going on at the Gymnastics Coaching blog - with particular reference to the safety angle - there have been 35 comments to date from all corners of the world, so it's an interesting read.

In the meantime, I have been looking back at the 1989 edition of the Code.   I found this introductory section:

'It is the responsibility of the judges, based upon the present Code of Points, to grasp in its totality:
  • the construction of the exercises as a whole
  • the difficulty value of elements and connections
  • the flow of the movements
  • the synchronization of the music with the floor exercise
while sufficiently considering, aside from the technical perfection of execution, the harmony and strength of expression as well as the aesthetics of presentation'   

Doesn't this somehow encapsulate so much of what is missing from the current, highly deconstructed, Code?

PS  I also did a little review of the current Code - a word count with the help of the search tool.  For what it's worth,  I found the following:

'Artistry' appears 16 times
'Deduction' 68 times
'Bonus' 0 times
'Originality' 2 times
'Harmony', 'Risk' 'Virtuosity' 0 times
'Amplitude' 5 times
'Choreography' 3 times
'Dance' 26 times
'Elements' 154 times

I make no claims as to the validity of this method in extracting the overwhelming focus (or lack thereof) of a text.

Labels:

Comments

  1. usa reel deal6 September 2011 at 07:19

    Agree to you girl, Personally, I thought Rebecca’s bad landing off Beam was extremely dangerous, too. She really did looked primed for injury at VISA Championships.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Queen Elizabeth6 September 2011 at 11:26

    Gymnasts' bodies will wear out when the Code demands quantity, not quality.

    Re-introducing a requirement to assess the whole routine and its appearance would reward time spent on choreography (body alignment, amplitude, etc) and integration of individual skills into a consummate routine (all four apparatus. We need to reward originality in such a way as to encourage the development of single moves of new difficulty. Such an emphasis on performance would help to mitigate the risk of injury and also make the sport better to watch.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Simone and the others - results and reflections

By
In the end, it was as predicted : Simone and the others, with Simone's teammate, Alexandra Raisman, providing the back up.  I do not need to point out that, by definition, the Americans are scoring significantly higher marks than the rest of the field.  Congratulations to them! Aliya Mustafina finished in third place.  The 2012 bronze medalist led the competition after vault and uneven bars, but had a very nervous outing on beam that might have taken a less experienced gymnast out of the medals.  A bravura performance on floor brought Aliya back though to confirm her third place all around.  From her senior debut in 2010 to today, Mustafina has continuously set high standards of grace.    It is the first time since 2000 that a gymnast (Amanar) has medalled in the all around at two consecutive Olympics, and  if Aliya can medal on Saturday's uneven bars final, she will once again be Russia's biggest medal winner of the women's gymnastics.  Russ...
56 comments
Read more

Paseka back in time for Rio; Komova confirmed out

By
A few sources in the Russian press have reported Russia's team news.  There is a little bit more information about Viktoria Komova's retirement, or rest break, and some good news about Maria Paseka. The news came clearly from Viktoria's own mouth - I cannot link to the video - and has now been repeated and clarified by her father.  Viktoria has stopped training because of the pain in her back.  There is no chance of her making it to Rio now but if she recovers she may come back later.   Valentina Rodionenko says unequivocally that Vika has retired, but this doesn't have to be taken as a contradiction, just a simpler version of the picture.  (I personally think that retirement is probably right - but why say never?  However, I would feel sorry for Viktoria if she were not being allowed to make her own decisions.) The good news is that Maria Paseka will be competing at Russia Cup - she has recovered from her back pain and is making her way towards qualificat...
29 comments
Read more

A Geopolitical Overview of Artistic Gymnastics in Russia

By
This is the first of a piece about Russia in general, that I'll be trying to improve and complete over the coming year.  Please bear with me and leave me comments!  I want to try to put Gymnastics into context with its past, and with everything that has happened in the past ten years.  It seems to me that things are changing fast. Russia has the largest single landmass of any country in the world, spanning Europe to the Far East, from way up north towards the Arctic and the Barents Sea, down to the border with Georgia in the south.   The country shares land borders with seventeen other nations from Norway to Japan, China and Korea; it shares maritime borders with countries including the USA and Alaska.   Russia's population is very diverse - see the table below.  Over 80% of the population have Russian as their first language, but it's likely that many will have a second language that they speak at home.  It's a declining population, and desp...
Post a Comment
Read more

RRG Archive - scroll by date, from 2024 to 2010

Show more