For Parents Judging harder in some states or regions?

[Flicfliclay]

I continue to read and hear parents say oh well they judge harder here or if their daughter competed in a different state than where they are from? I'm just trying to figure out if #1 is that true? #2 do they say that to make their DD lower scores more justified #3 if it is true why? I thought that if skills are done right they get the credit.. if not they don't?
My daughter will compete for the first time in regionals this year Region 1, which is CA, NV, AZ, and Utah.... would you say judging is different in these states? Example if a competitor from NV has mostly gotten 1st place and getting 37 to 38 AA would they most likely get lower scores at Regionals being held in California?
I have no clue if this makes sense! Ha ha!

 

[Mommyo2az]

I am in region 1, and I just think that each state has judges that are sticklers for certain things. So when you go to another state you might get bigger or smaller deductions for things. I personally think NV and CA are comparable.

 

[Flicfliclay]

We are from AZ too, my DD has competed in both CA and NV, I'm not sure I noticed if they judged any differently than AZ? I was just curious as I have heard it many times! Lol

 

[Mommyo2az]

Yeah I haven't noticed too much of a difference! We went to a meet in tTexas - I noticed there

 

[MILgymFAM]

Ok so a completely non-scientific comparison of the 2016 NV and UT state meets and regionals for L7 told me a few things. The girls who won in NV and UT scored similarly at regionals in Arizona, but all the top scores for L7 at regionals were from California gyms. So the girls scored similarly and placed worse. To me that says that scoring is similar?

When my DD competed xcel we went to regionals in AZ and her scores stayed steady. We also moved from SoCal to NorCal, and her scores dropped across the board but her placements stayed similar.

I think it all comes out in the wash and the strongest gymnasts win, changes in scores aside.

 

[Flicfliclay]

I only started thinking of this when... a few AZ gyms competed in CA recently and the girls that often score way higher and often win here did not even come close to the top and their scores werecwsy lower there than here. Their parents seemed to think it was due to judging being harder.. I have no clue! Lol! I guess though I would like to warn my DD if true that her scores won't be as high at regionals because it is held in CA this year? Or do I just say nothing and let it be?

 

[twinmomma]

I think even within regions there can be harder judging. In NorCal the central valley meets aren't scored nearly as harshly as the ones in the bay area. DD qualified for state at a meet in NV last year, and never hit the qualifying in any of the bay area meets. Highest beam score 8.6 until NV all of a sudden its over a 9? Yes. Different areas score differently. Bay area? DD's floor routine was tenthed to death and scored below an 8.00 with no falls or missed skills. Central valley and Nevada all had her well over a point higher.

 

[Flicfliclay]

I think even within regions there can be harder judging. In NorCal the central valley meets aren't scored nearly as harshly as the ones in the bay area. DD qualified for state at a meet in NV last year, and never hit the qualifying in any of the bay area meets. Highest beam score 8.6 until NV all of a sudden its over a 9? Yes. Different areas score differently. Bay area? DD's floor routine was tenthed to death and scored below an 8.00 with no falls or missed skills. Central valley and Nevada all had her well over a point higher.

Wow! I wished there was true consistency!

 

[CMA25]

I guess though I would like to warn my DD if true that her scores won't be as high at regionals because it is held in CA this year? Or do I just say nothing and let it be?

When we travel, I always tell my DD that the judges are tough. I don't really believe that it is any different, but I don't want her to stress if she gets a low score. Locally, she knows what to expect for each judge. For example, one judges is a stickler for pointed toes...my DD always gets that deduction!

 

[Natasha]

For regional competitions, each state sends judges so it really shouldn't matter what state regionals is held in. Although at least in our region I notice that regionals tend to be scored tougher than many of the invitationals. However I will say for invitationals, we have been to a couple of states where our girls consistently score higher across the board, but I am not familiar with west coast.

 

[thefellowsmom]

We have traveled to many different states and I would say things are pretty consistent. The only two places I saw a noticible difference was Southern California and Texas. One one way and the other the other way.

 

[mommyof1]

Locally, she knows what to expect for each judge. For example, one judges is a stickler for pointed toes...my DD always gets that deduction!

My daughter claims that one particular judge always scores her low on floor--I think it's a self-fulfilling prophecy because she sees this judge, psychs herself out, and starts bending her knees.

