Women Giants - Does Speed Matter in Scoring

[vagymmomma]

I'm posting this question for DD. She's been working on keeps her arms straight on her giants. She says when she keeps her arms straight that they are "slow" and is wondering if there's a deduction. I have no context of how slow, but I have seen her fly around the bars. I'm pretty sure it's not slow to the point that it looks like she's not going to make it over though. Do judges look for a certain speed?

Also, her coaches taught her some "trick" so she now has a consistent FHTH going into the giants. Sometimes she holds the handstand out of the free hip so "the judges know I made it" -- would there be any deduction for that? I know flow, in general, is important for bars, but I'm thinking the giants might be okay as long as there's no obvious break in the routine. I wonder about the handstand though -- it certainly shows strength and control, but I wonder if judges would think it's either a mistake or impacting flow.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

would have to see video for me to know.

 

[iwannacoach]

Ditto on the video, but absent the video and required to give an opinion (not that it ever takes that ) I'd say a clear hip that shows a moment of handstand with no "body waves" for control would tell me she's nailed it.....and straight arm giants that show no signs of struggle to get "over the top" are going to score better than bent arm giants, unless they bend while she's cranking up for a "double something big" before a panel of judges that "get it".....and that's a crap shoot.

 

[vagymmomma]

Bummer. I haven't even seen her bar routine in a month and not sure when I can get a video. Maybe DH can film something tomorrow. Bars is the only event that they haven't received a single score on in practice, so she has no idea where she stands. I guess we'll find at the first meet on Saturday.

I think she's over analyzing every little thing because HER stated goal on bars this year is a 9.8 . I'd be completely thrilled with any old 9. I worry because I don't like her to set expectations too high (she's not expecting a 9.8 first meet, but she'll be pretty disappointed if she doesn't get at least a 9.2). It's so hard -- I hate to temper expectations because I think it pushes them to strive to do better, but I also don't want a devastated child. Oh, parenting....

 

[gardenia01]

With a free hip to handstand and nice giants, she should not have a problem scoring over 9.2, assuming her cast is to handstand and her casts, giants and freehip are not overly archy. We are in Virginia too and my dd competed the free hip to hs on high bar into giants last year at Level 7. I don't think she scored below a 9.4 and got as high as a 9.775 (not quite a 9.8!).

 

[gymgal]

Wow! That's some high expectations! I don't think I have ever seen a 9.8 on bars in the 7-10 levels.

 

[vagymmomma]

Wow! That's some high expectations! I don't think I have ever seen a 9.8 on bars in the 7-10 levels.

I know! When she told me that she put it on her goal sheet for the season I must have had a shocked look because she said "Oh, do you think that's a little high?". Apparently she looked up Gabby Douglas' L7 bars score at state (in Virginia) and she got around a 9.7 -- DD's goal is to beat Gabby's score. LOL!

gardenia01 -- Your scoring experience is consistent with what her coaches told her when she first starting learning the FH into giants (about 3 months ago). They said a 9.4 - 9.6 would be the average. I just wish the coaches would give her a little bit of comfort that she's close -- she asked one coach to score her the other day and she told DD to ask another coach.

 

[iwannacoach]

^^^^I had to chuckle at that last line. Your dd has become a "hot potato" that nobody can handle. I like your attitude about her ambitions.....danged if I do, and danged if I don't.

Don't give it a second thought other than to send her a subtle hint with comments like, wow...that's going to be quite an accomplishment....or an incredulous and sarcastic epithany such as....wow, I just figured out I'm raising a future celebrity, or... I guess we'll have to get some 8x10's for you to carry around, maybe hire an agent, and get with a publisher.

Or you could just leave it alone, as long as she's smart enough to figure the odds, and is allowing feedback from her work and coaches to sink in. Figure it this way, she's going to be a lot better off at the end of the season if she goes after this with all she's got, and make it or not, she'll recognise how far she's come.

PS.....My mother used to caution me not to get my hopes up, so I stopped telling her about them and just surprised her with the results. D'ya think she figured it that way all along??????

 

[gardenia01]

I know! When she told me that she put it on her goal sheet for the season I must have had a shocked look because she said "Oh, do you think that's a little high?". Apparently she looked up Gabby Douglas' L7 bars score at state (in Virginia) and she got around a 9.7 -- DD's goal is to beat Gabby's score. LOL!

gardenia01 -- Your scoring experience is consistent with what her coaches told her when she first starting learning the FH into giants (about 3 months ago). They said a 9.4 - 9.6 would be the average. I just wish the coaches would give her a little bit of comfort that she's close -- she asked one coach to score her the other day and she told DD to ask another coach.

LOL, well I will have to tell my dd that she did as well as Gabby at Level 7 bars, though something tells me Gabby was probably younger! Our coach loves the free hip on high bar - all our girls who could did free hip handstand to giants on high bar and they all scored in the range you mentioned unless they fell over the wrong way on the free hip. At one meet we went to, our entire Level 7 team scored between 9.55 and 9.7 on bars. My dd's teammate scored a 9.85 at States so it is doable, particularly if your dd is not super flexy and doesn't struggle with archiness (as mine does). It also sets them up really well for Level 8 because all that they add is the pirouette on the low bar.