Anon Level 6/7 Beam Mount Scoring

[Anonymous Post]

Wondering if a more "complicated" beam mount offers anything of value to a score at levels 6/7.

The TOPS/HOPES/elite coach at her gym asked to do her beam choreography (yep, that was weird...my kid literally has no chance of being moved to that group, nor would we agree to it, so it was not because of something like that!). The coach gave her a pretty nutty mount. I don't even fully know how to describe it...she sort of wraps her arms under the beam, does a press up to vertical (like a handstand but her hands are under the beam), straddle split, one leg back to vertical with the other bent with toe pointed in an upside down passe, then the bent leg straightens back out and extends until the toe touches the beam, and then finally she 1/4 turns and comes up in a straddle on the beam.

This is similar to the mount many of her training HOPES kids are doing, but meanwhile the other girls in my kid's L6/7 group are doing very common and reliable mounts like swing one leg over and lie belly down on the beam while the other leg does a pretty pose and then BAM hop on up. I can't help but worry that it could open doors to unnecessary deductions.

Is there any scoring benefit from mount difficulty or choreography etc for doing a tougher mount like that or is it really just chancing fate? If the latter, if you noticed your kid losing points from this when meets start up, would you say anything to the coaches? Especially as she nears the state meet? She tells me that it looks good and that she can do it reliably...I don't go in the gym enough to confirm this and unfortunately, she is not the best judge of her own form.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Wondering if anyone has insight here. Thanks!

 

[Anonymous Post]

I'm not a coach, so double check this -- but, I don't think there's any benefit to doing harder skills in L6/7.

Honestly, you should talk to the coach. Either they have a good reason, which you will learn, or they won't and you can discuss alternatives.

 

[Anonymous Post]

The benefit is about having some kind of "wow factor" in the routine. At level 6/7 something like this is not in the rule book, but at least subconsciously a judge may enjoy a routine more if it seems creative and impressive. That being said, I would only have a kid compete a complicated mount if they can perform it without deductions.

 

[JBS]

Wondering if a more "complicated" beam mount offers anything of value to a score at levels 6/7.

No.

EDIT: I wouldn't call the mount you are describing hard though... some kids are very good at it.

 

[Anonymous Post]

My kid is the only one in level 7 at her gym doing a mount with a value assigned to it, there’s no benefit to it. All that’s happening is deductions on a skill, whereas everyone else is just getting on the beam.

 

[Anonymous Post]

She may need it to have enough skills. There are a handful of “A” valued mounts, so some gymnasts have a mount worth an A to have enough skills to meet their requirements. My daughter’s mount is an A mount because she needed another A skill.

 

[Anonymous Post]

What you’re describing sounds like an A mount (#1.108 in the mount skills section). What other skills does she do? Maybe she needs the mount to count.

 

[Anonymous Post]

What you’re describing sounds like an A mount (#1.108 in the mount skills section). What other skills does she do? Maybe she needs the mount to count.

Thanks! She has a full turn, BHS, CW-BT dismount, split jump-wolf jump series, sissone, and then dancy-type stuff.

 

[Anonymous Post]

Wondering if a more "complicated" beam mount offers anything of value to a score at levels 6/7.

The TOPS/HOPES/elite coach at her gym asked to do her beam choreography (yep, that was weird...my kid literally has no chance of being moved to that group, nor would we agree to it, so it was not because of something like that!). The coach gave her a pretty nutty mount. I don't even fully know how to describe it...she sort of wraps her arms under the beam, does a press up to vertical (like a handstand but her hands are under the beam), straddle split, one leg back to vertical with the other bent with toe pointed in an upside down passe, then the bent leg straightens back out and extends until the toe touches the beam, and then finally she 1/4 turns and comes up in a straddle on the beam.

This is similar to the mount many of her training HOPES kids are doing, but meanwhile the other girls in my kid's L6/7 group are doing very common and reliable mounts like swing one leg over and lie belly down on the beam while the other leg does a pretty pose and then BAM hop on up. I can't help but worry that it could open doors to unnecessary deductions.

Is there any scoring benefit from mount difficulty or choreography etc for doing a tougher mount like that or is it really just chancing fate? If the latter, if you noticed your kid losing points from this when meets start up, would you say anything to the coaches? Especially as she nears the state meet? She tells me that it looks good and that she can do it reliably...I don't go in the gym enough to confirm this and unfortunately, she is not the best judge of her own form.

It has no scoring value or benefit. However, it is relatively common, out of the 5 girls of that level at my gym, two of them do a similar mount.