 

[SurpriseGymMom]

I'm in one of the traditionally "lower scoring" regions. I have gymnastics friends from all over the country and (completely unofficially) our scores here are indeed lower across the board. A score in the lower 9's means you did fantastic and winning scores even in the most competitive hot shot age groups are usually in the 9.3 range. If we see anything in the mid 9's we pretty much collectively gasp because that would mean a seriously perfect routine..! Highest I have ever seen at any meet, ever, is a 9.7 and the whole audience was clapping when that score flashed!
High 8's certainly have a chance of placing, at any meet.
We do generally see an increase in scores over the state line (we do some meets in state, others in a neighboring state). Most often the neighboring state meets will result in several tenths/event higher score, the "same" routine will usually end up with about a whole point higher AA than at in-state meets. Of course it's all subjective and so many variables, but this is what we see in general over the past several years. Our gymnasts do tend to score better at flyaway meets and in westerns/nationals, so it is not that we have a region of sloppy gymnasts, lol..!
FWIW this is personal as well as coaching experience all the way from L3 (coaching) to L7 (my own gymnast) and from watching and working with our highest level Optionals up to L10. L3 is usually scored fairly leniently, from L4 and up it is much tougher.

 

[dbean]

From the scoring we have seen, it appears NC scores harder than other states we have competed in. DD scored much higher out-of-state for routines that were less polished.

 

[MaryA]

Even in our state, I have heard that the judges in the Western part of the state judge harder than the Eastern part of the state. I have no idea if that's true or not. Almost all of our in-state meets are in the Eastern part of the state, but I really think that's just how it worked out... HC is from that part of the state, etc. etc. and not because the girls will get higher scores in the East. Really, as long as the judging is consistent, it shouldn't matter, unless you're trying to qualify for States or something. At every meet, you'll have judges who seem easy and those who seem harder. Like, at last weekend's meet, I would say that the judging on bars was pretty generous, but beam and floor were maybe a little harsh. It all works out in the end.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Yes scores differ from state to state. But regionals is a mix of judges so it's impossible to speculate that meet.

 

[Flicfliclay]

What a bunch of great replies! As a gymnast mom there are so many unknown variables I love being able to ask questions ( things I am curious about, just done know, or have problems understanding ) without being bashed or ridiculed for asking! Thank you all for being kind enough to take a few minutes or your time to answer!

 

[e'smum]

i've been wanting to ask this question myself! lol.
in our state (MA) we have less 38s than in other states and i would love to know if that is due to our judges or the skill level. getting a 36+ is doing great. if you get 37+, you're a super star. lol.

i will say this, we do have some really tough judges here in MA. not all of them are super tough but we know who the tough ones are (i've mentioned a couple on other posts). a friend of mine from here went to the Atlanta meet this year and posted her dd's beam routine and score and it wasn't a bad routine but not her best. she almost fell a couple of times doing the windmill to stay on and lots of bobbles. my impression was not one of the score she was given. not for MA anyway. my dd had a similar routine a couple of meets ago and she score .45 lower. then she went and did a great routine with one of the tough judges and only got .05 higher for her troubles. lol. hers was one of the higher scores that meet though.

at the manhattan meet, there was one room where the vault judges were really generous with their scores and my gymmie complained we didn't get those judges. still, she placed 2nd with her "low" score.

so far we've been to NY and NJ and my dd scores about the same there as here in MA. i'm hearing we might be going to the atlanta meet next season so i'm curious to see how she scores there. she held her own in manhattan, even with 2 falls, against teams from all over the country. so i don't know that it's necessarily skills.

i guess all that matters really is that any set of judges at any given meet score all the girls the same. and it's like apples to oranges from each separate competition, even in the same meet.

i've noticed that at our state meets, the judges are really tough on scores in the beginning and then, as the meet wears on, their judging gets more generous. i'm not the only parent to observe this. i know b/c girls that my dd has beat or been the same as all season long, will get higher scores than normal at a later time than her. which, in most levels, is ok. but in level 7, where we do the top 7 competing with other states in our region and then the top 25 after that going to another special meet, it's not ok. the goal is to get a later meet when she hits level 7. haha.

 

[JMACAZ]

I am also in Az ad we just went to Ca for a meet. I noticed vault was scored lower and bars higher. Floor was the same and DD's beam was a mess so I can't say I would not say anything and like someone said different judges look for different things

 

[cadybearsmommy]

We are in Region 8 so not the same area but when my dd did Xcel it seemed scoring was within range in other state, a few tenths give or take in the overall score. At regionals last year in TN she got her lowest AA score of the season for well polished routines and it was about 8 tenths down from what she was getting. That was the biggest discrepancy we had seen until this year...
Dd started L6 and has competed 4 different states so far (including our own but all within region 8) and WOW...the scores are the biggest fluctuations I have ever seen. She has fluctuated up and down as much as two entire points in her AA score from state to state for similarly executed routines. It's not just her but her teammates as well. I can honestly say when we go into a meet now I have absolutely no idea whatsoever what to expect (and I used to be pretty good at predicting a score within a half point or so, but not anymore. They could pull her scores out of a hat and it would make about as much sense to me at this point. LOL!